2023 at a glance
Tena tatou i tenei wahanga o te tau. Kua tae mai a Hineraumati me te wera o te ra.
Winding down (or up) before Christmas and New Year break is a great time to look back and check on progress. This year was a notable year, marked by several key developments focused on establishing international product pipelines that are able to take our unique east coast cannabis strains to international markets.
Here's a summary of our highlights for 2023:
February
Signed Distribution agreements for Poland and Czech: Rua Bioscience signed supply and distribution agreements targeting growth markets in Poland and Czech, expanding our footprint in Europe. Establishing a pipeline of product into Poland in particular is challenging and lengthy so it was great to get that underway.
March
Capital-Light Operating Model: Rua right-sized the business and adopted a capital-light strategy, enabling scalable value delivery and establishing a sustainable global company. This approach involves working with cultivation and manufacturing partners to create products developed from our unique east coast cannabis strains.
April
Product Launch in Germany: Rua launched its first GMP-quality medicine in Germany, the largest and most developed medicinal cannabis market in Europe. This was a critical commercial milestone for Rua, enhancing our presence in a key international market.
June
First International Sales in Germany: Rua Bioscience achieved its first international sales, a significant milestone for the company. This marks a major step in their export-led strategy and positions us strongly in the global market.
August
Expansion into Australia: Rua Bioscience has launched GMP-quality medicine in Australia, one of the largest medicinal cannabis market in the world. This expansion involved establishing company licenses and distribution channels, setting the stage for strong sales presence and revenue growth.
Cultivation partner reconnaissance in Europe. Rua staff from the R&D team visited a number of potential cultivation partners in Europe to assess these cultivators consider the best options to receive and trial our unique east coast cannabis varieties.
Supply strengthened with Schroll Medical. Rua signed an agreement with Schroll Medical, a renowned player in the medicinal cannabis industry for the supply of cannabis products to key markets.
October
Licence to cultivate indigenous fungi – Magic Mushrooms: New Zealand has granted its first license for cultivating indigenous fungi containing psilocybin, a significant step in a Māori health science project led by Rangiwaho Marae and supported by Rua Bioscience. This project, part of a larger collaboration, aims to explore the therapeutic potential of psilocybin and includes plans for clinical trials to study its effects on mental health conditions, particularly addiction.
December
First Australian employee. Rua appointed John Sanders as the Chief of Sales and Marketing for Australia, marking the company's strategic expansion into the Australian market. Sanders, with his extensive experience in the cannabis sector and pharmaceutical industry, will be based in Melbourne, spearheading the company's growth along the east coast of Australia.
Dec 23
Agreement with UK distributor: Rua reached agreement with Target Healthcare UK, a specials medicine distributor, to distribute Rua product in the UK.
The company is extremely well positioned with the calendar year 2023 positioning the company for revenue growth and continued establishment of pipelines into key markets. We are well positioned to take our unique east coast cannabis varieties into these key markets in 2024.
To all our shareholders, thank you for your support during 2023.
Kia tau nga manaakitanga ki runga i a koutou katoa – Merry Xmas