Medicinal cannabis company, MGC Pharmaceuticals, has unveiled a new medicinal cannabis-based line for the Australian and New Zealand markets to be called “Mercury Pharma”, with its first product, Mercury Pharma 100, a prescription-only 100mg/mL cannabidiol or “CBD” solution.
The company has received purchase orders for over 2,000 product units already, which will see revenues of around $270,000 realised.
Co-founder and Managing Director of MGC Pharma, Roby Zomer, said: “The launch of Mercury Pharma brand and “MP100” so early in 2020 bodes well for the year ahead as MGC Pharma continues to follow its agenda to provide cost-effective affordable standardised phytocannabinoid based medicines to patients globally.
“The Mercury Pharma brand brings an alternative affordable high CBD prescription medicine to the Australian and New Zealand markets only, as well as adding a new product line to MGC Pharma’s offering”.
Cannabis plants contain about 500 chemical compounds with the two major cannabinoids or chemical compounds secreted in the cannabis plant being CBD and tetrahydrocannabinol, or “THC”. THC is the recreational, psychoactive and illegal cannabis drug.
CBD, however, is not psychoactive, meaning it will not get the user "high" and comes with a rapidly developing suite of medicinal uses.
According to the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, the most common uses of CBD are in the treatment of anxiety, schizophrenia, nausea, vomiting, inflammation and epilepsy.
In 2018, the biopharma company received a manufacturing license for its cutting edge manufacturing facility in Slovenia to commence producing cannabis-based medicinal products.
Since then it has established non-exclusive distribution agreements with Health House and Cannvalate, significantly improving the availability of its medical cannabis products under the Australian Special Access Scheme via an expanded network of clinics and pharmacies.
Health House pioneered the medicinal cannabis sector as an international distributor and Cannvalate connects suppliers of medicinal cannabis with doctors and pharmacies
COO of Cannvalate Pty Limited, Darryl Davies said; "Cannvalate are delighted to introduce MGC Pharma's latest range across our network. MP100 is a high-quality, cost-effective medication option that we expect to be extremely well received by both prescribing physicians and patients.
[MGC Pharmaceutical] continue to work towards lowering barriers for Australian patients and we expect this will be the start of significant growth in patient numbers for 2020."
CBD is legal in Australia under the Special Access [prescriptive] Scheme via doctors and MGC has permission from Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration to import its medicinal cannabis-based products for supply in either a clinical trial or under the Special Access Scheme.
The Special Access Scheme allows health practitioners to access therapeutic goods that are not on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods for their patients under exceptional clinical circumstances.
NB: This article is for general financial markets news purposes only and is not to be taken as an endorsement of, or advertisement for any individual product, medicine or drug.
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By Matt Birney
