While Australia has yet to legalise all forms of cannabis, the country is a growing medical cannabis and hemp market, with many companies manufacturing, researching and exporting the plant-based product.
Australian cannabis companies listed on the ASX are operating in this space, creating products such as medicines, flower and hemp products; there are also ASX-listed cannabis companies producing recreational cannabis in other countries.
Market cap: AU$751.17 million; share price: AU$0.145
The largest medical cannabis company on the ASX is Botanix Pharmaceuticals. Based in Perth, Western Australia, this biopharmaceutical firm specialises in cannabinoid-based dermatological therapies. According to the company, its exclusive Permetrex technology helps its products permeate the skin, and treat skin conditions from below the surface.
Market cap: AU$72.25 million; share price: AU$0.069
Market cap: AU$49.61 million; share price: AU$0.115
Contract drug manufacturing company IDT Australia is licensed to make active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished-dose forms of medicines and treatments. Its license covers medicinal cannabis products for local and international markets.
Market cap: AU$46.07 million; share price: AU$0.079
Vitura Health subsidiary Burleigh Heads Cannabis distributes medical cannabis products via the CanView online platform. CanView allows patients to preview medical cannabis offerings, and doctors and pharmacists can then prescribe and distribute treatments.
The company operates CDA Clinics, a network of clinics staffed with healthcare professionals offering consultation on plant-based medications including medical cannabis. It also has a 75.5 percent position in Cannadoc, which offers nationwide telehealth consultations with patients seeking access to medicinal cannabis.
Market cap: AU$27.76 million; share price: AU$0.082
Little Green Pharma is a medical cannabis company that places a strong emphasis on affordability for patients. The company was the “first Australian producer and exporter of cannabis medicines.” The company sells branded and white label products that are available in orally ingestible oils as well as flower, and are grown and manufactured in Australia and Denmark.
Its products are available in Australia, as well as European companies such as Germany, the UK and France. Little Green Pharma has plans to target other European markets too.
During the period, the company also completed its first commercial shipment to France. Little Green Pharma is now working to develop new brands and product formulations with multiple releases planned over the remainder of 2024.
Market cap: AU$21.91 million; share price: AU$0.016
Victoria-based ECS Botanics bills itself as Australia’s largest B2B medicinal cannabis cultivator and manufacturer. At its Australian Therapeutic Goods-licensed facilities, the company uses regenerative and organic agricultural practices and renewable energy sources to manufacture GMP certified products.
Market cap: AU$17.76 million; share price: AU$0.037
Cann Group is a medical cannabis grower and manufacturer that sells its products within Australia as well as outside the country. The agricultural technology company places a strong emphasis on research, genetics and breeding, creating high-quality products for the medical market.
In 2017, Cann Group was the first company to be granted a cannabis research licence from Australia’s Office of Drug Control. It marked another first when it received its medicinal cannabis cultivation licence from the entity the following month.
Market cap: AU$16.46 million; share price: AU$0.33
Biopharmaceutical company Argent Biopharma is developing drug therapies using nanotechnology with a focus on the central nervous system and immunology treatments. Its investigational medicinal products are being prescribed through early patient access programs in the UK, US, Europe and Australia.
Market cap: AU$10.74 million; share price: AU$0.027
Hemp stocks are also found on the ASX. Operating in the US and Australia, advanced manufacturing and technology firm Ecofibre has three vertically integrated businesses: sustainable polymers and natural materials; natural health care and hemp seed genetics.
Via one of the world’s largest collections of hemp seed genetics, Ecofibre Genetics supply’s seed genetics to the hemp fibre and grain industry in both the US and Australia. EOF Bio, its majority-owned US-based clinical-stage biotechnology company, produces cannabinoid-based drugs with an initial focus on women’s health and endometriosis.
Through Ananda Health, a leading US manufacturer of cannabinoid-based health products for human and pet consumption, the company provides CBD products in Australia and the US, targeting sleep disorders, pain, anxiety, endometriosis and other gynecological diseases.
Market cap: AU$8.11 million; share price: AU$0.02
Althea is an international producer, supplier and exporter of pharmaceutical-grade medicinal marijuana. The company operates in legal cannabis markets across the world including in North America, Europe and Australia.
This is an updated version of an article first published by the Investing News Network in 2019.
Securities Disclosure: I, Melissa Pistilli, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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