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News.com.au
22-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Biocurious: The cannabis stocks that stand out in a field of weeds
Cannabis suppliers are struggling to differentiate themselves in a commoditised market Regulators have lax telehealth prescribers in their sights Althea Group has sold its medical pot arm in favour of THC-infused beverages Having sprouted in a field of hope and hype eleven years ago, the ASX medicinal cannabis sector has wilted in the face of unrealistic expectations and misguided strategies. Demand isn't the problem: patients have embraced medical weed zealously since it was legalised a decade ago. Globally, most western countries have sanctioned both medical usage and many have condoned recreational indulgence (including most US states). Because there's only two approved cannabis treatments, local dispensing is largely carried out via an authorised prescriber scheme. In the six months to December 2024, these docs wrote 377,840 prescriptions. Of these, 230,091 were for products with a THC content of more than 98%. Patients aren't mucking around. What's not to like? The answer is rampant oversupply of the green stuff coupled with the rise of telehealth clinics, some of which are being criticised for alleged 'tick and flick' dispensing practices. Echoing Australian Medical Association concerns, Little Green Pharma (ASX:LGP) CEO Paul Long refers to 'poor actors' in the local market. 'Reports constantly refer to a handful of doctors, often junior doctors that are either being coerced, or paid exorbitant money to write a huge volume of THC scripts,' he says. 'I agree it is an issue and calling it out for the long-term growth of our industry is important." He adds hundreds of thousands have tried medical cannabis when nothing has worked, with great success. Reflecting the 'commoditised' market, Althea Group (ASX:AGH) in May sold its local medical cannabis business, Tasmanian Botanics Pty Ltd for a knock-down $1 million. 'The market has become irrational,' says Althea CEO Joshua Fegan. 'It's very saturated, with product from places like Canada, South Africa and Colombia'. He says most of the consumption is by way of dried flower, which implies folk might be smoking the devil's lettuce for jollies rather than using it medicinally. We'll delve further into Althea's new direction below. The dope on how to get it right While most suppliers have withered, a handful prosper via differentiated strategies and perhaps a bit of luck. They are producing meaningful revenues and – in some cases - profits. The Perth-based Little Green Pharma derives 80% of its revenue from the local market, but its greater fortunes align to the rapidly evolving European market. Germany is in the throes of partial legalisation. In France, the company supplies a pilot program that's a precursor to legalisation. Little Green's owns a production facility in Denmark – Europe's biggest – purchased from Canada's Canopy Growth for a knock-down $20 million three years ago. Two hours from the German border, the facility provides a streamlined route to the biggest Continental markets. 'It's very unlikely a site like this will be built again in the foreseeable future,' Little Green CEO Paul Long says. Meanwhile, the company's Busselton facility becomes a 'craft' producer of a small amount of slowly cured, hand trimmed, genetically superior stuff. Naturally, this attracts a better margin. In the year to March 2025 Little Green grew its revenue by 43%, to a record $36.8 million 'against a backdrop of significant regulatory change and intense competition'. European revenues doubled. Adjusted for non-cash items, Little Green managed underlying earnings of $2.9 million compared with a previous $1.6 million loss. From gummies to suppositories Bioxyne (ASX:BXN) has a modest $64 million market cap, but that's big enough to confer 'sector leader' status. Bioxyne's engine room is Breathe Life Sciences (BLS), acquired via scrip in 2023. BLS makes and distributes medical cannabis and other consumer health products, either under its own brands or third-party labels. (locally, Bioxyne is also the only licensed maker of MDMA and psilocybin for authorised prescribers and pyschedelic clinical trials). In 2019 the company launched in the UK and Japan via its well-known Dr Watson brand, covering everything from gummies, to vapes to suppositories. BLS too has entered the German market with a deal to supply a minimum 1.6 tonnes of cannabis flower and finished product to two clients. The company expects the agreement will reap a minimum of $5.6 million of revenue in the 2025-26 year. Ja, das ist gut! Bioxyne CEO Sam Watson expects German demand to rapidly overtake the $1 billion a year Australian market. On June 12 the company upgraded full-revenue expectations from $25 million to $28 million, a lofty step up from the previous year's $9.65 million. The Ebay of medicinal dope Formerly known as Cronos Australia, Vitura Health (ASX:VIT) doesn't produce any of its own material, but operates a marketplace that sells hundreds of flowers and oils from third party suppliers. Vitura also has expanded into prescription nicotine vapes. The company has built a network of physical and online prescribers, mainly via acquisition. Vitura owns the Canview marketplace, Doctors on Demand telehealth business, CDA Clinics (medical cannabis telehealth) and the clinic chain Candor Medical. In May, Vitura's 50% joint venture Flora acquired the digital platform Heyday Medical, 'one of Australia's most respected medicinal cannabis clinics'. Established in 2020, the chain claims to have serviced more than more than 5000 patients. Last November Flora acquired the Releaf Group, which operates telehealth and physical clinics. In a March quarter update, Vitura said full-year revenue was unlikely to meet the targeted 10% improvement. But the June quarter implies a yearly run rate of $138 million, up 11%. Management also expects a 20% improvement on last year's normalised underlying earnings of $8.4 million. Putting the pep into soft drinks Coming back to Althea, the company's new schtick is entering the North American market for THC-infused beverages. (THC is the psychoactive component of cannabis). Yep, these bevvies are legal in Canada and the US and are sold in bottle shops alongside alcohol. Althea's foray is by way of its subsidiary Peak. Althea's Fegan says when Peak started producing in 2021, only 4% of cannabis consumers had tried these drinks. Now, the number is more like one-quarter of them. He says the drinks have a similar effect to a similar sized serve of alcohol, but without the hangover. 'It ticks a lot of boxes as a good consumer product,' he says. Peak's competitive edge is its technique to produce the THC emulsion, without the 'planty' taste of dope. Peak's offerings include seltzers, sodas and mocktails – but it's not yet putting the 'pep' into Pepsi. Peak Canada has just launched its own brand Snap Back, a heady mix of THC and rosin (pine resin). By December Althea expects to have four or five US production sites, as close to distributors as possible. 'These big alcohol companies are looking closely at this space and our job is to develop drinks for those type of companies and produce them at scale," Fegan says. In the December half, Althea derived $8.2 million of revenue in Canada and the company expects this to grow during the summer months. Given the sale of its Australian business, Althea in May withdrew its full-year guidance of revenue between $26-33 million and underlying earnings of $800,000 to $1.1 million. Althea lost $2.6 million in the March quarter. But Fegan says the company should be cash flow positive without the drag of the divested Australian business.
