The MGC Pharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX: MXC) share price has been a strong performer on Thursday.
In morning trade the cannabis company's shares have jumped 12% higher to 3.7 cents.
Why is the MGC Pharma share price jumping higher today?
Hot on the heels of a medicinal cannabis prescription update from Althea Group Holdings Ltd (ASX: AGH) on Wednesday, MGC Pharma released one of its own this morning.
According to the release, the company has now passed 2,000 prescriptions of its cannabinoid medicines in the UK, Australia, Brazil and Ireland. This follows the addition of 262 new patients during the month of December.
Management notes that this increase was driven by patient growth in Australia and the United Kingdom and supported by the recent approval of its products in Brazil and Ireland.
This is still some distance behind Althea. Yesterday it revealed that at the end of December its medicinal cannabis products had been prescribed to 4,018 patients. This meant Althea beat its year-end target of 4,000 prescriptions.
More to come in 2020.
MGC Pharma's co-founder and managing director, Roby Zomer, was very pleased with the company's performance in 2019.
He said: "MGC Pharma made terrific progress in 2019, having grown from just 100 prescriptions starting in August 2019, to more than 2,000 by the start of the calendar year."
Mr Zomer appears confident that the company can build on this in 2020.
"I am confident that this rapid growth trajectory will continue in 2020 as our products are now available on three continents and the prescription numbers are projected to increase as the knowledge of MGC Pharma's medicines improves amongst healthcare professionals," he added.
"Last year we laid a very solid foundation for the Company and in 2020 we shall build on it as we plan to continue to grow product sales, expand distribution to new territories, advance our clinical trials and commence construction at our production facility in Malta. We expect a lot of near-term positive news flow and I look forward to updating our shareholders on our progress," he concluded.
