Impression Healthcare secures licences to facilitate medical cannabis activities
Impression Healthcare has received the requisite licences to supply scheduled cannabinoid substances on a wholesale basis.
One of Australia’s newest entrants to the medical cannabis industry, Impression Healthcare (ASX: IHL), has reached what it says is an important milestone in its bid to radically diversify its existing dental impression business.
The company said it has received the relevant licences from Australia’s Department of Health in Victoria to sell or supply scheduled cannabinoid substances on a wholesale basis.
Having the licences in place facilitates all aspects of Impression’s medicinal cannabis activities, including sales of cannabinoid medicines throughout Australia under the Special Access Scheme and Authorised Prescribers. Impression is also able to import and export cannabinoid medicines to and from Australia which paves the way for it to access to wider (and more populous) markets.
Impression now has the right to supply cannabis, cannabidiol (CBD), tetrahydrocannabinols (THC) and dronabinol – in essence, the full suite of marketable products that are currently experiencing a surge in consumer market interest globally.
The news means that the company can now hit the ground running in monetising its newly-formed medicinal cannabis business unit. Furthermore, Impression can now commence executing commercial activity using its recently-established relationships with product suppliers that were set up proactively over the past three months.
Receipt of its set of licences means that Impression now has the green light to fulfil its commercial relationships with the prospect of actual sales already on the horizon.
Building its medical cannabis business
Impression first announced its move into the medical cannabis industry late last year and gave some initial hints regarding its intended product range.
In October, Impression said it intended to be “market-ready” by the first quarter of 2019 – a target the company has achieved in part due to today’s announcement.
To stake its claim in the early-stage development of Australia’s medicinal cannabis industry, Impression has already struck multiple deals, including a deal with US-based cannabis supplier AXIM Biotechnologies, a licencing deal with Resolution Chemicals for Dronabinol in Australia, the US and beyond and an MoU with a cannabis oils producer.
The series of commercial agreements struck by Impression with various third-party suppliers ensures it can take care of handling and distribution “as per necessary” to enable scheduled cannabinoid medicines to be made available for patient distribution in Australia.
Under the company’s current plans, it intends to not only import products and make them available under Australia’s special access scheme, but also, provide Impression with a broader opportunity to become a licensed exporter of burgeoning Australian products to other countries such as New Zealand and the world market.
“We are delighted to achieve our licencing objectives well ahead of anticipated timing, which is a testament to the quality of our pharmaceutical advisors,” said Mr Joel Latham, chief executive officer of Impression Healthcare.
“Being permitted to sell and supply cannabinoid medicines throughout Australia works to unlock the value in the relationships we have already formed with our proposed suppliers. It also enables the company to pursue a wider range of opportunities in the emergent cannabis field,” said Mr Latham.