Leamington, Ont.-based Aphria Inc. said Monday that it had struck a deal to sell medical marijuana to Loblaw-owned Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada’s largest pharmacy chain.
“Subject to Health Canada’s approval of Shoppers Drug Mart’s application to be a licensed producer, under the terms of the agreement the company will supply Shoppers Drug Mart with Aphria-branded medical cannabis products,” a release from Aphria said. “It is expected the products will be sold online, as Canadian regulations currently restrict the sale of medical cannabis in retail pharmacies.”
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Shoppers, or its parent company, Loblaw Companies Ltd., have not been issued a licence to dispense cannabis yet, according to Health Canada’s list of companies registered to grow and sell medical marijuana. It was reported in November that Shoppers was searching for someone to serve as the pharmacy chain’s medical marijuana brand manager.
Vic Neufeld, chief executive of of Aphria, said his company had a five-year agreement with Shoppers as its “first and primary supplier,” and that every year of the deal included “minimum requirements on volumes that they must purchase from us for them to maintain the following year’s exclusivity.”
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