Creso Pharma launches medical cannabis pain lozenge in Brazil
Creso Pharma’s cannaQIX 50 medicinal cannabis lozenge for chronic pain sufferers will be available in Brazil under prescription.
Medical cannabis developer Creso Pharma (ASX: CPH) has announced yet another foray into new markets following the launch of its cannaQIX 50 lozenge in South America’s most populous country, Brazil.
Earlier today, Creso said it had commenced the importation and sale of its medicinal cannabis product, cannaQIX 50, to patients in Brazil with the help of its importation representative partner MedDepot Brasil.
The importation and direct to patient delivery agreement with MedDepot Brasil is for an initial term of three years.
With Creso supplying its CBD-based lozenge, MedDepot is being tasked with engaging its existing relationships with patients, doctors, clinics, hospitals, insurers, pharmacies, distributors, clinical research laboratories and government agencies within Brazil, as well as providing pivotal assistance with respect to navigating relevant laws and regulations in the country.
Creso said MedDepot serves as an “ideal strategic partner” for its entry into the Brazilian market with the relationship expected to be extended after the initial three-year term.
In addition to MedDepot, Creso has also engaged the services provided via its established partnership with SIN Solution, a company that has agreed to provide sales and marketing of Creso’s products through its well-established Call Center Service across Brazil.
SIN Solution specialises in facilitating market-access sales, as well as providing doctors and patients with various healthcare products in Brazil and across Latin America.
According to SIN Solution, it has direct access to more than 350,000 health professionals and over 200,000 patients, which Creso hopes to harness and monetise with its first product launch.
Marketing cannaQIX 50
cannaQIX 50 is Creso’s proprietary buccally formulated cannabidiol (CBD) lozenge, designed to support the management of chronic pain, specifically in relation to neuropathic and cancer diseases.
Each cannaQIX 50 lozenge contains 50mg of CBD, extracted from the hemp plant, with additional components also included – namely niacin, vitamins B6, B12, C, and zinc in a standardised pharma-grade formulation produced in Switzerland.
cannaQIX 50 comes in packs of 30 lozenges in a proprietary delivery formulation designed for buccal absorption and to dissolve in the mouth. Creso says this method works faster and more efficiently than tablets or capsules, which need to be swallowed and have a high percentage of their ingredients broken down when absorbed through the intestine and passed first through the liver.
By being dissolved in the mouth, the active ingredients enter the bloodstream directly, avoiding this first pass through the liver.
“We see that there is a great unmet need in the areas of neuropathic pain and pains related to cancer and other neurologic diseases in Brazil and we believe both MedDepot Brasil and SIN Solution are well placed to ensure our successful launch in the region,” said Dr Miri Halperin Wernli, co-founder and chief executive officer of Creso Pharma.
According to the company, the Latin American market is a key focus with the launch of cannaQIX 50 expected to put Creso in “prime position” to expand its marketability across the continent.
These sentiments were echoed by its partner SIN Solution.
“SIN Solution is in a good position to provide marketing and sales services combined with the needed doctors and patients’ support in this new evolving area,” said Sergio Rigueto director partner of SIN Solution.
Expansion plans
Creso is aiming to gradually expand its global market coverage following recent deals to move into the UK and the Middle East. Creso is also making progress in Canada, the current forerunner in cannabis commercialisation following the recent legalisation of recreational use of the drug nationwide.
As part of its interim reporting, Creso has confirmed that Health Canada has accepted its application for licensed cultivation in Nova Scotia. Currently, Creso intends to develop a “global centre for edible cannabis research and development” at its Nova Scotia facility and says that it is completing the “finishing touches” to its production line to ensure the company’s new products reach market shelves in 2019.
“The Canadian Federal legalisation of the recreational market has created a current and projected supply shortage making Mernova dried flower, branded Ritual Green, a hot commodity,” the company said.