Out of 63 applications to admit products to Denmark’s medical cannabis trial scheme, the country has only approved eight since the program began in 2018.
This is according to a recent disclosure by Health Minister Magnus Heunicke who provided the new figures in an answer to a parliamentary query from Member of Parliament Jane Heitmann.
Four of the products were also removed from the approved list because they could no longer be provided in the country of origin, Canada.
Approval and regulatory compliance in the origin country is a basic requirement for the admission of an imported cannabis product for the Danish scheme, said Heunicke.
According to data from the Medicines Statistics Register, approximately 333 patients accessed Denmark’s medical cannabis scheme in the final quarter of 2019. This was down from more than 1,000 months earlier.
Heunicke also revealed that 46 of the 63 applications have either been withdrawn by the company or were not deemed to be sufficient enough for an assessment by the Danish Medicines Agency.
Denmark’s four-year cannabis scheme will face a midterm evaluation later this year.
