In a nondescript shed somewhere in WA’s idyllic south west region history isn’t being made, it’s being grown.

Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size In just 16 months medical cannabis outfit Little Green Pharma managed to jump every regulatory hurdle and beat out a wave of bigger companies wanting a slice of the burgeoning medicinal cannabis industry. The WA-based company started on a park bench in early 2017, when managing director Fleta Solomon met with a retiring scientist to discuss how a technology he created, to improve the delivery of active ingredients to the body, could be used in the emerging medical cannabis sector. “We shared a vision to not only help thousands of people across the globe with WA-grown cannabinoid medicines, but in the way cannabinoid therapies could be delivered,” Ms Solomon said. After that conversation, Ms Solomon hit the pavement looking for cash; first securing backing from some friends, then eventually banks. The company has since secured more than 20 different licenses and permits from state and federal authorities to become the first in Australia to successfully cultivate and manufacture its own medicinal cannabis. What a legal grow room looks like Last week, in a first for the company, it invited this masthead to tour their top-secret grow facility in WA’s South West.


What became immediately apparent is how serious the company took security of the facility and anonymity of its staff. Not wanting to jeopardise any of its hard-fought licenses, there were military-style precautions to be adhered to. We met Ms Solomon at a pre-arranged location, signed non-disclosure agreements, were handed blindfolds and told to turn our phones off. Little Green Pharma managing director Fleta Solomon. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola We were then driven blindly on a winding route before arriving at the facility, which was unremarkable apart from an imposing fence and fake business name on the front. Even through the first few doors we couldn’t spot anything unusual. It wasn’t until after we donned our hair nets, lab coats and shoe covers that the uniqueness of the facility became apparent. It took a few seconds for our eyes to adjust, but when they did we found ourselves surrounded by a sea of bright green cannabis plants sprouting from huge pots, soaking up the light beaming from rows of halogen globes above.


I was expecting to be overwhelmed by the musky smell that often washes over music festivals – instead, it resembled the grassy, fertiliser-mixed scent of a nursery. The walls were covered in foil insulation and the space was small but every inch of it was being used. The path between the plants was tight but big enough that the growers, dressed in green hospital-style outfits, were able to manoeuvre between them to inspect and cut leaves to improve airflow. The next room was awash with yellow light and even more cramped, with the plants further along their growing journey. The rooms are clinical and every aspect from temperature to air flow is meticulously controlled in order to stop crop destruction. Pipes run up and down the rows feeding the plants a precise fertiliser mixture and we were told they had regimented sleep times where the lights are switched off. On our visit the plants, which the company lovingly refers to as its 'babies', were only a few weeks from harvest.


Once the plants reach maturity they will be transported to the company’s manufacturing facility, another top secret location in Perth, where different types of cannabinoids will be extracted, turned into varying strengths and mixes of medical-grade oil, packaged, and eventually sold to approved patients. Growth sector Ms Solomon is confident in the potential of the industry, which Little Green Pharma has experienced. In just a year of manufacturing those 'babies' have made their way into medicine for more than 700 patients. The plants were nearing harvest. Credit:Marta Pascual Juanola According to patient figures from the Therapeutic Goods Administration, from January 2017 to June 2019 more than 9200 medical cannabis access approvals had been issued. More than 6500 of those were issued this year alone. A recent prediction from industry lobbyists Prohibition Partners was the Asian market could be worth $8.5 billion in just five years, buoyed by enthusiastic patients and businesses keen to meet demand. The ASX has about 30 listed companies, collectively worth about $1.6 billion.


According to research firm Mordor Intelligence the global cannabis market, which includes medical and recreational, will jump from $21.6 billion in 2018 to $133 billion by 2024. Even traditionally conservative organisations such as the Australian Medical Association have backed further investigation into its medical properties. AMA president Tony Bartone said the association wanted to see greater investment in education and training for doctors on medical cannabis and supported moves to make access processes quicker. “Therapeutic cannabinoids that are deemed safe and effective should be made available to patients for whom existing medications are not as effective,” he said. Unlike lots of other cashed-up competitors, Little Green Pharma, which has remained a private company, went small first and partnered well. Ms Solomon claimed this was one of the reasons they were able to begin operating so quickly. “We were able to gain first mover advantage not only due to our ‘proof of concept’ business model, but because we partnered with an existing 'good manufacturing practice' manufacturer with an existing narcotic licence,” she said. “It was about proving we had all the relevant licences and processes from seed to sale.

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