New Zealand pharmaceutical company Aether Pacific Pharmaceuticals has signed a fresh agreement to distribute and sell its medicinal cannabis products throughout Australia.
Through memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with Alliance Healthcare Australia, the two companies will establish a 50/50 joint venture pharmacy in New Zealand. The facility will fill prescriptions generated through Aether Pacific’s telehealth platform, as well as those written by doctors at its two physical clinics – known as The Pain Clinic – in Christchurch and Nelson.
The new pharmacy will be based in Christchurch and is expected to open before the end of March.
A separate agreement will allow Alliance to market, sell, and distribute Aether’s dried cannabis flower throughout Australia, with products available either white-labelled or sold under Aether’s Medical Kiwi brand.
This is the third distribution deal Aether has finalised in recent months, coming after agreements with Novachem in September and MediCann Health.
The Alliance partnership will get underway “shortly”, Aether said, beginning with the delivery of 10g jars of cannabis strains grown by its cultivation arm, Medical Kiwi.
The products will carry a THC content of between 17% and 25%.
Aether Pacific Pharmaceuticals chairman Aldo Miccio said the partnership had the potential to deliver “significant sales growth” in the Australian market.
“We are pleased to work with Alliance Healthcare Australia to foster these distribution pathways in a strategic way which leverages the respective strengths of both companies,” he said.
“Within the broader growth of the medicinal cannabis industry both in Australia and globally, we are focused on bringing an innovative partnership approach to capitalise on the sector’s momentum.
“In that context, the MOUs provide the company with a significantly expanded addressable market while also further strengthening our working relationship with Alliance.”
Alliance Healthcare Australia chief executive Brendon Rose added: “We are excited to be working with the Aether Pacific team on these strategic distribution initiatives, with the aim of providing Australian consumers with access to best-in-class medicinal cannabis products grown to the highest quality standards in New Zealand.
“The MOUs establish the framework for Alliance to take immediate delivery of premium cannabis flower for distribution in the Australian market, while also setting up a longer-term JV operating structure for a holistic farm-to-patient distribution model that aligns with the incentives of all stakeholders and, importantly, our customers.”
