Novartis partners with Canadian medical marijuana company Tilray

Tilray, a Canadian medical marijuana company has signed a new deal with leading Swiss multinational pharmaceutical company Novartis to become the firm’s exclusive supplier of non-smokeable medical cannabis products for its Canadian subsidiary, Sandoz.

Tilray was the first medical cannabis firm to obtain a Good Manufacturing Practice certification (cGMP) in accordance with the standards of the European Medicine Agency. As a leader in the market, Tilray currently supplies tens of thousands of patients with its product across ten countries.

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“This agreement is a major milestone on the long road to legitimizing medical cannabis as conventional medicine,” said Brendan Kennedy, Tilray’s Chief Executive Officer.

“Tilray is pleased to be, what we believe is, the first federally licensed producer of medical cannabis to form a strategic alliance with a local affiliate of a global pharmaceutical company to improve the availability and quality of medical cannabis products for Canadian patients in need.”

In addition to becoming the exclusive supplier of Sandoz, Tilray will also partner with the firm to develop new cannabis-based products that offer an alternative to smokable products that will then be distributed to Canadian hospitals and pharmacies.