Paris (AFP)

To produce therapeutic cannabis "made in France", "we have everything we need, we just need the authorizations to start": at the agricultural show, the impatience of professionals is palpable, a few months before '' a first experiment on 3,000 patients in the country.

In the seed village, some players take advantage of the show for a seduction operation. Hemp jam, tasting of seeds touting their protein intake, relaxing CBD milk (cannabidiol, the non-psychotropic molecule of cannabis, note): far from the smoke, the spotlight is on the very varied uses of the plant.

But apart from these "well-being" applications, it is mainly medical use that interests.

The first treatments in the form of cannabis oil or dried flowers must be distributed from September to 3,000 patients suffering from five types of serious illnesses or conditions - certain forms of epilepsy, neuropathic pain, side effects of chemotherapy, palliative care or multiple sclerosis. But production will, at least initially, be foreign: enough to frustrate the agricultural world.

"It is imperative that we are able at French level to set up this new therapeutic sector", insists LREM deputy from Creuse Jean-Baptiste Moreau, visiting under his new cap as general rapporteur of the parliamentary mission on the uses of cannabis, launched at the end of January.

At present, French law prevents any medical production. Cannot grow cannabis plants containing more than 0.2% THC - tetrahydrocannabinol, psychotropic molecule of cannabis, with a hovering effect, note - and harvest the flowers.

A ban from which InVivo, one of the first French agricultural cooperative groups, hopes to escape: it has submitted an authorization request to the Medicines Agency (ANSM) for two weeks, to benefit from an experimental exception .

"Overall, it will take us 18 months to ensure that the plant has a standardized composition and that we have a drug in the pharmaceutical sense of the term," says Yves Christol, general manager of InVivo Food & Tech. He is ready to invest 10 million euros and intends to develop a specific variety for each pathology open to prescription.

- French delay -

The group wants to "take over from imports in two years", when the trial of therapeutic cannabis ends, then conquer the world market through the genetic development of varieties for medical use, an innovation that guarantees the identical nature of plants.

Ultimately, the five therapeutic indications authorized by the ANSM represent "approximately 300,000 patients" in France, according to the group. To ensure them a production of about one gram per day, "we need seven hectares, or a single shopping center," says Mr. Christol.

InVivo wishes to form for this "a consortium that goes from seed to patient", bringing together various public and private actors, including the National Institute for Agronomic Research (Inrae). The cultures, would not be carried out under greenhouse or in full field, but "only in buildings".

And the group is not alone in the ranks: the Creuse department also wants to become a "center of excellence", capable of supplying medical cannabis.

But within the sector, the essential modification of the legal framework appears to be Arlesian. In Maine-et-Loire, the seed producer Hemp It already has seeds in its catalog that allow it to grow illegal cannabis plants. For two years, he claims to experiment, "without any return" from the authorities, sighs its president, Jacques Martin.

After having voted for the experimentation of therapeutic cannabis as a deputy, "Olivier Véran is today Minister of Health, so normally that should help", hopes Nathalie Fichaux, director of InterChanvre, the interprofession which brings together the 1,500 hemp producers.

French players are getting impatient, especially since international competition is several steps ahead. Subject to more flexible legislation, the American Tilray and Canadian groups like Canopy Growth and Aurora have years of expertise. Other challengers, like the Dutchman Bedrocan or the British Emmac Life Sciences, also have views on the French market.

Faced with these offers, a French production would guarantee "an accessible price", advances Mr. Christol, pointing out the pitfalls of the German and Italian cases. After an experimental phase as in France, foreign producers have swallowed the therapeutic market in these countries and have raised their prices sharply.

© 2020 AFP