Little Green Pharma Rides the Local Medicinal Cannabis Boom but Keeps Its Eyes on the European Prize
Little Green Pharma Rides the Local Medicinal Cannabis Boom but Keeps Its Eyes on the European Prize
Little Green Pharma (ASX:LGP) chief executive Paul Long attests to official data showing the rapid uptake of medical cannabis in Australia – albeit with some informal anecdotal observations.
Little Green Pharma (ASX: LGP) 首席執行官保羅·朗證實，官方數據顯示，澳大利亞對醫用大麻的迅速吸收——儘管有一些非正式的軼事觀察。
The Perth-based, ASX-listed grower and provider of cannabis oils and flowers estimates that seven years after medicinal cannabis was legalised under stringent conditions, 2.5 to 3 per cent of the populace is accessing scripts from authorised prescribing doctors.
這家總部位於珀斯、在澳大利亞證券交易所上市的大麻油和花卉種植商和供應商估計，在藥用大麻在嚴格條件下合法化七年後，有2.5％至3％的民衆正在訪問授權處方醫生的腳本。
This tallies with Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) data showing authorised prescribers dealt with 318,774 new patients in the January to June period of 2023, 130 per cent higher than a year previously.
這與治療用品管理局（TGA）的數據相吻合，該數據顯示，授權處方者在2023年1月至6月期間治療了318,774名新患者，比去年同期增加了130％。
More than 800,000 users have signed up since 2016, when medical cannabis was legalised under strict access conditions.
自2016年醫用大麻在嚴格的准入條件下合法化以來，已有超過80萬名用戶註冊。
"The Australian medical cannabis market currently is one of the highest-performing in the world in terms of take-up," Long says.
龍說：“就吸收率而言，澳大利亞醫用大麻市場目前是世界上表現最高的市場之一。”
"It has become a very large market with significant growth yet to come."
“它已經成爲一個非常大的市場，未來還會有顯著的增長。”
As always, medical cannabis trends are blurred with illicit usage – and the company believes that as much as 10 per cent of Australians are accessing the latter.
與往常一樣，醫用大麻的趨勢因非法使用而變得模糊不清——該公司認爲，多達10％的澳大利亞人正在使用後者。
Long believes that 70-80 per cent of illegal users in effect are self-medicating, typically for pain, insomnia and anxiety. After all, obtaining supply illicitly including over the internet has been cheaper and easier than accessing the cannabis via prescription.
龍認爲，實際上有70-80％的非法使用者是自我用藥，通常用於治療疼痛、失眠和焦慮。畢竟，包括通過互聯網在內的非法獲取大麻比通過處方獲得大麻更便宜、更容易。
But a fundamental change is happening: the price of the legal material and the contraband has reached parity over the last six months, partly the result of the legal products falling in price because of intense competition and better economies of scale.
但是正在發生根本性的變化：在過去的六個月中，合法材料和違禁品的價格已達到平價，部分原因是激烈的競爭和規模經濟的改善，合法產品的價格下跌。
"Once you get to the point of parity and [legal] access becomes easier, people ask why they should buy poor-quality product of unknown provenance when they can get quality assured legal supply for the same price?"
“一旦達到平等的地步，[合法] 准入變得更容易，人們就會問，既然他們能夠以相同的價格獲得有質量保證的合法供應，爲什麼還要購買來源不明的劣質產品？”
Depending on the product, Little Green estimates it has a 5 to 10 per cent of the market, which has trended to flower product over oil derivatives.
根據產品的不同，Little Green估計其佔有5％至10％的市場份額，該市場傾向於開花產品而不是石油衍生品。
This makes Little Green a leading local supplier, with company deriving about 85 per cent of its revenue from these shores.
這使Little Green成爲當地領先的供應商，該公司約有85％的收入來自這些海岸。
Despite Australia's ongoing potential, Europe has been a key focus for Little Green and that staunchly remains the case.
儘管澳大利亞具有持續的潛力，但歐洲一直是Little Green關注的焦點，而且情況仍然如此。
Since listing in February 2020, Little Green has produced from a compliant facility in WA's Busselton region. In mid 2021 the company paid a knock-down $21 million to Canada's Canopy Growth for a state-of-the-art facility in Denmark, thus turbo-charging its European adventure.
