There is something remarkable about a room full of people at Cannabis Europa. Lawyers and laboratory scientists stand next to pharmacists and financial analysts. Cultivators compare notes with compliance officers. Clinicians talk to chief executives. It is, on the surface, a conference like many others: lanyards, panel sessions, the particular echo chamber of an industry in conversation with itself.
But look a little closer and you’ll actually see each point of a supply chain made visible. Every person in that room occupies a stage in a journey that begins in a grow room and ends, if everything goes right, in a patient’s life being meaningfully improved. The fact that they are all in the same place, talking, debating, building relationships based on corporate and personal stories, is itself a sign of how far the medical cannabis industry has come.
But equally, it exposes how much further it still has to go.
Every medicine begins somewhere physical. For medical cannabis, it begins as a plant, more precisely, in the controlled environment of a licensed cultivation facility, where the gap between growing a plant and producing a pharmaceutical ingredient is measured in years of research and hundreds of discarded varieties.
The complexity of medical cannabis makes it stand out, and why it has captured a personal commitment to educating, raising awareness, and breaking down the stigma that is held against it. The industry is based on real life stories, so, we decided to hear first-hand how different roles contribute to the overall system, allowing patient access to cannabis based medical products.
The drive for awareness
Through hearing a series of interviews (read more here), listening to panels, and speaking to people more candidly, the jigsaw of cultivation to conference began to fit together.
The opening remarks were given by former British Heavyweight champion, Derek Chisora, and founder of Prohibition Partners, Stephen Murphy. The talk immediately set the tone for the conference, by discussing pain and the misconceptions around medical cannabis, the need for education and awareness was positioned as a priority for the industry.
This led into a panel that explored what direction European medical cannabis is going. Of course, in the current climate, there are big discussions around AI and the technical potential of how different LLM models will shape healthcare, the panel was balanced with the biopharmaceutical advancements, truly marking science and research as a core principle of what is to come.
An interesting takeaway from the conference came stemmed from a panel on Deal Flow and Due Diligence: Inside Europe’s next M&A wave. Although the topic sits outside my own knowledge base or experience, it was fascinating to hear about industry integration and how this is the important factor, not just acquiring a company. Although applicable in most industries, it felt particularly strong considering how important each role on the science to supply journey is.
Continuing themes around patient access, another panel explored innovation in the UK Cannabis Market. Insight from Martin Dickie, CEO of Waterside Pharmaceuticals, demonstrated that there was both space and demand for new approaches, and new companies, to ultimately provide patients with medical infrastructure and treatment. The need for excellence, and continuity of care was reinforced by other members on the panel.
Patient centred care
It was encouraging to hear both cultivators and clinicians taking a patient centric approach. Carola Perez, co-founder of the patient led organisation, We, the Patients, is renowned for being the voice of representation and building awareness. The conference this year clearly showed the importance of patient presence.
The medical cannabis industry cannot be simplified to purely ‘plant to patient’. There are fundamental stages within the journey that remain less visible to the outside world and perhaps continue to be the most misunderstood. The image of cannabis as something grown informally and consumed casually is not wrong in every context, but it does create the wrong image here.
What Curaleaf International, and its various manufacturing operations produce, are pharmaceutical products, held to pharmaceutical standards, with a pharmaceutical chain of accountability running through every stage.
For Curaleaf International, interviews during the conference amplified that decision is captured in two words: science first. Juan Martinez, CEO of Curaleaf International, was direct about the challenge that shaped that commitment. The only option is for data-driven outcomes to guide innovation, research and development. This requires investment and vertical oversight to ensure excellence at every stage.
It is a model that recognises something important: cannabis is not one medicine. It is a plant with hundreds of compounds, interacting with different conditions, in different patients, in different ways. Highly formulated, evidence-derived products, tailored to specific conditions rather than applied generically, are not just a commercial differentiator. Working away from traditional formulations and flower, there is a vast portfolio of medicines that companies are exploring.
Science to supply
As an observer, and there to capture stories, it felt in a very real sense, like the concept of science to supply was obvious. An event rooted in networking and industry amplification, Cannabis Europa, was a unique environment where people come together, working across every stage of the science to supply chain, from cultivation to conference, and from research to patient access.
The medical cannabis industry is evolving. The evidence base is growing but incomplete. The regulatory landscape is complex and uneven, especially across international markets. The public understanding of what this medicine is and how seriously it is made remains, in many places, behind the reality. As the conference outlined, increased education and awareness is what must come next.
