The UK’s love affair with Aussie medicinal cannabis blooms as ECS exports first dried flower shipment

It’s a happy Valentine for the team at ECS, as the Aussie medicinal cannabis group successfully exports Australia’s first dried cannabis flower to the UK’s largest distributor – a major milestone in its global expansion.

ECS Botanics (ASX:ECS) has completed its first shipment of Australian dried cannabis flower to Lyphe Group, the largest distributor of medicinal cannabis in the UK.

The shipment partially fulfills purchase orders from Lyphe totalling more than $500k, to be delivered as current harvest becomes available now and in the coming months.

ECS, a leading medicinal cannabis and hemp supplier, is now working closely with Lyphe and expecting further orders throughout CY22.

Medicinal cannabis ecosystem

Lyphe is a massive set up in the UK. The group already has an estimated 60% market share of the UK’s supply of medical cannabis care.

The group has built an extremely effective and efficient patient-access ecosystem across the UK which provides clinics, pharmacy and dispensing, import infrastructure, and vital educational services to patients, doctors and other healthcare professionals.

ECS expects that the UK and Europe will become a significant market during 2022 and 2023, as demand increases for its high quality and competitively priced GMP certified products.

The company is currently performing additional ICH stability testing, required for product registration in many EU markets, which is expected to be complete within the next six months.

First international export

ECS Managing Director Alex Keach said the UK shipment was a major achievement for ECS.

“This shipment is a significant milestone for ECS, as it is the first international export of our Australian grown dried cannabis flower,” Keach said.

“We expect our product to be well received by patients in the UK, and demand for our flower to grow significantly through the year.

Lyphe Chief Commercial Officer Chris Ashton said he was delighted the first shipment of ECS manufactured medical cannabis flowers had arrived in the UK.

“The range and quality of products offered by ECS represents a significant improvement in the UK supply chain and I’m sure will be well received by all UK patients,” Ashton said.

“I’m looking forward to receiving the further products we have on order and excited to expand this partnership to support the demand from UK patients.”

Market lead in Australia

The company’s fist export to the UK comes as ECS continues to build strength as a market leader in Australia’s medicinal cannabis sector.

In 2021 the company built out a strong pipeline of domestic and international clients, scaling up to meet demand.

Its growth was confirmed in its latest trading update released a couple of weeks ago, where ECS booked another increase in quarterly revenue to $1.434m.

Demonstrating its strong momentum, December quarter revenues rose by a robust 58% from the September quarter, and a massive 308% from the prior year comparative period.

This article was developed in collaboration with ECS Botanics, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.