FoliuMed, a medical cannabis company with manufacturing operations in the German city of Limburg and cultivation in South America, shipped the biggest ever delivery of medical cannabis from Colombia to Australia. Australia is after Germany the second largest medical cannabis market outside North America with over 100,000 patients. “This is the first of two shipments which allow our customer to supply about 5% of Australian demand at less than half the cost compared to local production,” says FoliuMed Founder and CEO, Oliver Zugel.

With Australian wages and energy prices amongst the highest in the world, producing affordable medical cannabis locally has proven to be a challenge. This has become a big issue for patients who pay over 200 Australian Dollars for a monthly dose, available only under prescription. Unlike in Germany – where cannabis is covered by health insurance – patients “down under” pay for their medicine out of pocket. “This limits access to medical cannabis to the well-heeled or those willing to take the risk to buy more cheaply from the black market,” says Zugel.

Foliumed’s shipment consists of pharmaceutical cannabis ingredients produced at its Colombian cultivation site at the foothills of the Andes. “With ideal climatic conditions, our energy consumption is minimal and we grow the plants organically,” says FoliuMed co-founder and LATAM CEO Diego Felipe Navarro. “Our teams in Colombia and Germany have worked for over a year with our customer, the health authorities and the Colombian government to ensure we adhere to the strict quality standards imposed by the Australian drug regulator TGA.”

The TGA recently further increased the quality demands on medical cannabis imports making them comparable to how pharmaceutical products must be manufactured locally and in Europe. “Given our German operations are EU-GMP certified, we offer Australian importers a full range of affordable solutions compliant with the new regulations,” explains Zugel.