Develop Group, one of many UK’s main medical hashish distributors now supplying over 10,000 sufferers internationally, introduced a serious strategic shift to convey management of its operations fully in home.
The UK’s medical hashish market, the material of which Develop is deeply woven into, is continuous to develop at a dependable and sustainable tempo, and is now second solely to the booming German market in Europe.
As Develop unveils the launch of its newly expanded distribution platform, a brand new Develop Group UK model, and a serious new strategic acquisition, the British hashish stalwart hopes its newest evolution will allow it to capitalise on this chance.
Its Co-Founder and CEO, Ben Langley, instructed Enterprise of Hashish: “We’re in an excellent place, the market’s rising and now we’ve bought the total capabilities in-house to develop with it.”
From joint-venture to vertical integration
For six years, Develop Group and its UK medical hashish stablemate IPS Pharma have been operating a three way partnership, Develop Pharma.
Develop Pharma was shaped in April 2019, simply months after medical hashish was legalised within the UK, making it one of many earliest movers within the sector, and one of many few UK hashish companies nonetheless standing from this fervent interval.
This partnership, born out of the 2 firms’ collaboration to convey the primary bulk import of medical hashish into the UK from Europe, introduced Develop’s operational experience and IPS Pharma’s infrastructure, together with an entire set of licenses, together with MHRA Specials Manufacturing, House Workplace Managed Medicine Schedule 2 and GPhC Registered Pharmacy.
Langley defined: “We constructed a powerful enterprise with IPS, bringing collectively barely totally different however complementary talent units.
“After we launched the UK distribution enterprise in 2019, Develop didn’t but have the licences or logistical infrastructure, so the cope with IPS made plenty of sense for either side. And we turned the three way partnership into an unmitigated success — it’s now one of many largest gamers within the UK.”
But, because the UK market has matured, so have each of the businesses. Buoyed by the market’s momentum, the pair made the mutual determination now was the time to face on their very own two ft.
“So, after six profitable years, we approached the dialog as adults and agreed that, from a shareholder worth perspective, we may every obtain extra by separating,” Langley continued.
For Develop, the timing was serendipitous: the chance to amass Avida Medical, a former contract producer for UK retail big Boots, landed at their ft providing simply what they wanted to discover a solo launch.
Avida acquisition
In 2022, Avida World introduced the acquisition of Nottingham-based BCM Specials, one of many longest established speciality producers within the UK.
BCM, quickly rebranded to Avida Medical, provided its new father or mother firm the licencing and infrastructure to change into the UK’s first ‘full-service’ hashish enterprise, capable of function throughout medical hashish, wellness and cosmetics.
After Avida World fell into voluntary liquidation in December 2024, the chance for Develop to capitalise on Avida Medical’s complete licensing was one it couldn’t afford to overlook.
On July 04, Develop accomplished the 100% acquisition of Avida Medical, which can now commerce because the newly launched Develop Group UK.
Langley stated: “Avida primarily provides every little thing IPS did after we first partnered with them, however now we personal it outright. As a substitute of proudly owning 51%, we now have 100% management, which implies we don’t need to share earnings, and we’ve full strategic and operational freedom.”
Whereas he emphasised that this was ‘not a criticism of IPS in any respect’, he defined that this gave the impression to be the best second for Develop to take sole possession of its decision-making and strategic path.
“It gave us the power to have a brand new form of dialog with IPS: one the place lets say, ‘What if we separated and went our personal methods?’ And that was solely doable due to two issues, the underlying energy of the market, and the truth that, by probability, this chance simply landed in our lap.”
Alternatives past licencing
Develop Group UK successfully brings all of Develop’s UK operations below a ‘single, fully-owned, EU GMP licensed entity’, seeing it evolve into a totally built-in UK medical hashish distribution and manufacturing platform.
Whereas its related licensing was ‘completely key’ to this acquisition, the long run alternatives for Develop lengthen properly past streamlining the expensive and time consuming licensing course of.
Langley defined that as a consequence of its location, Avida opens the door to ‘thrilling’ collaborations with the native Nottingham Trent College, a public analysis college specialising in bioscience, chemistry and forensic science.
“Via conversations with Nottingham Trent College, we noticed some thrilling potential. There’s an actual alternative for us to collaborate with NTU, probably with some subsidised help, and play a task in native regeneration.”
Extra crucially, with a long time of expertise producing medicines, together with for the UK’s largest pharmacy chain, Avida provides a swathe of latest potential to discover novel hashish formulations.
“They’ve bought actually tens of hundreds of normal working procedures, masking all kinds of progressive and novel formulations. These weren’t initially designed for hashish, but it surely’s comparatively simple to adapt a lot of them.
“So now we’ve entry to this monumental product archive, and we’ve bought massive concepts for the place we are able to take hashish medicines by way of format and supply.”
Whereas the UK’s market continues to develop at a powerful however regular tempo, there’s a consensus that till ‘hashish naïve’ sufferers really feel comfy sufficient to discover medical hashish therapy, the trade’s incorporation into mainstream drugs shall be out of attain.
Providing various supply strategies to flower and inhalation gives a easy potential resolution to this existential problem.
Langley concluded: “That’s all the time been the core of our mission: ensuring that sufferers within the UK who may benefit from hashish really get entry to it.
“However that’s not all the time simple. Some individuals are afraid of flower, others discover oils messy. The extra we are able to innovate on supply, make it accessible, intuitive, non-intimidating, the extra possible sufferers are to make use of it constantly, and the extra profit they’ll get from it.”
“So this transfer offers us the instruments to go additional with that mission.”
