Canopy CEO: We'll 'Disrupt the Heck' Out of Pharma
*By Carlo Versano*
At the end of a week that saw the nascent cannabis sector soar to record valuations (with enough [volatility](https://cheddar.com/videos/making-sense-of-tilrays-stock-chart) to make your head spin), at least one exec isn't getting high off his own supply.
Bruce Linton, CEO of Canopy Growth ($CGC), told Cheddar Friday that he is focused on using a recent $4 billion cash injection from Constellation Brands to accelerate his business operations as new markets open up for legal marijuana use.
The market for legal pot went from a handful of countries like Canada, where Canopy is based, to now over 30 globally, Linton said in an interview, and Constellation's stake "is the kind of rocket fuel we need."
As speculators send the stocks higher ー Canopy is up 100 percent since the August deal, while Tilray ($TLRY) is up 1,000 percent since its July IPO ー Linton is keeping his nose to the grindstone developing new uses for cannabis, illustrated by the 39 patents Canopy filed in the last year just for sleep-related cannabinoid products. He sees other uses as well, from anxiety to sports recovery, which begs the question: is Canopy a pharma company?
"We're going to have enough intellectual property and activity that it would be difficult for pharma companies...not to need to play with us," Linton said. "We're going to disrupt the heck out of them."
Speaking of disruption, Linton said he wasn't bothered by parallels with the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s. He said Canopy had more in common with a Google or Amazon ー established businesses with strong fundamentals ー than any of the internet stocks that were relegated to the tech boneyard after the bubble popped.
But for an industry like cannabis that is entirely dependent on regulation, there will always be a risk, Linton noted. For every country like Canada, which legalized medical marijuana in 2001 and will allow recreational use starting October 17, there's an Italy ー where medical marijuana is legal but heavily restricted ー or a Japan ー where it is strictly outlawed. Put another way, Canopy may have the best legal pot cultivation and distribution in the world, but its long-term success on a global scale may be capped by shifting regulatory and political climates.
Still, Linton sees the writing on the wall in places like South America, Australia, and the EU. As regulatory barriers come down, he said Canopy's strong production operations will lead the market.
"People can fight for who's going to be the second best," Linton said. "We're going to be the best and the largest and the most dominant on the planet over the next decade."
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/canopy-growth-blazing-a-trail).
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