The specialist Aussie health & wellness brand, Wellnex Life (ASX: WNX), has just opened a vast new, $500 million front on the Australian and New Zealand medicinal cannabis landscape, ensuring WNX products will be available to the local market before Christmas.

The breakthrough moment comes via the company’s joint venture (JV) partner OneLife Botanicals (OneLife) which has completed the acquisition of one of Australia’s leading cannabis manufacturing facilities, MediPharm Labs Australia (MediPharm).

The deal secures for WNX, unfettered access to the absolutely cracking assets of MediPharm’s lauded Australian facility.

The agreement also delivers the required specialised licensing, invaluable operational know-how and experience, as well as the trust of both the Australian and New Zealand customers which have currently been served from the facility.

Half billion dollar special access market is the sassy play

Most critically, the acquisition of MediPharm by OneLife places Wellnex right at the centre of the Special Access Market (SAS), valued at circa $500 million annually, with WNX’s med-cannabis product portfolio to be available before the end of the calendar year.

The acquisition will also enable Wellnex to be one of the first to obtain approval for an over-the-counter medicinal cannabis  product under Schedule 3 (S3) classification.

S3 classification will allow pharmacists to dispense medicinal cannabis products without the need for a prescription for the first time.

Wellnex has commenced the process to obtain registration of medicinal cannabis products under the S3 scheme and anticipates registration will be completed by the end of CY23.

Upon obtaining this approval Wellnex will be issued a 4% stake in OneLife, giving Wellnex ownership across the whole value chain.

Unlocking the OTC medicinal cannabis opportunity

Karafotias said that the acquisition puts Wellnex a step closer to obtaining approval  for over-the-counter medicinal cannabis products under Schedule 3 classification.

“This opens up a new, untapped market for medicinal cannabis products that don’t require a prescription, and has considerable public demand.

“We are keenly focused on being one of the first companies to deliver a Schedule 3 product to the market.

“Upon TGA approval of an S3 product, Wellnex will have access to an end-to-end supply chain to deliver high-quality medicinal cannabis over the counter  to Australians.”

‘Future of Medicinal Cannabis’ Summit

Wellnex Life Chief Strategy Officer Zack Bozinovski will be presenting at ‘The Future of Medicinal Cannabis’ Summit on Thursday, 13th October at 12pm (AEDT).

Panellists will outline the opportunity for first-movers in the medicinal cannabis market and how businesses are positioning themselves, as well as the challenges and key milestones to getting TGA approval and successfully taking market share. Click here to register for the session.

Share Purchase Plan target met

Meanwhile, WNX reported on Monday that the current Share Purchase Plan (SPP) has seen strong shareholder support with the raise target now met.

All Directors are participating in the SPP, which has been extended to Monday, 17 October 2022 to allow eligible shareholders additional time to submit applications and arrange settlement in light of recent public holidays and postal delays.

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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