· 100 patients approved for Althea medicinal cannabis products since May 2018
· 42 doctors prescribing Althea products throughout Australia
· 100% approval rate for TGA applications to prescribe Althea products
This milestone signifies Althea’s rapidly growing position in Australia’s medicinal cannabis market driven through its strategy to improve Australian patient access to medicinal cannabis products by educating and supporting doctors to become prescribers and pharmacists to become suppliers.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) provides special pathways for doctors to apply for and prescribe medicinal cannabis, including the Special Access Scheme B (SAS B) and Authorised Prescribers (AP) status. Thirty-seven of the doctors prescribing Althea products utilised the SAS B application pathway, whilst five doctors were able to obtain AP status, with Althea’s support.
General practitioners (GPs), medical specialists and psychiatrists have now provided 100 patients with approval to access Althea’s medicinal cannabis products for a range of conditions. Althea’s products can be dispensed to patients through a network of more than 250 pharmacies across the country, specially selected by Althea to be located near to its prescribing doctors.
Althea CEO Joshua Fegan said: "To have reached 100 patients with Althea’s medicinal cannabis products in such a short amount of time is an achievement we’re incredibly proud of."
"Industry reports suggest that there are hundreds of thousands of Australians who may be eligible patients for medicinal cannabis."
"We’re focusing our efforts on educating mainstream doctors such as GPs, to truly open up access to medicinal cannabis for everyday Australians. While it’s great to see such a strong uptake, our work has only just begun."
"In the past, a lack of awareness coupled with the lengthy application processes for prescribers, has made it difficult for eligible patients to access medicinal cannabis. Getting our medical science liaison team members in front of medical practitioners to provide education, and showing how it can be done efficiently through our web platform Althea Concierge, is really hitting home," said Mr Fegan.
"We don’t want people who could benefit from medicinal cannabis to be inconvenienced through a lack of knowledge. It doesn’t have to be a grey area and we envisage a world where patients can talk confidently with their existing doctors about medicinal cannabis."
Althea was founded in Melbourne in 2017 with a view to acquiring the necessary licences and permits to import, cultivate, produce and supply medicinal cannabis for eligible patients across Australia. Through strategic supply and distribution partnerships, Althea has been able to commence sales of five Althea branded medicinal cannabis products in Australia.
Althea’s focus on patient care underpins its business strategy and its innovative web-based platform and mobile application, known as Althea Concierge, is designed to educate and support patient access to medicinal cannabis in Australia. Althea has also engaged a team of medical science liaisons to assist medical practitioners to become prescribers, and pharmacists to become suppliers, of Althea products.
