Carmen Doran: Exporting medicinal cannabis on the 2024 agenda

Carmen Doran is the CEO of Auckland-based medicines company Helius Therapeutics. 

In late 2023 she won the Inspiring Women Leaders category at the New Zealand International Business Awards.

Under her leadership, Helius has achieved significant milestones, including being the first in the industry to gain a GMP licence to manufacture medicines in 2021 and the first to provide New Zealand grown and New Zealand made medical cannabis products to patients. 

The mechanical and biomedical engineer raced go-karts as a child and is still a keen car racing fan. She told Engineering New Zealand that car racing management is not so different from being a CEO – “using data, stepping back, developing strategy, and always trying to move and improve”. 

Helius plans to be the first local medical cannabis company to start exporting finished products, aiming at markets in Europe, South America and Australia. It’s also collaborating with University of Canterbury biomedical, mechanical and mechatronics engineering students to assess how stress, anxiety and chronic pain can be measured using wearable devices which could aid in assessing the effectiveness of medical cannabis through clinical trials. 

Doran spoke with Caffeine about juggling a holiday break and keeping things on track at work. 

How long are you taking off over the Xmas/New Year break?

I’m taking three weeks off over the summer after a busy 2023 at home and abroad for Helius Therapeutics as the medicinal cannabis industry really gets into its stride. In 2023 I went to Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Slovenia and Denmark which has been great as we expand our operations globally. 

I’ve spoken at four conferences and attended three others and lots of local events as we spread the word about medicinal cannabis. In New Zealand, our industry is growing faster than expected (doubling in 2023 compared to the previous year) and this is great news for patients and being recognised on a global stage.

Where are you going for your holiday?

Summer for us is family time – we will spend time in central Otago and Canterbury with plenty of time on the bikes and the water planned. Hopefully the weather behaves. 

We hosted a big family Christmas with $15 Secret Santa presents which are always a good laugh  and somehow magically, everyone comes away with something they didn’t know they needed. 

How will you keep the business going while you take a break?

Our last shipments for 2023 went out on December 20 and then we are back into it on January 3. The wholesalers and clinics hold stock for patients who are prescribed medicinal cannabis over the break to ensure there is always medicine available for them.

In New Zealand, any doctor can prescribe medicinal cannabis for any condition and any pharmacy can dispense THC prescriptions for three months and CBD prescriptions for six months. This keeps everyone covered.  Most pharmacies are open apart from public holidays and in 2022 there was a surge of prescriptions in December so that patients were covered for the break. 

Onsite, whilst most of our team get a well-deserved holiday after a busy year, the cultivation team have a roster to keep our plants growing over the break and will pop in to check on the progress. 

Have your holidays been disrupted in previous years?

The past few years I’ve only taken the time off between Christmas and New Year. In 2022 though, we had a launch right at the end of the year of New Zealand grown and New Zealand made THC products, meaning it was busy right up until the last day and there were a few media interviews done outside in the sun on the deck by phone early in the New Year. 

‍

How often will you take work calls or check emails?  

As an executive team, we’ve split up our holidays through December, January and February to all have a break whilst we keep the business running and delivering for our patients. I have a great team who step in and deputise, calling me when they need some support, which is pretty rare to be fair.

‍

What was your biggest headache at work in 2023?

We are excited to see the Medicinal Cannabis Scheme Export and R&D Regulations being updated which will remove some of the barriers for getting our products to patients overseas and gives us more options in our product pipeline. Helius has been serving patients in New Zealand for more than two years and it will be great to broaden our reach as we scale.  

In 2023, we expect there were over 130,000 prescriptions for medicinal cannabis in New Zealand, up from around 60,000 in the previous year. We continue to see more healthcare professionals become more curious about medicinal cannabis and have hosted four education events at our Helius premises in Auckland where doctors and pharmacists have been able to learn how we make New Zealand grown, New Zealand made products for our Kiwi patients. I’m excited to continue these as well as attending GP conferences in 2024 as we continue with our focus on education. 

‍

One thing you want to achieve in 2024?

I’m excited to deliver on both our product and partnership pipelines in 2024 as well as continuing our work in clinical studies. Being in a highly regulated environment means that it takes time to bring products to market with all our products going through rigorous testing and registration processes.  The plans are in line with Helius’ commitment to patient access, affordability and product efficacy. The medicinal cannabis regulations prevent me from talking to much about the details as I’m unable to comment publicly about products, pricing or availability – so I guess you’ll just have to wait and see. 

‍

Carnmen Doran's answers are part of a two-week series Break from Business as Usual Caffeine is running leading up to and during the Xmas break, featuring startup founders and ecosystem players.

‍

‍

As told to Fiona Rotherham