Al Arabiya
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Saudi Arabia says it welcomes joint Western statement on Gaza
Saudi Arabia said on Tuesday it welcomes the statement issued by a group of Western countries calling for an immediate end to the war in Gaza, saying that the Kingdom rejects Israel's practices in preventing aid and the targeting of civilians. Developing
Malay Mail
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Malay Mail
UK, France, 23 countries demand immediate end to Gaza conflict, denounce Israel's ‘inhumane killing' of Palestinians
LONDON, July 22 — A group of 25 Western countries including Britain, France, and Canada said on Monday Israel must immediately end its war in Gaza and criticised what they called the 'inhumane killing' of Palestinians, including hundreds near food distribution sites. The countries in a joint statement condemned what they called the 'drip feeding of aid' to Palestinians in Gaza and said it was 'horrifying' that more than 800 civilians had been killed while seeking aid. The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, which the United States and Israel backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations. 'The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity,' the countries' foreign ministers said in a joint statement. 'The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths.' The call by about 20 European countries, as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand, for an end to the war in Gaza and the delivery of aid comes from many countries which are allied with Israel and its most important backer, the United States. Among those calling for an end to the war are four out of five countries in the so-called Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance, which includes the US Israel's foreign ministry said the statement was 'disconnected from reality' and it would send the wrong message to Hamas. Palestinians transport casualties of Israeli fire, who were seeking aid in northern Gaza, according to medics, to Al-Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City on July 20, 2025. — Reuters pic 'The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas's role and responsibility for the situation,' the Israeli statement said. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar later said he spoke with his British counterpart David Lammy on Monday on regional issues, including Gaza. He blamed Hamas 'for the suffering of the population and the continuation of the war'. The US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, called the statement 'disgusting' and said blaming Israel was 'irrational' because Hamas rejects every proposal to end the war. Israel expands war The plea from the other Western nations came as Israeli tanks pushed into southern and eastern districts of the Gazan city of Deir al-Balah for the first time on Monday. Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of the war that began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, with the latest deaths reported on Monday as Israel began a new incursion in central Gaza. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation uses private US security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing the UN-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation. Palestinians gather to receive food from a charity kitchen, amidst a hunger crisis, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip on July 20, 2025. — Reuters pic The UN has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which the GHF denies. The countries behind the statement said Israel was denying essential humanitarian assistance and called on the country to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law. They urged Israel to immediately lift restrictions to allow the flow of aid and to enable humanitarian organisations and the United Nations to operate safely and effectively. They added they were 'prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace' for Israelis and Palestinians. Separately, the British government also set out a £60 million humanitarian aid package for Gaza. — Reuters
Reuters
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Reuters
UK, France and 23 other nations condemn Israel over 'inhumane killing' of civilians
LONDON, July 21 (Reuters) - A group of 25 Western countries including Britain, France, and Canada said on Monday Israel must immediately end its war in Gaza and criticised what they called the "inhumane killing" of Palestinians, including hundreds near food distribution sites. The countries in a joint statement condemned what they called the "drip feeding of aid" to Palestinians in Gaza and said it was "horrifying" that more than 800 civilians had been killed while seeking aid. The majority of those killed were in the vicinity of Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) sites, which the United States and Israel backed to take over aid distribution in Gaza from a network led by the United Nations. "The Israeli government's aid delivery model is dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity," the countries' foreign ministers said in a joint statement. "The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths." Israel's foreign ministry said the statement was "disconnected from reality" and it would send the wrong message to Hamas. "The statement fails to focus the pressure on Hamas and fails to recognise Hamas's role and responsibility for the situation," the Israeli statement said. Much of Gaza has been reduced to a wasteland during more than 21 months of the war that began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 59,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities, with the latest deaths reported on Monday as Israel began a new incursion in central Gaza. The call by about 20 European countries as well as Canada, Australia and New Zealand for an end to the war in Gaza and the delivery of aid comes from many countries which are allied with Israel and its most important backer, the United States. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation uses private U.S. security and logistics companies to get supplies into Gaza, largely bypassing the U.N.-led system that Israel alleges has let Hamas-led militants loot aid shipments intended for civilians. Hamas denies the accusation. The U.N. has called the GHF's model unsafe and a breach of humanitarian impartiality standards, which the GHF denies. The countries behind the statement said Israel was denying essential humanitarian assistance and called on the country to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law. They urged Israel to immediately lift restrictions to allow the flow of aid and to enable humanitarian organisations and the United Nations to operate safely and effectively. They added they were "prepared to take further action to support an immediate ceasefire and a political pathway to security and peace" for Israelis and Palestinians.
