Canamedics: first Catalan company to grow marijuana for medical purposes

Every week in Catalonia there is news of police dismantling illegal marihuana plantations with different weights of product seized. Since the pandemic, Catalonia has been Spain's top cannabis production site, and one of the biggest in Europe. 

This high production is, in part, a consequence of the high demand for this substance. According to a 2023 report by the European Union Drugs Agency, cannabis continues to be the most consumed illegal drug in Europe, with Spain being the country with the highest consumption in the EU. 

But amidst the police seizures and arrests, there is one company in Catalonia that has the license to legally grow cannabis for medicinal purposes; Canamedics, based in Manresa, inland of Barcelona.  

The pharmaceutical use of cannabis may come as news to some, but doctors and scientists have been collaborating for years on the development of new therapies using this plant. 

Luis Comas co-founded the company with his brother when their uncle was left paraplegic following an accident. "Some of the treatments he underwent for his chronic pain involved opioids, which can have really strong side effects," Luis tells Catalan News.

 

"After that problem in our family we started to look for alternative aids to this pain. And we saw that cannabis was an option, but it was not developed in Europe at the time," he adds. 

Some months after their first research, the market of pharmaceutical cannabis started to open in Europe in places like Germany, Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom, among others. 

After a lot of research, these two former lawyers decided to create their own company, Canamedics, and delve into the challenges and opportunities that this new pharmaceutical product offered.  

"Once we were compliant with the requirements, we got the EU GMP certificate that allowed us to create pharmaceutical products of cannabis and deliver them to those countries that allow the prescription," Luis mentions.  

Canamedics does not sell cannabis buds in Spain as its use in the medical field is not currently allowed, but that might change with future laws.  

But what does this Catalan company actually produce? 

"We produce unirradiated inner medical cannabis flowers. We basically produce the buds, the cannabis buds, but in pharmaceutical conditions," Luis clarifies.  

That bud is then shipped to various countries in Europe, where patients can collect it from their pharmacies. 

A new draft law presented by the Spanish health ministry would allow for that medicine to be sold here. 

"We are happy –us from the industry, but also groups of patients-, but we see this first step as quite restrictive," Luis Comas said. "We think that this law will allow for products like extracts or oils to be distributed, but it is not specific about flowers, which are quite effective and what is being sold in other countries," he explained. 

 

As the final version of the law is waiting to be published and approved in Congress, Canamedics is positive that this new pharmaceutical product will benefit numerous patients. 

"The products derived from cannabis have to be personalized to each patient, not everyone will see the same benefits or effects from taking a specific concentration of cannabinoids," Luis pointed out. 

"And in our experience, we see that it can help with reducing the dose of opiates that patients need to take. So, by reducing the secondary effects of medicine like morphine or fentanyl, patients can improve their quality of life," he continued. 

These benefits can aid sufferers of chronic pain, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, and chemotherapy patients, among others; but this medicine still has a social stigma attached to it.  

"I think there are some social challenges that we need to face, because this product has always been seen as a recreational drug. But since it is working and it is helping many patients with their problems, I think we should open our minds to these new methods," Luis Comas concluded.