New Zealand-listed Rua Bioscience (NZX: RUA) has agreed a sales and distribution deal with one of the UK’s largest medicinal cannabis clinic and distribution businesses, expected to generate NZ$10m in revenue over two years, the company’s largest export contract to date.
The partner’s identity was not disclosed at the clinic’s request. The arrangement gives Rua immediate access to established prescriber relationships, pharmacy connections, and patient-access infrastructure that the company says would otherwise take years to build independently, and which it describes as carrying both near-term commercial value and long-term brand-building potential in a market it has been targeting as a priority export destination.
Rua will supply medical cannabis flower cultivated in New Zealand from genetics sourced in the country’s legacy market, a selling point the company has consistently led with in international markets where New Zealand-origin products remain a relative novelty.
“Our strategy has always been to connect Rua’s differentiated New Zealand genetics with high-value international markets,” said Paul Naske, Chief Executive Officer of Rua Bioscience.
“This agreement represents an extremely important milestone in Rua’s international growth strategy and further validates the quality and uniqueness of our New Zealand-grown product offering.”
According to the latest Prohibition Partners data, the UK market is expected to exceed 140,000 patients in 2026, having more than doubled its import volumes last year to over 30,000kg, while available product lines grew from 374 to 818 in the same period.
Domestic cultivation at commercial scale remains negligible, leaving the UK almost entirely reliant on international producers.
Rua has been extending its export footprint incrementally, after sending sample flower to Germany, and signing a genetics arrangement with Apollo Green in Canada in April 2026.
