Aurora Cannabis inks deal to supply Australia market

Canada’s Aurora Cannabis has signed a five-year supply agreement with MedReleaf Australia, the Alberta-based company announced this week.

The deal makes MedReleaf Australia the exclusive supplier of the Canadian producer’s MedReleaf, CanniMed and Aurora brands.

The cannabis will be cultivated at Aurora’s EU-GMP facility in Canada, Michelle Lefler, VP of communications, told Marijuana Business Daily in an email.

No capital investment on behalf of Aurora is required as part of the agreement.

Aurora holds a 10% stake in MedReleaf Australia.

Australia’s medical cannabis market has seen steady growth.

The country ended Q4 2020 with 17,958 medical cannabis approvals, up from the previous quarter’s 17,040 approvals.

Australia was the top destination for Canadian exports of cannabis oil products in 2019, the most recent year for which data is available.

Some 3.7 million milliliters of cannabis oil products were shipped to Austrlaia that year, Health Canada data shows, though that figure may be updated to reflect permits that had been approved but not yet used.

Some 204 kilograms of dried cannabis was exported to Australia in the same period.

Aurora sold off its stake in Australian medical marijuana company Cann Group in 2020.