Australian pharmaceutical company Althea Group Holdings Limited’s (ASX:AGH) wholly-owned subsidiary’s MyAccess Clinics has secured a new patient referral agreement and received further CQC approvals for additional clinic locations in the UK.
MyAccess Clinics has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Drug Science, an independent scientific committee which is conducting the UK’s first national pilot for medical cannabis. The pilot, Project Twenty21, aims to enrol 20,000 patients before the end of 2021.
Althea CEO Josh Fegan said that under the MOU, Drug Science can refer patients to MyAccess Clinics for assessment by its prescribers for inclusion and treatment in Project Twenty21.
MyAccess Clinics’ prescribers will be able to provide assessment services for the full Project Twenty21 product formulary. Patients will pay regular MyAccess Clinics consultation fees (£150 initial consultation and £50 for follow up consultations).
Mr Fegan said that in parallel to the MOU, the company continues to see strong growth across MyAccess Clinics’ key metrics, despite the recent disruptions caused by the COVID-19 lockdowns.
Over the last two months, MyAccess Clinics received almost double the number of web-based enquiries, increasing from 339 to 673. There was also a significant rise in month-on-month patient consultations, which were up 50% over the same period. Prescriptions saw a 94% conversion rate from completed patient consultation to prescription for medical cannabis.
In response to COVID-19, MyAccess Clinics also accelerated the rollout of its telehealth services, which allow prescribers to conduct video consultations with patients located anywhere in the UK.
MyAccess Clinics can provide telehealth services due to its Care Quality Commission (CQC) licence, which it obtained from the independent regulator of health and social care in England in Q4 CY19 [ASX Announcement: 14 November 2019].
The CQC has also recently approved five new clinic locations – bringing the total number of MyAccess Clinics up to seven. In addition to the existing clinics in London and Bristol, MyAccess Clinics now has approval for a second location in London as well as clinics in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.
Approval of the CQC licence was a significant milestone in the Company’s UK expansion plans and it has provided further regulatory acceptance of cannabis-based medicines being used as a treatment option.
We are very pleased with the progress MyAccess Clinics is making in the UK, despite the challenges caused by COVID-19,” Mr Fegan said.
“Project Twenty21 will not only create additional patient consultation opportunities for our clinics, but will also yield valuable data that can be used to strengthen the case for wider use of cannabis-based medicines and the need for reimbursement through the NHS.
“We are excited to be participating in the project and are pleased to see UK patients gaining increasing access to Althea’s high-quality medical cannabis products.”
