When the medical cannabis industry started in Australia in 2018, the number of patients was not as high as in other countries; one of the main reasons for that was the reluctance of doctors to prescribe cannabis-based medications as a consequence of the lack of education on the subject. Back then, the majority of cannabis products were imported, which continued until the first cannabis company got up and running. “In 2018, Little Green Pharma was the first company to produce Australian-grown medicines,” says Fleta Solomon, managing director of Little Green Pharma. “As doctors became more educated, the number of patients increased. More recently, other Australian cannabis companies have started to release cannabis medicines, thus generally improving the domestic supply chain.”
Fleta Solomon, managing director of Little Green Pharma
Australian standards
The relatively long time that it took said companies to come online was due to the strictness and rigidity of the Australian standards. “Regulators came up with a very strict framework that would allow the country as a whole to be an international player in this industry,” Fleta continues. “This is because Australian agricultural products are renowned for their quality, and Australian Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) are EU compliant due to a mutual recognition agreement. Asked about export opportunities, Fleta replied “For sustainable business operations, it is essential Australian businesses export their cannabis medicines. Reaching additional markets with commercial sales volumes results in operations with economies of scale. This ultimately lowers the cost of production which is passed on to patients through more affordable medicines and can help thousands of more people across the globe. Thus far, we have exported in the UK, and soon to Germany. We are also looking at other EU and South American countries. We are also keeping an eye on the Asian market, even though it is still at an embryonal stage.”
Growing indoors
Little Green Pharma grows its cannabis completely indoors. “We are going to be recognized as one of the leaders in medical cannabis,” Fleta further explains. “And we believe that to get a very pure product, it is important to be able to completely control all your input and environment when it comes to cultivation. We could not do such a thing in a greenhouse. We control temperature, humidity, light, and the nutritional program, which is most probably the most important thing for finished human medicines. We are fortunate that Australia has a very strong agricultural background, and thus we brought techniques from other industries and applied them to cannabis. Ultimately, it is all about consistency and producing products with very little variations.”
Growing cannabis with consistent quality surely is not an easy endeavor, and there are a number of factors that are crucial to take into consideration. “The industry is still in a very young stage,” Fleta continues. “Therefore, it can be challenging to find the information on how to start a medicinal cannabis company in a brand-new industry. The writing of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), for instance, was one of many challenges faced. These are carefully considered and time consuming essential documents, both from a regulatory and practical standpoint.”
Increasing demand and patient count
Thus, Little Green Pharma is poised to be one of the most important Australian cannabis companies, also in light of the increasing demand and patient count. “The demand continues to grow,” Fleta points out. “There are now over 50,000 approvals for medicines given by the Australian government. Doctors are also becoming more educated, and more clinics are getting traction to prescribe cannabis medicines. Of course, there is still room for improvement, there is still an education gap and not all doctors are aware of the endocannabinoid system or the role cannabis medicines can play. The industry as a whole has an important task ahead – educate all stakeholders on the benefits of medicinal cannabis and help make it easier for patients to access the medicines they need.”
For more information:
Little Green Pharma
PO Box 690, West Perth WA 6872
+61 8 6280 0050
[email protected]
littlegreenpharma.com