France 24
21-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
War in Gaza 'must end now' says France and 24 nations in joint plea
Since the start of the war, nearly all of Gaza's population of more than two million has been displaced at least once. More than two dozen Western countries called for an immediate end to the war in Gaza on Monday, saying that suffering there had "reached new depths" as Israel's military expanded its operations to the central city of Deir el-Balah. After more than 21 months of fighting that have triggered catastrophic humanitarian conditions for Gaza's more than two million people, Israeli allies Britain, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries, plus the EU, said in a joint statement that the war "must end now". "The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths," the signatories added, urging a negotiated ceasefire, the release of hostages held by Palestinian militants and the free flow of much-needed aid. The plea came as Deir el-Balah came under intense shelling on Monday, after Israel's military warned of imminent action in an area where it had not previously operated. To display this content from YouTube, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. Accept Manage my choices One of your browser extensions seems to be blocking the video player from loading. To watch this content, you may need to disable it on this site. Try again © France 24 03:29 The military a day earlier had ordered those in the central Gaza area to leave immediately as it was expanding operations, including "in an area where it has not operated before". Between 50,000 and 80,000 people were in the area when the evacuation order was issued, according to initial estimates from the UN's humanitarian agency OCHA. Deir el-Balah resident Abdullah Abu Saleem, 48, told AFP on Monday that "during the night, we heard huge and powerful explosions shaking the area as if it were an earthquake". He said this was "due to artillery shelling in the south-central part of Deir el-Balah and the southeastern area". "We are extremely worried and fearful that the army is planning a ground operation in Deir el-Balah and the central camps where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are sheltering," he added. 'Extremely critical' In their statement, the Western countries also denounced Israel's aid delivery model in Gaza, saying it was "dangerous, fuels instability and deprives Gazans of human dignity". Read morePope Leo slams 'barbarity' of Gaza war as Israeli gunfire kills at least 93 at aid point The UN has recorded 875 people killed in Gaza while trying to get food since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month aid blockade. "We condemn the drip feeding of aid and the inhumane killing of civilians, including children, seeking to meet their most basic needs of water and food," the statement said. AFP photos from Deir el-Balah showed plumes of dark smoke billowing into the sky. © Eyad Baba, AFP Since the start of the war, nearly all of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once by repeated Israeli evacuation orders. According to OCHA, the latest order means that 87.8 percent of the territory is now under evacuation orders or within Israeli militarised zones. Hamdi Abu Mughseeb, 50, told AFP that he and his family had fled northwards from their tent south of Deir el-Balah at dawn following a night of intense shelling. "There is no safe place anywhere in the Gaza Strip," he said. "I don't know where we can go." Mai Elawawda, communications officer in Gaza for the UK-based charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, said the situation was "extremely critical", describing shelling "all around our office, and military vehicles are just 400 metres (1,300 feet) away from our colleagues and their families". 'Shocked and alarmed' The families of hostages held in Gaza since Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel triggered the war said they were "shocked and alarmed" by reports of evacuation orders for parts of Deir el-Balah. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum demanded political and military authorities "to clearly explain why the offensive in the Deir el-Balah area does not put the hostages at serious risk". Of the 251 hostages taken during Hamas's attack on Israel, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead. Civil defence spokesman Bassal reported at least 15 people killed by Israeli forces across Gaza on Monday. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the agency and other parties. Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed 59,029 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Hamas's 2023 attack that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. (FRANCE 24 with AFP)
