Wellnex Life will launch five new medicinal cannabis products with leading pharmacy retailer Chemist Warehouse as it looks to gain a strong foothold in the burgeoning sector.

Wellness brand and product manufacturer Wellnex Life (ASX:WNX) has added Chemist Warehouse to its SAS-B medicinal cannabis joint venture (JV) alongside OneLife Botanicals.

Chemist Warehouse will receive 10% equity in the JV, which will initially launch five new medicinal cannabis products under a new jointly developed and owned brand with the leading pharmacy retailer.

The first of these products is set to be delivered by the end of FY23. WNX will also distribute the products to additional pharmacy channels that will complement the extensive Chemist Warehouse network.

New telehealth technology

To complement the launch of the new medicinal cannabis products, the JV has reached an exclusive agreement with OnTracka, a long-term participant in the medical cannabis industry.

Using their deep industry expertise and data, OnTracka will develop a new telehealth application that will connect patients with authorised prescribers and relevant cannabis products, to ensure a seamless process for prescription and management for patients.

OnTracka was an early mover in developing patient-focused technology to change the way patients can receive healthcare and have access to clinical research programs from their mobile phones.

The platform is built to be CFR Part 11 compliant and has a partnership with the School of Pharmacy at Sydney University to complete a retrospective study on the de-identified data collected in the platform.

OnTracka has secured funding from the NSW Government and participated in the Investment NSW Going-Global program due to the high-export potential of the technology.

Medicinal cannabis market primed for growth

The Special Access Scheme Category B (SAS-B) allows medical practitioners to prescribe medicinal cannabis products to patients not included in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods.

The medicinal cannabis market in Australia continues to expand year-on-year both in revenue and patients, with projected sales increasing 84% in 2022 to ~$423 million.

According to FreshLeaf Analytics data, the number of patients using medicinal cannabis increased by 133% to a projected 105,000 patients in 2022.

Growth of this market is expected to continue in the years ahead with increasing active patients and demand for these products.

The company also plans to be one of the first to enter the over-the-counter (OTC) medicinal cannabis market under the Schedule 3 (S3) classification. Wellnex expects the S3 market – which removes the prescription requirement hurdle for consumers – to be significantly larger than the SAS-B market, representing a significant opportunity for the company.

Big start to 2023

It has been a productive start to the year for WNX which in February announced delivery of the first of its Pharmacy Own products to Clifford Hallam Healthcare (CH2).

The Pharmacy Own brand is wholly-owned by WNX and is expected to deliver significant sales and enhanced margins to the wider group.

WNX CEO George Karafotias said he was excited to see the company now get a foothold in the burgeoning medicinal cannabis industry through its JV with Chemist Warehouse and OnTracka.

“We are excited to be entering a rapidly transforming industry which is seeing surging consumer demand with growing recognition of the legitimacy of cannabis-based medicine by patients and prescribers,” he said.

Join a briefing

Wellnex CEO George Karafotias will be holding an online investor briefing tomorrow, Wednesday 15th March at 11am (AEDT), where he will discuss the medicinal cannabis opportunity open to Wellnex. Click here to book in or request a replay.

This article was developed in collaboration with Wellnex Life, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.

This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.

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