The Auscann Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AC8) share price has leaped 10% today following the release of its low-dose cannabinoid capsules.
Shares in AusCann are currently trading at 29.7 cents, up from 26 cents at yesterday's close and a low of 17 cents in December.
The medicinal cannabis pharmaceutical company today announced that it has completed the manufacturing, testing and release of low-dose cannabinoid-based capsules in a commercial batch.
Customised cannabinoid dosing
In December, AusCann announced the successful manufacture, testing and release of a commercial batch of cannabinoid-based capsules.
Today, AusCann announced it had achieved the same milestone with a low-dose presentation of the capsules. This confirms AusCann's ability to customise cannabinoid dosing for its capsules which is critical for individualised patient treatment.
The company is on-target and progressing towards its goal of having its hard-shell capsules commercially available for doctors to prescribe during the first half of 2020.
Controlled dose formulations
The Therapeutic Goods Administration's guidance suggests that the general principle for medicinal cannabis dosing should be "start low, go slow". According to the company, it is therefore imperative to provide doctors and their patients with controlled dose formulations in different doses to allow for personalised treatment.
AusCann's ability to customise dosing while ensuring that each capsule is true to label and produced on a commercial scale will assist in providing it with a competitive advantage.
AusCann CEO Ido Kanyon said, "Auscann has set out to develop cannabinoid-based, controlled-dose capsules patients need to enable accurate dose titration in a convenient formulation for patients and healthcare professionals. Our ability to customise dosing in an accurate and scalable way will enable doctors to personalise dosing. Providing true to label customised dosing and enabling customisable treatment of the patient is what differentiates our product in the market."
Clinical evidence and market expansion
AusCann's capsules provide a medical solution that offers regulated doses in conformance with pharmaceutical quality conformance and regulatory requirements.
Reliable, stable, and standardised medicines are critical to generating quality clinical evidence for cannabinoid-based medicines. This evidence is a prerequisite to market expansion and medical acceptance by healthcare professionals.
AusCann intends to make its capsules commercially available for prescription to patients in Australia in the first half of 2020 through the Therapeutic Goods Administration's special access scheme and authorised prescriber scheme.
Kanyon said, "we are committed, upon receiving physician and patient feedback from our clinical evaluation, to improving and setting the standard in health outcomes."
