Pharmacy cannabis markups

SOME pharmacies are imposing profit margins of up to 140% on medicinal cannabis products, according to a new report from Cannabis Access Clinics.

The study has analysed product pricing over the last 12 months as new items have come onto the market, with data collected from suppliers granted authority from the Office of Drug Control to supply medicinal cannabis in Australia.

On average pharmacists marked up medicinal cannabis products by a more reasonable 26%, with reasons for higher markups including the additional handling costs of a Schedule 8 medicine and the additional tracking paperwork required with prescription of unregistered cannabis medicines.

An expanding pool of suppliers in the market had led to price cuts, with oil-based cannabinoids declining 11% over the last 12 months to about 30c per mg.

The floor price for cannabis oils has fallen “drastically,” down almost 50% to just 10c per mg for a CBD only product, the report found.

The study noted that product prices differed substantially depending on the type of cannabinoid, with psychoactive THC items, currently S8, coming in at 50c per mg on average.

That was more than twice the cost of CBD-only products, reflecting lower production costs for the less restricted items.

Cannabis Access Clinics also analysed patient costs based on actual monthly dosages across three treatment areas.

Chronic pain patients paid $353 per month on average for legal medicinal cannabis in Q3 of 2018, while epilepsy treatments, requiring much higher dosage prescriptions, cost $992 monthly.

For other conditions such as insomnia, fibromyalgia, anxiety and multiple sclerosis the average monthly patient spend was $212.

The full report is available online at cannabisaccessclinics.com.au.