Althea Group Holdings Ltd’s (ASX:AGH) wholly-owned subsidiary Althea Company Pty Ltd has been granted a cannabis manufacture licence by the Australian Government’s Office of Drug Control.
The licence provides Althea authorisation to manufacture extracts and tinctures of cannabis and cannabis resin according to relevant manufacture permits.
READ: Althea reaches 100 patients for medicinal cannabis products in five months
Althea chief executive officer Josh Fegan said the company was excited to receive its manufacture licence.
He said: “Coupled with the existing medicinal cannabis licence, Althea can now proceed with the next phase of planning for our Victorian-based production facility.
“Althea shareholders can look forward to a vertically-integrated, ‘seed-to-sale’, state of the art medicinal cannabis operation, comparable to that of our Canadian partner Aphria.”
Partnership with Canadian producer
Althea’s partner Aphria Inc (TSE:APH) is one of Canada’s lowest-cost producers and suppliers of medicinal cannabis.
The Ontario-based producer favours the most natural growing conditions available and is committed to providing pharma-grade medical cannabis and quality patient care while balancing economics and returns to shareholders.
Aphria chief executive officer Vic Neufeld noted the milestone its Australian partner had achieved in receiving its manufacture licence.
He said: “This is another step towards ensuring Australian patients have access to high-quality medicinal cannabis.”
Aphria holds a 25% interest in Althea.
Aiming for 1,000 patients
Fegan said the granting of the manufacture licence was further validation of Althea’s business model.
He added: “Patients approved for Althea medicinal cannabis products have quickly surpassed the recent 100 patient milestone, with 127 patients now approved.
“Similarly, the number of doctors prescribing Althea products has increased from 42 to 50 in the last two weeks – and we are just getting started.
“Our aim is to reach 1,000 patients by this time next year and the comprehensive work we are doing educating mainstream doctors across Australia makes that a distinct possibility.”
Five medicinal cannabis products available in Australia
Althea was founded in 2017 and has through strategic supply and distribution partnerships started sale of five Althea-branded medicinal cannabis products in Australia.
The Melbourne-based cannabis company’s focus on patient care underpins its business strategy and its web-based platform and mobile application Althea Concierge is designed to educate and support patient access to medicinal cannabis.