自2020年2月上市以來，Little Green一直使用西澳大利亞州巴瑟爾頓地區的一家合規工廠進行生產。2021年年中，該公司向加拿大的Canopy Growth支付了2100萬澳元，在丹麥建造了一座最先進的設施，從而推動了其在歐洲的冒險之旅。
Long points to several positive trends, including an overall tightening of European Union quality standards that play into the hands of certified incumbents such as Little Green.
Long指出，有幾個積極的趨勢，包括歐盟質量標準的全面收緊，這正是Little Green等認證現有企業的利益所在。
In France, the government plans legislation that will change substantially how medical cannabis are integrated into the healthcare system.
在法國，政府計劃通過立法，從根本上改變醫用大麻融入醫療保健系統的方式。
The key ramification is that legal medical cannabis would be available only via a small number of highly scrutinised providers, with reimbursement available.
關鍵後果是，合法的醫用大麻只能通過少數受到嚴格審查的提供商獲得，並且可以報銷。
Little Green has the inside running, because it has been one of only three providers during a three-year pilot period that ends in March next year. In a nine-month transition period beyond that, supply will remain limited to these providers.
Little Green擁有內部運營，因爲在明年3月結束的三年試點期內，它一直是僅有的三家供應商之一。在此後的九個月過渡期內，供應仍將僅限於這些提供商。
Beyond that, new contenders will need to submit a substantial dossier.
除此之外，新的競爭者還需要提交一份實質性的檔案。
Meanwhile, Germany proposes to legalise recreational cannabis use. But politics are at play and the Bundestag (Parliament) this month postponed a vote on the enabling legislation, pushing the effective date to at least next year.
同時，德國提議將休閒大麻的使用合法化。但是政治在起作用，聯邦議院（議會）本月推遲了對授權立法的投票，將生效日期至少推遲到明年。
Given the 'self-medicating' effect, any eventual legislation is likely to have a flow-on effect on medicinal cannabis demand.
鑑於 “自我用藥” 作用，任何最終的立法都可能對藥用大麻需求產生持續影響。
But Long is not buying the hype about German cannabis volumes rising up to tenfold with sanctioned recreational usage.
但是，朗並不認同這樣的炒作，即隨着娛樂用途的制裁，德國的大麻量將上升到十倍。
"We're sticking to our swim lane as a really trusted medicinal cannabis brand," he says. "We have done that since day one and have a strong rapport with the regulators."
他說：“作爲一個真正值得信賴的藥用大麻品牌，我們堅持自己的游泳道。”“我們從第一天起就這樣做了，並且與監管機構有着密切的融洽關係。”
The company's chief operating officer since 2018, Long succeeded company founder and major shareholder Fleta Solomon as CEO in August, after her seven-year stint. Solomon remains an executive director.
朗自2018年起擔任公司首席運營官，在任職七年後，於8月接替公司創始人兼大股東弗萊塔·所羅門擔任首席執行官。所羅門仍然是執行董事。
Little Green's strategy is unchanged – to build the local business while unlocking high-value European markets – but there's been a tweak or two.
Little Green的戰略沒有改變——在開拓高價值歐洲市場的同時發展本地業務——但有一兩個調整。
"We saw the Australian market as ticking along, but the growth has been larger than we thought it would be," Long says.
龍說：“我們認爲澳大利亞市場正在蓬勃發展，但增長比我們想象的要大。”
"Meanwhile, those emerging European markets have taken a little longer to open up, but the timing is fantastic for us now."
“同時，這些新興的歐洲市場花了更長的時間才開放，但現在的時機對我們來說真是太棒了。”
After a soft September (second) quarter, management has also intensified its focus on achieving consistent profitability and cash flow.
在經歷了9月（第二季度）疲軟之後，管理層也更加註重實現穩定的盈利能力和現金流。
Little Green recorded revenue of $6.22 million, down 5 per cent on the June quarter but 30 per cent higher year-on-year. The company recorded cash outflows of $1.97 million.
