Infarmed, Portugal’s medicines authority, has approved the quality control laboratory at Tilray Medical’s EU-GMP facility in Cantanhede, Portugal. The company can now run microbiological and chemical/physical testing of its flower batches on site, work that until now relied largely on outside laboratories. Tilray announced the approval on 13 October in a press release, also reported by Cannabis Business Times.
What the Portuguese regulator actually approved
This is not a new product authorisation. It clears the in-house laboratory of a facility that already held EU-GMP certification. Cantanhede is Tilray’s European cultivation and production base and, in 2021, it was the source of the first cannabis preparation to receive a marketing authorisation from Infarmed in Portugal.
With the laboratory approved, the site now combines cultivation, processing, testing and international supply in one place. According to the company, Cantanhede supplies Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Italy and other regulated medical cannabis markets.
Why batch testing is a bottleneck
In Europe’s pharmaceutical supply chain, no flower batch reaches a pharmacy without first passing its quality tests: cannabinoid content, microbial load, contaminants. When that testing is outsourced, harvested product sits in storage until the external lab returns its results, and every batch adds an invoice.
Tilray points to three direct effects: less reliance on third parties for flower testing, lower batch-release costs and shorter testing timelines between harvest and sale. The company has not published figures for savings or days gained, so the real impact will have to be measured in its supply chain over the coming quarters.
Rajnish Ohri, President, International at Tilray Brands, framed the move as a gain in speed, control and flexibility across the international supply chain, bringing quality testing closer to cultivation and production.
A European market that rewards reliability
The announcement lands at a sensitive moment for supply. The Bedrocan bankruptcy, which we covered two days ago, has left Dutch patients facing a possible supply gap of several months. European buyers (importers, pharmaceutical distributors, hospital pharmacies) increasingly judge suppliers on their ability to deliver released batches on time and consistently.
At the same time, several industry forecasts expect oversupply and downward price pressure in Europe’s medical markets. In that environment, cutting cost per batch and time held in storage goes straight to the margin.
Business implications
- EU-GMP producers: an in-house lab is no longer a luxury for large operators; it becomes a cost and lead-time advantage over those who outsource everything.
- Independent testing labs: if large producers bring testing in-house, the business shifts towards mid-sized producers, specialised assays and confirmatory testing.
- Importers and distributors: supplier audits should ask where and how batches are tested, and how long release takes.
- Spain: with Royal Decree 903/2025 and the AEMPS register of standardised preparations under way, laboratories aiming at the Spanish market will face the same quality and lead-time equation.
Quality, supply and contacts in Bilbao
EU-GMP quality chains, batch release and supplier selection are negotiated face to face. At Spannabis B2B Bilbao 2027, on 11 March in the VIP Hall of the BEC, producers, laboratories, distributors and investors share the same room. Get your ticket or book a B2B table to present your production or testing capacity to buyers from across the sector.