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The total number of medical practitioners who have ever provided a medical document for a client who registered with a licensed marijuana producer was 10,433 at the end of September, up from 9,726 three months earlier, when data was first gathered.

Meanwhile, the pharmacy industry has been positioning itself to distribute medical cannabis.

Shoppers Drug Mart has lined up supply agreements with four licensed producers, including Tilray, and Shoppers parent company Loblaw has filed for a producers license which would allow it to distribute the drug. Other pharmacies such as PharmaChoice has also signed marijuana supply agreements.

The Canadian Pharmacists Association has also said pharmacies should play a leading role in the drug’s distribution.

Health Canada said recently in a consultation paper that it intends to work with the provinces and territories and the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory authorities on options to control the sale and display of cannabis to youth, which could include controlling them behind the counter at pharmacies.

Kennedy is optimistic that cannabis products will be sold at pharmacies by the end of the year.

He said Tilray had been in dialogue with Sandoz since mid-2017. Sandoz, whose focus is on generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars, brought in some individuals to explore medical cannabis products and the overall industry 18 months ago, said Kennedy.

The first phase of the companies’ alliance is to develop new products. The second phase, Kennedy said, is to leverage Sandoz’ supply chain and sales force to educate pharmacists about these new products, he added. The third phase would be to distribute co-branded Tilray Sandoz products to pharmacies across Canada by end of the year pending regulatory approvals.

“A lot of pharmaceutical companies are paying attention to what’s happening in this industry, and over the past few years we’ve had conversations with a few of them… This is a huge milestone for us,” said Kennedy.