Australian medical cannabis and hemp healthcare company Bod Australia (ASX: BDA) has reported a big FY2021 third quarter.
The firm’s invoiced sales for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 were $2,744,000; a 188% increase. This was largely thanks to delivery of Bod’s CBD and hemp products to various European markets and the UK following binding purchase orders from Health and Happiness Group Limited for various nutraceuticals, skincare, tinctures, hemp seed oil and lifestyle products.
There were also strong prescription sales of Bod’s MediCabilis product – a pharmaceutical grade cannabidiol (CBD) based formulation – which were up 61%. The company notes 62% of MediCabilis prescriptions filled during the quarter were repeat prescriptions.
“This is an ongoing and pleasing trend, which highlights the high level of patient and physician satisfaction for Bod’s cannabis products in the Australian market,” said the company.
A total of 3,789 MediCabilis prescriptions were filled during the quarter, bringing the total number of units sold during FY2021 to 7,730; already far ahead of FY2020 prescription numbers that were estimated at 4,000.
Among other highlights of the quarter was Bod entering into an agreement with Drug Science UK for a trial of MediCabilis products in managing symptoms associated with long-COVID. This is a phenomenon where COVID-19 symptoms continue for weeks or months beyond the initial illness, and appears to be quite common. As yet there are no proven treatments for long-COVID symptoms and given the number of people likely to be afflicted before this pandemic is done, there is a growing need for appropriate treatments.
As for the current quarter and looking further ahead, among its activities Bod intends finalising its registration strategy for new Schedule 3 CBD products in the Australian market. It’s certainly not the only one – there appears to be quite bit of competition for getting the first products to market that will be available without requiring a prescription.
The company said it had $9.2m in cash at bank at the end of the quarter, leaving it very well placed to pursue a number of growth objectives that also include international product and market expansion.
