Wellnex Life to launch medicinal cannabis products into emerging SAS-B market with Chemist Warehouse
Australia’s medicinal cannabis market was estimated at $423 million in 2022, and predicted to grow further.
Customer-focused healthcare company Wellnex Life (ASX: WNX) has unveiled plans to launch medicinal cannabis products into Australia’s rapidly emerging Special Access Scheme Category B (SAS-B) market.
The company has added Chemist Warehouse to its joint venture with OneLife Botanicals to conduct the launch, which will introduce five new co-branded medicinal cannabis products before year-end.
The national pharmacy retailer will retain a 10% equity in the joint venture.
Wellnex will also distribute the products into additional pharmaceutical channels, which complement the national pharmacy retailer’s extensive network.
OnTracka agreement
Wellnex confirmed the joint venture had also reached an exclusive agreement with Australian data collection company OnTracka to develop a telehealth application for SAS-B customers.
The app will connect patients with authorised prescribers and relevant cannabis products, to ensure a seamless process for prescription and health management.
OnTracka is funded by the New South Wales Government and has participated in that state’s “Going Global” export program due to its international market potential.
Rapidly-transforming industry
Wellnex chief executive officer George Karafotias was pleased to be entering the SAS-B market.
“It is a rapidly-transforming industry which is seeing a surge in consumer demand with growing recognition of the legitimacy of cannabis-based medicines by patients and prescribers,” he said.
He said the medicinal cannabis market in Australia continues to expand year-on-year in revenue and patient numbers.
Projected sales in 2022 increased 84% to $423 million and the number of patients in the same period increased by 133% to around 105,000.
Growth of this market is expected to continue with increasing patient numbers and product demand.
Special Access Scheme Category B
Special Access Scheme Category B (or SAS-B) allows doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis products, which are not registered for marketing in Australia.
The scheme is usually reserved for people suffering from a serious (but not life-threatening) illness where the treating doctor is of the opinion that no registered therapy is likely to cure or adequately control the condition.
SAS-B medicines may include those which are available in other countries but have not yet been approved domestically, or that were previously approved and have been removed for commercial or other reasons.
Approval for these medicines can only be granted upon application by a doctor, with applications reviewed on a case-by-case basis depending on patient circumstances.
According to latest figures from the Therapeutic Goods Administration’s medicinal cannabis data dashboard, the total number of SAS-B approvals for the first half of 2022 hit 60,289 compared to 51,148 in the previous corresponding period.