Pot stock AusCann is about to start making solid hard shell cannabis capsules for the treatment of chronic pain, its first medicinal cannabis product line.

They haven’t said when production will start but do say they’ll be available on the market in the first six months of 2019.

AusCann (ASX:AC8) has appointed US-based PCI Pharma to manufacture the pills at its Australian facility, where it is licensed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA).

Little Green Pharma in West Australia is so far the only local supplier of medical cannabis products in the country. Queensland rival, unlisted MediFarm, hopes its products will be on the market soon as well.

AusCann is marketing to the 1.9 million Aussies with chronic neuropathic pain, via through the TGA’s Special Access Scheme (SAS) B.

SAS B is for doctors who wants prescribe unapproved treatments, such as cannabis, for patients under exceptional clinical circumstances. The only registered cannabis drugs in the world are Epidiolex for epilepsy and Sativex.

There are strict guidelines as to whether a patient qualifies for the SAS, such as death being imminent within a year or a history of non-response to currently approved treatments.

AusCann chief Elaine Darby said they chose PCI Pharma because of its track record in manufacturing safe doses of potent products.

“This allows us to bring our first hard shell capsules into the chronic pain market as quickly as possible while continuing to focus on the development of our second generation cannabinoid pharmaceutical products,” she said.

Meanwhile, pot stock Althea (ASX:AGH) has scored an export licence from the government’s Office of Drug Control (ODC).

It allows the company to export medicinal cannabis products or extracts manufactured here.

The ODC has been swamped by applications and has been slow to grant them.

See below for a table of who’s got what medicinal cannabis licences.

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