Australia is quickly becoming one of the fastest growing and most exiting medical cannabis markets on the planet, with revenues expected to grow from around US$600m in 2024 to more than US$1.2bn by 2028, seeing it significantly outpace the growth of its European counterparts.
Just like their Kiwi neighbours, more Australian companies than ever are flying into London for this year’s Cannabis Europa to not only share their insights and experience, but also to learn how their unique offerings could could fit into the European cannabis network.
Ahead of the conference, which kicks off next Tuesday (June 24) at the Barbican Centre, we caught up with Eidan Havas, the Founder of one of Australia’s leading medical cannabis product wholesalers, The Entourage Effect.
Eidan shares his insights on the infrastructure challenges Europe must overcome to sustain patient growth, the lessons learned from Australia’s cannabis market, and how digital platforms are reshaping access, prescribing, and pharmacy logistics across the supply chain.
The next wave of patient access in Europe will be won or lost on infrastructure, and right now two critical gaps persist: fragmented digital workflows and outdated supply logistics.
Too often, prescribers, dispensaries, and suppliers are operating in silos. Without interoperable platforms that bring these players together in real time, even the best regulatory frameworks will fall short in practice. Europe risks legislating intent without enabling execution.
The second issue is logistics. As patient volumes grow, they will expect Amazon-level service – same-day fulfilment, real-time inventory visibility, and seamless pharmacy matching. If the supply chain can’t keep up with the speed of prescribing, access will stall, and patient confidence will erode.
At The Entourage Effect, we built Care Effect — a platform that connects prescribers, pharmacies, and suppliers through a single interface. In Australia, it’s already reduced prescribing time to under 90 seconds, enabled 24–48 hour product delivery, and allowed clinics and pharmacies to offer patients a seamless digital journey. Europe doesn’t just need regulation — it needs real-world systems like Care Effect to translate policy into outcomes.
Australia has shown how fast patient access can grow when demand is high and technology steps in to remove friction. But it’s also highlighted the risks of scaling without a unified system.
The biggest lesson for Europe is the need for real-time integration across the entire supply chain — from prescription to pharmacy to fulfilment. In Australia, we’ve seen patient uptake explode when platforms enabled doctors to issue scripts in seconds, pharmacies to access live inventory, and patients to order and receive medication within 24–48 hours — all from a single, connected workflow.
What Europe should avoid is building policy without executional infrastructure. In Australia, the absence of consistent regulation, delayed product supply, and disconnected systems often left patients frustrated despite good intentions. Europe now has a unique chance to start with interoperability at its core — putting patients, not paperwork, at the centre of access.
Eidan Havas, Founder, The Entourage Effect
The most transformative shift is the move from passive distribution to active commercial control.
In traditional pharmaceutical models, suppliers often lose visibility the moment stock hits a wholesaler. There’s no live data, no feedback loop, and no way to respond dynamically to demand. We’ve changed that. Our tech gives cannabis brands real-time insight into prescribing trends, inventory levels, pharmacy demand, and pricing responsiveness — all from a single interface.
Suppliers can now launch SKUs in under a week, adjust pricing on the fly, and scale through targeted, data-driven strategies. One of our supplier partners saw a 62% month-on-month uplift in product uptake simply by using the insights to better align pricing and inventory across high-volume pharmacies.
This isn’t just logistics. It’s performance infrastructure — built for brands that want to grow fast and stay close to their customers.
Pharmacies are the final bridge between patients and treatment, but they’ve been forced to navigate outdated systems, manual token entry, inconsistent supply, and increasing compliance pressure. Our pharmacy app solves this at the infrastructure level.
It integrates directly with eRx tokens, automating product matching and eliminating manual input. Pharmacies can access real-time stock availability, dynamic pricing, product alternatives, and digital CMI (consumer medicine information) — all in one place. It syncs with our supplier network so pharmacies always know what’s available, what’s in transit, and when to expect it.
We also include built-in compliance guardrails — from prescription tracking to record keeping — reducing risk while improving operational speed. Onboarding takes less than 24 hours, and once live, pharmacies can process orders in seconds.
What’s truly future-proof is the ability to white-label the app. Pharmacies can offer patients a seamless, branded experience that extends from prescription upload to home delivery, while keeping the relationship — and the data — in-house.
It’s not just a tech upgrade. It’s a competitive moat for pharmacies in a market where speed, digital fluency, and reliability will define success.
Guy Mckenzie (Non-Executive Director) Jessica Chamberlain (Chief Marketing & Design Officer) Adam Gilmore as Chief Technical Officer
In the EU, where regulatory frameworks are evolving rapidly, ensuring equitable, transparent, and continuous patient access will be key to sustainable adoption. The Care Effect platform addresses these priorities through end-to-end digital integration that supports both scale and clinical integrity.
Patients can book consultations, track prescription approvals, view real-time product availability and pricing across pharmacies, and complete orders — all within one unified ecosystem. They receive live status updates throughout the process, eliminating uncertainty and improving trust in the system.
