Medicinal cannabis, between potential and blockage

On May 5, the Hotel Palácio do Governador in Lisbon was the setting for a strategic debate on the medicinal cannabis sector in Portugal. The event was organized by Executive Digest (Multipublicações), in partnership with INCENTEA and its technology partner SAGE, bringing together experts, regulators and companies to discuss the challenges of a market with high growth potential.

A large-scale sector in search of effectiveness

The central debate of the meeting focused on the gap between the installed capacity in Portugal and its real use by patients. The market potential in the country is estimated at around 60 to 80 tons of annual production, which would represent a very significant economic volume. However, current data show that the number of medicinal cannabis prescriptions remains below a thousand per year, about 750 out of a potential universe that could exceed 150,000 patients.

As one participant summed up, the decisive step now is “turning installed capacity into real use. We have created capacity, but we have not yet managed to translate it into scale”.

The strategic role of INCENTEA and SAGE

INCENTEA, represented at the event by João Antunes, Luís Barreiro, Fabrício Nobre and Filipe Fonseca, reinforced its positioning as a specialized partner in management software solutions for companies in this sector, with the capacity to support organizations in optimizing processes and in responding to the challenges of a highly regulated, demanding segment.

The presence of SAGE Iberia, represented by Hugo Oliveira, underlined the importance of a robust technology base to ensure the compliance and operational efficiency needed to keep pace with the rapid growth of this market.

Obstacles to access and medical training

One of the most debated points was the issue of access, which continues to constrain the development of the sector. Cannabis is often positioned only as a last-line therapeutic solution. In addition, the absence of this topic from the basic curricula of health professionals was identified as a structural barrier to prescribing.

“When we see patients with decades of clinical history responding positively, we realize we are looking at something transformative”, said one of the participants, stressing that medicinal cannabis can be “highly transformative, making a real difference to quality of life”.

Of note was the participation of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology company PortoCanna, a reference client of INCENTEA in this sector. PortoCanna was represented by its CEO, Amit Edri, and by Tiago Fezas Vital, head of Business Development.

Their contribution was essential for analyzing the relationship between the capacity installed in Portugal and its real use by patients, in a market where the gap between potential and regulated consumption is still significant. As protagonists on the ground, PortoCanna’s representatives joined the reflection on the fact that the sector has already created capacity but has not yet managed to “translate it into scale”.

Institutional and sector participation

The event, naturally led by Ricardo Florêncio (Multipublicações) and M.ª João Vieira Pinto (Executive Digest), included influential figures from various areas: specialized media coverage of the topic, such as Laura Ramos (Cannareporter); representatives of the pharmaceutical and regulatory sector, such as José Vera Cruz (Ordem dos Farmacêuticos, the Portuguese Pharmacists’ Association) and Fátima Carvalho (Associação Nacional de Farmácias, the National Association of Pharmacies); and industry and association leaders, such as João Lourenço (APIC) and José Tempero (Tilray).

The meeting ended on an optimistic note, stressing that, although there are cultural and structural barriers to overcome, medicinal cannabis has ceased to be just a concept and is establishing itself as a therapeutic solution undergoing continuous clinical validation, with a promising future in Portugal.

Article based on the May edition of Executive Digest magazine

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