The Dutch company behind Bedrolite, a CBD-dominant medical cannabis oil used by about seven UK patients with severe drug-resistant epilepsy, was declared bankrupt in October after the Dutch government ended its 23-year supply agreement. Families fear the remaining UK stock could last only six months, with no confirmed route to replacement. Meanwhile, the founding family is pursuing a restart, but the plan needs approximately €3 million and government cooperation to export.
For about seven people in the United Kingdom living with severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy, one specific cannabis medicine has become a lifeline. Bedrolite, produced from cannabis grown exclusively in the Netherlands, is now caught in the aftermath of its manufacturer's bankruptcy. Bedrocan's government supply contract ended after 23 years, the company entered bankruptcy in October, and families are being warned that the UK's remaining supply may last only another six months. The UK government says treatment can continue in the short term. What happens after that remains uncertain.
The Government Contract That Kept Bedrocan Alive for 23 Years
Bedrocan Nederland B.V. and Bedrocan International B.V. were declared bankrupt by the District Court of Northern Netherlands on October 7, 2026, with the rulings published October 8, following a suspension of payments that began September 24.
The bankruptcy ended a defining chapter for a company that had supplied the Dutch government's medical cannabis programme since 2003.
Founded in 1984, Bedrocan received its first medicinal cannabis licence in 2002. It became the government's exclusive contracted supplier the following year, producing five standardized varieties: Bedrocan, Bedrobinol, Bedica, Bediol and Bedrolite.
The company's distribution network also supplied international markets through the Dutch Office of Medicinal Cannabis (BMC), including Germany from 2008 and Italy.
The turning point came when the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport ended its service agreement with Bedrocan, effective January 1, 2026, ending the arrangement that had been the company's only sales channel for 23 years. Outstanding government orders continued after the agreement ended — Bedrocan kept cultivating for the BMC, with a final delivery scheduled for autumn 2026 — and in a November 6 update to parliament, Health Minister Sophie Hermans acknowledged that the end of the contract and the delayed new legislation do not align well. During the suspension-of-payments period, the government also declined to pay outstanding invoices early, before quality testing was completed.
A planned amendment to the Dutch Opium Act, intended to end the government's exclusive trading position and allow licensed companies to produce and trade medicinal cannabis directly, has been delayed further: the government confirmed on November 6 that the previously anticipated July 1, 2028 implementation date will not be met, and no replacement date has been set.
The company was also facing high energy costs while government purchases had declined. Dutch reporting put its largest individual debt as owed to its energy supplier.
On October 23, Femke Starrenburg, Bedrocan's head of corporate and marketing, explained why bankruptcy became unavoidable:
"During the suspension of payments procedure, the administrators worked extensively to find a solution that would allow the Dutch operations to continue. Unfortunately, no agreement could be reached with the Dutch Ministry of Health regarding the payment and transfer of the remaining medicinal cannabis batches. Without such an agreement, the financing required could not be secured, making bankruptcy unavoidable."
Approximately 70 employees were affected by the bankruptcy; Dutch reporting on the restart put the remaining core staff at about 12. The bankruptcy trustees, Arnold Gras and Fabian Verduijn, now oversee the company's remaining assets, including hundreds of kilos of stored medicinal cannabis.
Those stocks cannot simply be sold independently. Because the products fall under the Opium Act, their sale requires cooperation from the BMC.
Bedrocan's Danish subsidiary was separately declared bankrupt on October 29.
Why Seven UK Patients Cannot Simply Switch Oils
The immediate concern is Bedrolite, Bedrocan's CBD-dominant standardized cannabis variety.
Bedrolite contains no more than 1% THC. The Dutch Office of Medicinal Cannabis sets its CBD specification at a minimum of 5%, and recent batches have tested between roughly 8% and 9% CBD. Unlike the company's other varieties, Bedrolite was grown exclusively in the Netherlands. Its genetics are part of the Dutch bankruptcy estate, not the separately operated Danish facility.
In the United Kingdom, Bedrolite is prescribed as an unlicensed cannabis-based medicine on a named-patient basis for people with severe, treatment-resistant epilepsy, including Dravet syndrome and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.
The Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society estimated in October 2026 that approximately seven UK prescriptions were affected. A letter from five epilepsy charities to the Prime Minister also reflects the same number.
Three patients receive NHS prescriptions. The others rely on private prescriptions.
Families and clinicians have stressed that Bedrolite is not interchangeable with other cannabis products. For these patients, continuity of treatment is the central concern.
Alfie Went Eight Years Without a Seizure
The BBC's November 9 reporting brought the consequences into focus through the experiences of two families.
Alfie, 15, from Henley-in-Arden, developed severe epilepsy when he was eight months old. Before receiving Bedrolite, he experienced approximately 150 seizures a week.
He has been seizure-free for eight years on the medicine.
His mother, Hannah Deacon, led the campaign that secured his NHS prescription in 2018 and helped change UK law. She died in 2024.
His grandmother, Maggie Deacon, has continued campaigning on his behalf.
"Alfie wouldn't be with us if he didn't have this medicine, that's the reality," she told the BBC.
Maggie also raised concern that restarting treatment may not always restore the same response after a patient has stopped taking the medicine.
The second family featured by the BBC is that of Louis Petit, 23, from London.
Louis has been seizure-free since 2020 while taking Bedrolite alongside anti-seizure medications. He receives it through a private prescription after repeated refusals of NHS funding.
His mother, Emma Matthews, described the risk of losing access:
"It's a cliff-edge condition, if it's stopped, you could die that night."