More importantly, Care Effect ensures treatment continuity. The platform maintains a full record of the patient’s therapeutic history, enables automated refill reminders, and facilitates secure communication with both prescribers and pharmacies. This gives healthcare providers real-time visibility into dispensing activity and supports precision titration — something particularly valuable in cannabis care, where dosage and response can vary significantly.
By empowering patients with clarity, reducing drop-offs, and enabling adaptive care, Care Effect improves adherence and outcomes. Our 90-day retention rate exceeds 82%, significantly outperforming typical digital health tools — reflecting both patient satisfaction and platform utility.
For EU stakeholders seeking to modernise access frameworks, Care Effect demonstrates how policy ambition can be matched with infrastructure — creating a digital backbone for equitable, compliant, and patient-led care.
Prescribing medicinal cannabis can feel complex for new practitioners — with varying product types, dosage forms, regulations, and pharmacy coordination all adding to the cognitive load. Our platform simplifies that entire process into one intuitive workflow.
Doctors can generate a script in under 90 seconds. The platform auto-reads eRx tokens, surfaces relevant products based on indication and dosage form, provides up-to-date availability across pharmacies, and instantly matches the script with a pharmacy that can fulfil it — all while staying fully compliant with local regulations.
Built-in formulary prompts and dosage guidance help doctors navigate clinical decisions with confidence. For newer prescribers, the platform acts almost like a digital co-pilot — reducing uncertainty and ensuring the treatment plan aligns with both regulatory requirements and patient needs.
Clinical history is stored securely, so titration and follow-ups are seamless. Doctors can review prior dispensing data, adjust scripts based on response, and communicate directly with the pharmacy if needed — eliminating friction and saving time.
By removing administrative barriers and embedding clinical support tools directly into the prescribing experience, we’ve made it easier for doctors to start, safer for them to continue, and more scalable across the healthcare system.
Eidan will be speaking on Cannabis Europa’s Main Stage on Day 2 (June 25), joining panellists to deep dive into these topics and more.
The post ‘Europe Risks Legislating Without Execution’: The Entourage Effect CEO on What Europe Needs to Scale appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
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Just like their Kiwi neighbours, more Australian companies than ever are flying into London for this year’s Cannabis Europa to not only share their insights and experience, but also to learn how their unique offerings could could fit into the European cannabis network.
Ahead of the conference, which kicks off next Tuesday (June 24) at the Barbican Centre, we caught up with Eidan Havas, the Founder of one of Australia’s leading medical cannabis product wholesalers, The Entourage Effect.
Eidan shares his insights on the infrastructure challenges Europe must overcome to sustain patient growth, the lessons learned from Australia’s cannabis market, and how digital platforms are reshaping access, prescribing, and pharmacy logistics across the supply chain.
Your panel discussion explores what it will take for Europe to reach and sustain the next wave of patient access. From your perspective, what are the key infrastructure gaps or risks you see as Europe scales?
The next wave of patient access in Europe will be won or lost on infrastructure, and right now two critical gaps persist: fragmented digital workflows and outdated supply logistics.
Too often, prescribers, dispensaries, and suppliers are operating in silos. Without interoperable platforms that bring these players together in real time, even the best regulatory frameworks will fall short in practice. Europe risks legislating intent without enabling execution.
The second issue is logistics. As patient volumes grow, they will expect Amazon-level service – same-day fulfilment, real-time inventory visibility, and seamless pharmacy matching. If the supply chain can’t keep up with the speed of prescribing, access will stall, and patient confidence will erode.
At The Entourage Effect, we built Care Effect — a platform that connects prescribers, pharmacies, and suppliers through a single interface. In Australia, it’s already reduced prescribing time to under 90 seconds, enabled 24–48 hour product delivery, and allowed clinics and pharmacies to offer patients a seamless digital journey. Europe doesn’t just need regulation — it needs real-world systems like Care Effect to translate policy into outcomes.
The panel will also discuss lessons from markets like Australia. Based on your experience, what should Europe be learning from Australia’s medical cannabis boom, and what should they avoid?
Australia has shown how fast patient access can grow when demand is high and technology steps in to remove friction. But it’s also highlighted the risks of scaling without a unified system.
The biggest lesson for Europe is the need for real-time integration across the entire supply chain — from prescription to pharmacy to fulfilment. In Australia, we’ve seen patient uptake explode when platforms enabled doctors to issue scripts in seconds, pharmacies to access live inventory, and patients to order and receive medication within 24–48 hours — all from a single, connected workflow.
What Europe should avoid is building policy without executional infrastructure. In Australia, the absence of consistent regulation, delayed product supply, and disconnected systems often left patients frustrated despite good intentions. Europe now has a unique chance to start with interoperability at its core — putting patients, not paperwork, at the centre of access.
Eidan Havas, Founder, The Entourage Effect
Your platform offers suppliers tools that go far beyond traditional distribution. In your view, what is the most transformative part of your tech stack for cannabis brands and suppliers?
