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TORONTO — Avicanna announced Tuesday that Shoppers Drug Mart has selected Avicanna as its partner to transition its Medical Cannabis by Shoppers business. Shoppers will continue to support patients throughout the transfer of assets and services to Avicanna, which it anticipates will take place over the next three months.
First launched in Ontario in January 2019, Medical Cannabis by Shoppers provides patients access to medical cannabis products from more than 30 licensed cannabis brands. Over the past four years, the platform has supported tens of thousands of patients, and has worked with patient groups to make access to medical cannabis easier.
“We are grateful for the trust placed in us by our medical cannabis patients over the past few years, and are confident we’ve found the right partner in Avicanna to continue to support them,” said Jeff Leger, president, Shoppers Drug Mart. “As we move away from medical cannabis distribution, we remain firm in our belief that this medication should be dispensed in pharmacies like all others and will continue our advocacy to that end.”
As part of the transition, Avicanna will introduce MyMedi.ca, a new medical cannabis care platform designed to enhance the patient journey. MyMedi.ca will have pharmacist-led patient support programs and aims to provide a similar product portfolio including various formats, brands, and competitive pricing.
“We are thankful to be selected as the partner for this transition and look forward to introducing MyMedi.ca, with a view towards supporting patients and facilitating continuity of care,” said Aras Azadian, CEO, Avicanna. “We are motivated towards furthering the work started by Shoppers to create Canada’s leading independent, comprehensive medical cannabis platform and continuing our efforts towards advancing access to medical cannabis and its long-term incorporation into the standard of care.”
With initial transitional support from the Medical Cannabis by Shoppers team, MyMedi.ca will provide a scientifically curated and diverse formulary of products in collaboration with Canadian licensed producers, and comprehensive training programs for the medical community. The online medical portal will also focus on patient education in areas such as harm reduction and will continue to provide specialty services to distinct patient groups including veterans in addition to reimbursement services for public and private providers.
