Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration has granted Australian Natural Therapeutics Group (ANTG) a license to produce large quantities of cannabis oil.
ANTG is one of Australia’s biggest producers of medical cannabis but will soon be the first producer of medical cannabis oil in NSW. Nationwide, there are only three other cannabis oil producers.
The company will begin producing medical cannabis oil in it’s Armidale facility as soon as the company holds its license receipt. ANTG currently produces four strains of medicinal cannabis flower and will soon be adding four new cannabis oils to its product range.
The company CEO Matt Cantelo has described this expansion as a win for medical cannabis patients, as producing cannabis oil locally will reduce the final cost. According to Cantelo, Australians with ailments like epilepsy-induced seizures are paying as much as $50,000 a year for medical cannabis oil. This is causing many people to source medical cannabis on the black market, where they run the risk of buying potentially-deadly synthetic cannabis.
Even patients treating other ailments are paying extortionate prices for their medication as a report from September shows that the average medical cannabis patient in Australia pays $384 a month for their prescription.
Cantelo believes ANTG will be able to reduce the cost of medicinal cannabis oil by fully manufacturing it within Australia. This will also result in a higher quality product, as Australian manufacturers adhere to stricter cannabis oil standards than Canadian producers.
ANTG’s new license is proof of the company’s premium manufacturing process, Cantelo says, as obtaining a license means ANTG is adhering to TGA’s standards for water quality, light density, and carbon dioxide levels. While this makes the licensing process more complicated, Cantelo feels it benefits the industry:
This high benchmark has been a welcome approach – it keeps the cowboys out of the industry.
ANTG will sell the new oils for a range of industrial and medical purposes. Australia’s cannabis industry is projected to be worth $1.5 billion by 2024.