Medicinal cannabis facility planned for Toowoomba

Medicinal cannabis company Medibis has announced long-term plans to build a multi-million-dollar medicinal cannabis facility in Toowoomba, Queensland. The world-class cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical facility is set to lead medicinal cannabis research and development to treat conditions such as chronic pain, epilepsy, anxiety and depression.

Cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical production became legal in Australia in 2016, with interest in the industry growing significantly since this time. GPs and specialists can now prescribe cannabis medications to patients for specific conditions, and there continues to be a growing body of global scientific research, supporting the application of cannabinoids in the treatment of a wide range of medical conditions.

A patient-centric approach

Medibis co-founders Angus Chapel and Andrew Calvert launched the company after identifying the need for a more patient-centric approach to medicinal cannabis. The company believes rigorous research and patient feedback are key to making efficacious cannabinoid medicines.

Medibis co-founders Angus Chapel and Andrew Calvert.

“Like most Australians, we’ve known many people directly affected by some of the debilitating conditions that cannabinoid-based treatments are known to help with — and we’ve been following the research closely for years,” Medibis Managing Director Chapel said.

“Early studies on treatments for chronic pain, epilepsy, anxiety, depression, cancer and sleep disorders have been incredibly promising. We’ve seen a huge need and potential here for Australia to not only catch up, but to become a leader in cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals and production — a natural product with potentially powerful impacts.

“Both of us were at a point in our lives where we wanted to do something with far greater direct impact. So when the opportunity to found Medibis arrived, we leapt at it. Three years on, we’ve never looked back.”

Research and potential treatments

Medibis’s early milestones have included a medicinal cannabis cultivation licence, recognition as a Major Project and completion of advanced feasibility engineering design.

The company plans to obtain a cannabis research licence and a manufacturing licence as part of its growth strategy. Most recently, Medibis secured a partnership with Israel’s largest and leading cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical company, BOL Pharma.

One of the cannabis formulations Medibis aims to make available to Australian patients is BOL Pharma’s 1/20% (THC/CBD) medicine, which was recently approved by Israel’s Ministry of Health for the treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder and epilepsy in children. Medibis aims to use the funds raised from this investment round to bring this treatment to Australia.

Medibis plans to ultimately cultivate, manufacture and distribute a range of products containing cannabis’s two major active components, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). These will be available as raw cannabis flower and oil formulations for treating conditions like Tourette Syndrome, chronic pain, HIV/AIDS and appetite stimulation, chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, epilepsy and fibromyalgia, and in palliative care.

Investment opportunity

From now until mid-July, Medibis is partnering with Birchal to invite investors to help raise between $1–3 million for their first stage, which includes bringing the Israeli products to market in Australia and preparing the company to build their production facility.

“Our team has invested years doing our due diligence to find the right location, systems and technology,” Technical Director Andrew Calvert said.

“Our high-tech facility will produce consistently high-quality products in a very energy-efficient way. And that’s great for patients because it means they get the same thing every time, at a great cost.

“Toowoomba, being the fastest-growing economic development area in regional Australia and having optimal climatic conditions for growing cannabis, were just some of the reasons we’ve proudly decided to call this vibrant community home.

“We also knew the exact site we needed — from a sustainability, energy, and cost-saving and medicinal potency perspective.

“The precinct we’re in promotes a ‘circular economy’ — where energy sources, product and waste streams are integrated and shared amongst many businesses to maximise operational efficiencies.

“It’s an incredibly exciting time to invite Australians and conscious investors to be part of building our company, and help us transform research and health care, while putting Toowoomba and Australia on the global healthcare map.”

To register your interest to invest in Medibis, visit https://www.birchal.com/company/medibis before mid-July 2021.

Main image caption: The design of the Medibis production facility in Toowoomba.