Little Green的收入爲622萬美元，比6月的季度下降5％，但同比增長30％。該公司錄得197萬美元的現金流出。
Long admits that revenue was "underdone", although a one-off payment from a research partnership boosted the June quarter comparison.
朗承認，儘管研究合作伙伴的一次性付款提振了6月季度的比較，但收入 “表現不佳”。
Little Green ended the stanza with $6.2 million cash in the bank and a $3 million research and development tax rebate yet to come.
Little Green以620萬美元的銀行現金結束了這場比賽，還有300萬美元的研發退稅尚未到來。
Then there's the proposed demerger of the company's psychedelic drug arm Reset Mind Sciences, which is subject to a shareholder vote at its December 11 AGM.
然後是擬議拆分該公司的迷幻藥物部門Reset Mind Sciences，該部門將在12月11日的股東周年大會上進行表決。
By way of an in-specie distribution, the bifurcation stems from management's belief that the market was ascribing little value to the business, which is developing a variant of synthetic psilocybin (magic mushrooms) as a depression treatment.
通過實物分配，這種分歧源於管理層的信念，即市場對該業務的價值微乎其微，該公司正在開發一種合成迷幻藥（****）作爲抑鬱症的治療藥物。
As well as refocusing Little Green on cannabis, the spin-off will reduce Little Green's mainly fixed cost base by $100,000 per month. Little Green's coffers will also be bolstered after Reset repays a $2 million loan to the former mothership.
除了將Little Green的重點重新放在大麻上外，該分拆還將使Little Green的主要固定成本基礎每月減少10萬美元。在Reset向這位前母艦償還200萬美元的貸款後，Little Green的國庫也將得到加強。
Currently, Little Green gleans about 85 per cent of its revenue from Australia and the remainder from Europe.
目前，Little Green約有85％的收入來自澳大利亞，其餘來自歐洲。
"For the foreseeable future the focus will be on revenue growth in Australia, but in 18 months to two years we would expect it to flip the other way with Europe contributing the lion's share," Long says.
龍說：“在可預見的將來，重點將放在澳大利亞的收入增長上，但我們預計在18個月至兩年內，澳大利亞的收入將反過來，歐洲將貢獻最大的份額。”
Despite the strong medicinal cannabis take-up locally, Long expects the market to rationalise, given about 100 suppliers are competing with 600 to 700 brands.
儘管當地藥用大麻的使用率很高，但龍預計，鑑於大約有100家供應商正在與600至700個品牌競爭，市場將實現合理化。
In contrast to the rush of five years ago, few new players are applying for cultivation licences.
與五年前的熱潮形成鮮明對比的是，很少有新玩家申請種植許可證。
"In talking to the prescribing doctors, we know they only have the headspace to understand and prescribe five or six brands," he says.
他說：“在與處方醫生交談時，我們知道他們只有足夠的空間來理解和開出五六個品牌的處方。”
"We don't think things are sustainable the way they are and there will be consolidation. But being vertically integrated gives Little Green a big advantage so we are well placed to manage that."
“我們認爲事情不像現在這樣是可持續的，而且會有整合。但是垂直整合爲Little Green帶來了很大的優勢，因此我們完全有能力對此進行管理。”
Long says the local and European tailwinds and the Reset demerger bode well for Little Green shares, which have lost 70 per cent of their value since listing in February 2020 and are trading at about half of the company's net asset backing.
龍說，本地和歐洲的利好因素以及重置分拆對Little Green股票來說是個好兆頭。自2020年2月上市以來，Little Green股票已經下跌了70％，交易價格約爲公司淨資產支持的一半。
Long-time investor Thorney investments is the biggest shareholder with an 11 per cent stake, while Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting accounts for 9 per cent and Solomon has just over 7 per cent.
長期投資者索尼投資是最大的股東，持有11％的股份，而吉娜·裏內哈特的漢考克勘探公司佔9％，所羅門的股份剛剛超過7％。
"Investor sentiment has been soft for the last two years, but it feels like strong tailwinds are developing," Long says.
龍說：“在過去的兩年中，投資者情緒一直疲軟，但感覺強勁的利好因素正在形成。”
譯文內容由第三人軟體翻譯。