The Australian cannabis market space continued to grow in April. The total number of approvals for use of medicinal cannabis in Australia now just over 6,100 since January 2018.
Data published by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) confirms that 1110 approvals for accessing cannabis were made in April. This is the highest number of monthly approvals yet.
Whilst this was a slower growth rate than the February to March jump, April was interrupted by Easter and ANZAC day holidays. This suggests that the underlying growth in cannabis is still very strong.
There have also been some reports of suppliers in the market struggling to keep pace with demand.
The vast majority of medicinal cannabis product available continues to be imported from Canada and the Netherlands. Additional local cultivation and manufacturing capacity is likely to come online later this year. Once locally sourced product is more broadly available, this should relieve supply pressure and hopefully lead to price reductions. Additional patients will then be more able to afford access to cannabis products.
Current trends would suggest that May might see close to 1,500 Special Access Scheme (Cat B) approvals, and as many as 2,500 by July. The monthly average growth rate has been around 28% for the past 12 months and shows no sign of abating.