The most transformative shift is the move from passive distribution to active commercial control.
In traditional pharmaceutical models, suppliers often lose visibility the moment stock hits a wholesaler. There’s no live data, no feedback loop, and no way to respond dynamically to demand. We’ve changed that. Our tech gives cannabis brands real-time insight into prescribing trends, inventory levels, pharmacy demand, and pricing responsiveness — all from a single interface.
Suppliers can now launch SKUs in under a week, adjust pricing on the fly, and scale through targeted, data-driven strategies. One of our supplier partners saw a 62% month-on-month uplift in product uptake simply by using the insights to better align pricing and inventory across high-volume pharmacies.
This isn’t just logistics. It’s performance infrastructure — built for brands that want to grow fast and stay close to their customers.
Pharmacies are often the unsung heroes of patient access. How does your pharmacy app help streamline and future-proof their operations in this fast-evolving space?
Pharmacies are the final bridge between patients and treatment, but they’ve been forced to navigate outdated systems, manual token entry, inconsistent supply, and increasing compliance pressure. Our pharmacy app solves this at the infrastructure level.
It integrates directly with eRx tokens, automating product matching and eliminating manual input. Pharmacies can access real-time stock availability, dynamic pricing, product alternatives, and digital CMI (consumer medicine information) — all in one place. It syncs with our supplier network so pharmacies always know what’s available, what’s in transit, and when to expect it.
We also include built-in compliance guardrails — from prescription tracking to record keeping — reducing risk while improving operational speed. Onboarding takes less than 24 hours, and once live, pharmacies can process orders in seconds.
What’s truly future-proof is the ability to white-label the app. Pharmacies can offer patients a seamless, branded experience that extends from prescription upload to home delivery, while keeping the relationship — and the data — in-house.
It’s not just a tech upgrade. It’s a competitive moat for pharmacies in a market where speed, digital fluency, and reliability will define success.
Guy Mckenzie (Non-Executive Director) Jessica Chamberlain (Chief Marketing & Design Officer) Adam Gilmore as Chief Technical Officer
Patient experience is clearly at the heart of your platform. How does the Care Effect app improve transparency and continuity for patients on their cannabis treatment journey?
In the EU, where regulatory frameworks are evolving rapidly, ensuring equitable, transparent, and continuous patient access will be key to sustainable adoption. The Care Effect platform addresses these priorities through end-to-end digital integration that supports both scale and clinical integrity.
Patients can book consultations, track prescription approvals, view real-time product availability and pricing across pharmacies, and complete orders — all within one unified ecosystem. They receive live status updates throughout the process, eliminating uncertainty and improving trust in the system.
More importantly, Care Effect ensures treatment continuity. The platform maintains a full record of the patient’s therapeutic history, enables automated refill reminders, and facilitates secure communication with both prescribers and pharmacies. This gives healthcare providers real-time visibility into dispensing activity and supports precision titration — something particularly valuable in cannabis care, where dosage and response can vary significantly.
By empowering patients with clarity, reducing drop-offs, and enabling adaptive care, Care Effect improves adherence and outcomes. Our 90-day retention rate exceeds 82%, significantly outperforming typical digital health tools — reflecting both patient satisfaction and platform utility.
For EU stakeholders seeking to modernise access frameworks, Care Effect demonstrates how policy ambition can be matched with infrastructure — creating a digital backbone for equitable, compliant, and patient-led care.
From a doctor’s perspective, how does your platform help simplify prescribing and clinical management, especially for practitioners new to the space?
Prescribing medicinal cannabis can feel complex for new practitioners — with varying product types, dosage forms, regulations, and pharmacy coordination all adding to the cognitive load. Our platform simplifies that entire process into one intuitive workflow.
Doctors can generate a script in under 90 seconds. The platform auto-reads eRx tokens, surfaces relevant products based on indication and dosage form, provides up-to-date availability across pharmacies, and instantly matches the script with a pharmacy that can fulfil it — all while staying fully compliant with local regulations.
Built-in formulary prompts and dosage guidance help doctors navigate clinical decisions with confidence. For newer prescribers, the platform acts almost like a digital co-pilot — reducing uncertainty and ensuring the treatment plan aligns with both regulatory requirements and patient needs.
Clinical history is stored securely, so titration and follow-ups are seamless. Doctors can review prior dispensing data, adjust scripts based on response, and communicate directly with the pharmacy if needed — eliminating friction and saving time.
By removing administrative barriers and embedding clinical support tools directly into the prescribing experience, we’ve made it easier for doctors to start, safer for them to continue, and more scalable across the healthcare system.
Eidan will be speaking on Cannabis Europa’s Main Stage on Day 2 (June 25), joining panellists to deep dive into these topics and more.
The post ‘Europe Risks Legislating Without Execution’: The Entourage Effect CEO on What Europe Needs to Scale appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
Continue reading...
