Aurora Cannabis is exiting the adult-use cannabis market to focus “solely” on global opportunities in medical marijuana, company Chief Financial Officer Simona King said Monday.
King laid out the Edmonton, Alberta-headquartered licensed producer’s pivot to higher margin – and regulated – markets such as Australia, Germany and Poland during the TD Cowen Healthcare Conference in Boston, MarketBeat reported.
While investors have focused more on consumer and recreational cannabis in North America, Aurora sees the highest margins in medical cannabis, said King, a former pharmaceutical sector executive.
Why Aurora Cannabis is ditching adult-use for MMJ
That’s in part because nationally regulated medical cannabis networks act more like pharmaceutical markets, she said.
They’re also less suspect to price compression and other woes plaguing adult-use cannabis, she added, according to MarketBeat.
The medical focus helped Aurora report a 7% year-over-year revenue increase to 94.2 million Canadian dollars ($68.9 million) during its fiscal 2026 third quarter, according to recent earnings statements.
The company’s medical segment accounts for 81% of total revenue and 95% of adjusted gross profit.
Aurora Cannabis’ steady move away from adult-use marijuana
The embrace of medical cannabis while other investors and companies flocked to recreational is a move years in the making for Aurora, which has been in a lengthy overhaul following the Canadian legalization bubble.
Aurora has focused on the medical side of the cannabis industry since appointing Miguel Martin as CEO in late 2020.
In 2021, the company appointed to its board Theresa Firestone, who helped launch Shoppers Drug Mart’s medical cannabis business.
And moving towards Europe, where regulated national medical cannabis access is a reality in several countries while the United States lags behind is becoming a trend among North American operators seeking the next opportunity.
European cannabis opportunity identified
In a signal of its intent to embrace European MMJ, Aurora last summer secured European Union Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certification for a facility in Ontario.
Such certification is required to export product to European markets.
According to King, Aurora is one of three companies licensed to cultivate and process cannabis in Germany.
It’s also the top cannabis producer in Poland, she added.
Aurora shares trade on the Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ACB.