Louis previously tried stopping the medicine, and his seizures returned immediately.
These are not simply concerns about a preferred product disappearing from the market. They are families worried about losing access to a treatment that has been associated with years without seizures.
Six Months of Supply, but What Happens After That?
The UK's supply chain is unusual because the oil is manufactured domestically using cannabis grown in the Netherlands.
Since 2022, Glasgow-based Target Healthcare has manufactured the Bedrolite oil from Dutch plant material.
NHS patients receive their prescriptions through Transvaal Apotheek, a pharmacy in The Hague.
Target Healthcare told families in October that it had enough Bedrolite stock to support existing patients for approximately six months. That is Target's own secured stock — a temporary buffer, not a long-term source of the Dutch plant material needed for continued production. The BBC reports that the UK is believed to have roughly six months of Bedrolite available.
After that stock is exhausted, continued production depends on obtaining a Dutch export licence for additional plant material.
The UK Department of Health and Social Care told the BBC:
"We recognise the importance of uninterrupted access to medicines for patients with severe, drug-resistant epilepsy, whose conditions are managed using unlicensed cannabis-based products for medicinal use. Access will remain in the short term for NHS and private UK patients, with sufficient stock currently available to support continued treatment into the coming months. We are continuing to work with the UK supplier and Dutch government to understand if additional stock can be made available."
That statement confirms short-term access but does not establish a long-term supply agreement or guarantee that additional Dutch material will reach the UK.
What The Hague Says About the Remaining Stock
A separate concern has emerged around the inventory still held in the Netherlands.
According to the families interviewed by the BBC, they have been told that Dutch authorities are preventing the remaining inventory from being exported in order to protect supplies for Dutch patients.
That claim has not been independently confirmed by a Dutch government authority, and no Dutch body has confirmed an export restriction.
The government's November 6 update to parliament addressed the remaining stock directly. After the bankruptcy, the trustees asked whether the State would buy the remaining inventory or help sell it. The State declined to buy the stock itself, saying sufficient medicinal cannabis is available for Dutch patients. It did cooperate in selling part of the stock to a foreign buyer — and, through that arrangement, was able to buy a batch of Bedrolite, the scarcest of the varieties, for the Dutch programme.
According to the November 6 update, BMC deliveries of Bedrolite to Dutch pharmacies are projected to last until the beginning of the third quarter of 2027, and Dutch stocks overall are expected to serve the country's approximately 7,000 patients into 2027, with the BMC planning a transition to imported cannabis through a European tender during 2027. What that leaves for export — and for the UK patients at the end of the chain — the government has not said.
Bedrocan itself confirmed to the BBC on November 9 that inventory remains available in the Netherlands.
"While Bedrocan Netherlands and Bedrocan International were declared bankrupt, there is still Bedrolite inventory available in the Netherlands"
The company also said:
"efforts are under way to secure a restart of the business."
It acknowledged being in contact with several UK families and said there was "clearly a great deal of concern about continuity of treatment."
A Restart Is Being Pursued, but €3 Million Is Still Needed
There is a potential route forward for Bedrocan's Dutch operations.
Reporting from RTV Noord, published November 9 through Cannabisindustrie.nl, indicates that bankruptcy trustee Arnold Gras is proceeding with a proposal from the founding Erkelens family.
The proposal was judged the strongest of several bids and would establish a new company, Erkelens Fytofarma, focused on producing cannabis raw materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients.
The plan would use a sale-and-leaseback arrangement involving the Emmeloord production site.
However, the restart is not secured.
Approximately €3 million is needed initially, and the family is still seeking an investor.
CEO Jacob Erkelens said:
"We are still cultivating Bedrolite in bankruptcy, and we aim to continue producing Bedrolite here in the Netherlands."
Even if the new business secures financing and resumes production, another obstacle remains: Dutch producers cannot independently sell cannabis to foreign buyers.
Exports must pass through the BMC.
That means a successful restart would still require a government-approved route to export Bedrolite material. Reopening the cultivation operation alone would not guarantee that UK patients could receive it.
The Clock Is Running on a Medicine That Cannot Be Replaced
Five UK epilepsy charities wrote to the Prime Minister on October 30, 2026, demanding action to secure continued Bedrolite supplies and establish a UK supply route. Families and campaigners are calling for the UK and Dutch governments to work toward a solution before the remaining supply runs out.
Bedrocan's bankruptcy followed the end of the government contract that had sustained its Dutch operations for more than two decades. The consequences now extend beyond the company, its employees and its creditors.
About seven UK patients depend on a specific medicine made from a specific Dutch cannabis variety. The UK government says short-term access is secured, while families fear the supply could run out within months.
The founding family's restart proposal offers a possible path forward, but it still needs financing, a functioning production operation and government cooperation to make exports possible.
The central question is no longer simply whether Bedrocan can survive bankruptcy. It is whether the governments involved can secure a route for Bedrolite before the patients who depend on it lose access.
Sources
- BBC News. “Families fear Bedrolite cannabis oil for epilepsy could run out.” November 9, 2026. Link
- Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. Update to the House of Representatives on medicinal cannabis and Bedrocan. November 6, 2026 (as reported by Cannabis Magazine and regionoordoostpolder.nl).
- MMJ Daily. Bedrocan bankruptcy and Erkelens restart reporting. October–November 2026.
- Cannabis Health. Bedrolite supply reporting. October 23, 2026.
- Medical Cannabis Clinicians Society. Bedrolite statement. October 20, 2026.
- Cannabisindustrie.nl. Bedrocan restart reporting (RTV Noord). November 9, 2026.
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