Australian medicinal cannabis companies have been given notification from the Therapeutic Goods Administration that approved cannabis products will become available for doctors to prescribe on the Special Access Scheme (SAS) from late Feb 2018.
Listed company Medlab said the arrangement would apply to its NanaBis (cannabis CBD/THC pain product) and NanaBidial (cannabis CBD epileptic seizure product).
The new arrangement also gives Medlab the go-ahead to import "significantly larger annual volumes of cannabis" the company said in an ASX announcement.
In the meantime, the company is undertaking its first clinical trial of NanaBis shortly at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital under the supervision of Professor Stephen Clarke, medical oncologist, palliative medicine specialist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney.
The trial will see NanaBis administered to seriously ill oncology patients to assist pain management in place of opioids.
Medlab ceo Sean Hall said the support from the TGA and the medical community was pleasing.
"In pursuing a clinical trial route, we are seeking to make our medicines distinctive, giving medical practitioners, government and industry stakeholders such as the Australian Medical Association (AMA) confidence in prescribing for our products," Hall said.
"AMA president, Dr Michael Gannon in Mar this year was quoted as saying 'Show us the scientific evidence and doctors will prescribe it [cannabis]'," he added.
"The effect of the TGA changes enable Medlab a faster route to commercialisation of our research."
Medlab management projections forecast the annual commercial value of its allowable importation of cannabis material to be approximately A$30m, or 12% of what is an estimated Australian market worth around $250m.
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