Queensland-based cannabis company Medibis has put its plans for a A$180m manufacturing facility on ice, citing difficult market conditions and a widespread reluctance among GPs to prescribe medicinal cannabis products.
The company secured A$1.8m through a crowdfunding campaign backed by more than 900 investors in 2021, with ambitions to roll out a line of cannabinoid formulations and ultimately construct its own production facility near Toowoomba.
Executive director Angus Chapel told The Chronicle the project has been placed on hold.
He said: "There's no real movement, the changing market and appetite for investors, the timing didn't line up. We're still executing our product launch, we're working to make sure we've got a product to market.
"Some [start-ups] that didn't get that go-to-market process right have gone belly up and been snapped up. It's still on our radar, but we want to make sure the patient base is satisfied."
According to its website, Medibis is “focused on bringing high-quality, consistent cannabis medicine to Australian patients with our network of growing partners around the world”.
Chapel said many doctors continue to resist prescribing medicinal cannabis, with patients showing considerably more enthusiasm for the treatment than their GPs.
"It's a much-faster uptake from patients than prescribers – patients are passionate about finding out, but prescribers are much less willing," he said.
He called for greater medicinal cannabis education to be built into training for the next generation of GPs "because the current cohort didn't have that".
Despite the facility delay, Chapel said the company's patient numbers continue to grow, currently standing at around 1,000, leaving Medibis well positioned to either build or acquire a facility down the line.
"We're in a really good position, we're not holding any debt and, with all of the options with products, it gives us an idea of what people are needing or using," he said.
Chapel also suggested the decision to hold off had proven wise, saying the firm had "dodged a bullet" by exercising patience.
"It was absolutely the right thing to do, the timing and scale needs to be in line with the market. Right now, if I had that investment money I would pull the lever, but we're a year or two down the track from [that]."
