Rua Bioscience has entered into a sales and distribution partnership with a clinic in the United Kingdom, a deal the company believes could be worth as much as NZ$10 million (A$8.3m) across two years.
The agreement stands as the company's biggest export deal so far, offering both immediate commercial benefits and what the company described as ongoing opportunities to build its brand internationally.
According to Rua, the tie-up opens doors to a well-established clinic network, existing pharmacy links, and prescriber relationships that would otherwise take years to develop on its own.
Rua has kept the identity of its new UK partner confidential at the clinic's request, referring to the business only as one of the largest medicinal cannabis clinic and distribution operators in the United Kingdom.
The UK continues to attract strong interest from Australian and New Zealand cannabis companies looking to expand overseas, with recent figures showing the market now serves 140,000 medicinal cannabis patients.
Research from data and intelligence firm Prohibition Partners revealed that UK imports of medicinal cannabis more than doubled last year, surpassing 30,000kg, while the range of available products grew from 374 to 818.
"This is no longer a niche, fringe market," Prohibition Partners senior analyst Alexander Khourdaji said. "In the space of two years, the UK has become one of the fastest-growing medical cannabis markets anywhere in the world… the number of people accessing treatment is growing faster than almost anyone expected."
Rua chief executive Paul Naske said: "Rua will supply medical cannabis flower cultivated in Aotearoa, New Zealand using genetics sourced from New Zealand's legacy market. Our strategy has always been to connect Rua's differentiated New Zealand genetics with high-value international markets.
"This agreement represents an extremely important milestone in Rua's international growth strategy and further validates the quality and uniqueness of our New Zealand-grown product offering.
"It is strong step forward for the Rua brand internationally and an important development for our shareholders."
The company noted that the UK market still relies almost entirely on imported supply, which it says creates a clear and substantial opening for producers able to offer quality-assured products from overseas.
