ASX Health Stocks: Cann's Mildura cannabis facility gets GMP licence, unlocking export markets

Cann Group’s Mildura facility has been granted GMP licence
Paradigm receives patent application acceptance by IP Australia
Starpharma to relaunch VIRALZEE with LloydsPharmacy in the UK

Cannabis company Cann Group (ASX:CAN) rose 17% this morning after being granted a GMP (good manufacturing practice) licence to manufacture therapeutic goods at its Mildura facility.

The Mildura GMP Licence will enable Cann to manufacture Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) and hard capsules, and to conduct GMP-approved activities at the facility’s existing chemistry and microbiology laboratories.

It will also allow the production of capsules for Satipharm, the company acquired by Cann in 2021.

The licence also means that medicinal cannabis manufactured at Mildura can be made available to patients via the TGA’s approved access pathways in Australia, as well as for export markets.

“GMP licencing is the regulatory capstone of the Mildura facility, allowing us to cultivate, extract, manufacture, test, and supply finished products entirely in-house,” says Cann’s CEO, Peter Crock.

“With the licence in place, we can now add additional GMP capabilities in response to market demands.”

Cann Group share price today:

Paradigm’s Australian patent application accepted

Paradigm Biopharma (ASX:PAR) has received official acceptance of its Australian patent application by IP Australia.

The patent claim refers to “a method of improving knee function where the subject has a bone marrow lesion, and osteoarthritis in a knee by administering pentosan polysulfate sodium”.

The same claim had been rejected by the US Patent Office earlier in March, with Paradigm saying that it would file a response.

The Paradigm share price jumped 12.5% on the news.

Other notable ASX health announcements today

Starpharma Holdings (ASX:SPL) announced that its VIRALEZE nasal spray has been relaunched by LloydsPharmacy Online in the UK.

LloydsPharmacy is one of the largest pharmacy groups in the UK, supplying over 14,000 independent UK pharmacies.

This latest development means that VIRALEZE will be exclusively contracted to LloydsPharmacy under its existing sales and distribution agreement.

“VIRALEZE will be particularly useful in the winter cold and flu season, given its broad-spectrum of activity against multiple cold and respiratory viruses,” said Jackie Fairley, CEO of Starpharma.

Race Oncology (ASX:RAC) rose 8% after revealing that Zantrene protects the hearts of mice from the permanent damage caused by anthracyclines (specifically doxorubicin), when chemotherapy doses for bone marrow treatment are increased.

These results support future planned clinical trials of Zantrene combined anthracyclines, to potentially treat human cancer patients.

“When combined with the historical clinical data around Zantrene heart safety, we believe Zantrene may offer millions of patients a unique combination of cardioprotection with enhanced anti-cancer efficacy,” said Race’s chief scientific officer, Dr Daniel Tillett.