Demand for weight-loss treatments opens new markets for Tasmania's poppy industryLBy Laurissa SmithTopic:Pharmaceuticals11m ago11 minutes agoSat 10 May 2025 at 10:17pmExtractas Bioscience's Ross Murdoch and Greg Symons inside a poppy breeding greenhouse at Westbury in northern Tasmania. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)In short:As Tasmania's poppy industry celebrates 50 years, a worldwide shortage of weight-loss drugs is driving up demand for Tasmanian-made opioid pharmaceutical ingredients.Changes to prescription policies in 2015 led to a huge drop in demand for poppy products used to make the oxycodone family of painkillers, but with new markets, production is starting to increase again.What's next?Extractas Bioscience is hoping almost 9,000 hectares will be used to grow poppies across Tasmania this season.abc.net.au/news/poppy-production-tasmania-increases-in-drug-ozempic-shortage/105257466Link copiedShareShare articleA shortage of the weight-loss drug Ozempic to treat type 2 diabetes has opened up new markets for the Tasmanian alkaloid poppy sector.It's the shot in the arm northern Tasmanian pharmaceutical business Extractas Bioscience needed.For nearly a decade the poppy processor has struggled with a global oversupply of narcotic material for painkillers, because of a crackdown on opioid prescriptions and cuts to elective surgeries during the COVID pandemic.But in the past two years there's been a noticeable shift in sales.A worldwide shortage of diabetes medicine Ozempic — driven by an unexpected increase in demand for off-label prescribing for weight loss — is partly responsible.Extractas Bioscience produces many base pharmaceutical ingredients from its poppies, not just the materials that go into oxycodone painkillers.Some of those ingredients are highly sought after for medications that suppress appetite.Ross Murdoch says new markets are opening up for Tasmanian poppy products. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)"We're seeing an increase in thebaine and oripavine, that are used as the basis for these," chief executive Ross Murdoch said."So we're actually finding that demand has increased enormously on the back of Ozempic, driving this anti-obesity type treatment."We fit into both the treatment of the diabetes and the obesity associated with that, as well as getting the benefit of the expanding market."Extractas Bioscience's extraction plant at Westbury in northern Tasmania. (ABC News: Jordan Young)So how does it work?After flowering, the dry poppy capsules are harvested in late summer.The seed is separated from the poppy straw and loaded into extractors at the sprawling factory at Westbury.A range of pharmaceutical compounds can often be extracted from one poppy plant. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)"We extract the drug out of that, we dry it and put it into containers," Mr Murdoch said."We then ship it around the world to wholesalers and other companies that make it into the APIs [active pharmaceutical ingredients] and into the drugs."The raw ingredients extracted from the company's entire poppy production amounts to roughly 100 tonnes annually and goes into about four main products.Often, a range of pharmaceutical compounds can be extracted from the one poppy plant.Poppies are harvested after flowering. (ABC News: Laurissa Smith)The patented thebaine poppy variety is used to extract materials for medication that can reverse an opioid overdose or treat an opioid addiction, as well as form the base ingredient for weight-loss medicines.Alklaoids from the same poppy are used to make the oxycodone family of painkillers, commonly branded as Endone or OxyContin.The Tasmanian poppy industry experienced a big drop in demand for these after prescription policies changed in 2015, but Mr Murdoch said there had been a slight resurgence."Most of the companies, if not all the companies, we sell to in the world have worked through their inventory level," he said."So they are really demanding what they're going to manufacture without an ability to slow down their demand."We don't have the inventory, so we also are needing to grow what they demand."As that demand grows for not only pain products, but also the other associated products, we're seeing that we need to expand our hectares enormously."This year the business is planning to contract nearly 9,000 hectares of poppies, triple the area from three years ago.Company marks fives decades in poppy manufacturingThe market turnaround comes as staff and growers from across the decades celebrate 50 years of the company's involvement in the poppy processing business.Today, Extractas Bioscience employs 140 people, and contracts around 150 farmers to grow poppies for the company across Tasmania.The business, which was previously known as Tasmanian Alkaloids, was initially set up as a joint venture between Abbott Laboratories and Ciech Polfa in 1975.Tasmanian Alkaloids field officers inspect poppy trials at Forthside in Tasmania's north-west in the early 1980s. (Supplied: Extractas Bioscience)In 1982, US company Johnson and Johnson took it over.It spent decades cultivating a more versatile, opiate-rich poppy that drug manufacturers wanted, particularly in the multi-billion dollar pain medication market in the US.Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff's father Rick was one of the first employees with Tasmanian Alkaloids, and spent more than 40 years with the company."He continued growing poppies right up until the time he passed away so it means a lot," Mr Rockliff said of his father."It was his passion and our passion as well as a family."The company has been good. There's been some good and bad times for farmers, it's been very loyal to its customers and the community."Rick Rockliff, third from the left, with other Tasmanian Alkaloids field officers in 1983. (Supplied: Extractas Bioscience)In 2016, Johnson and Johnson sold Tasmanian Alkaloids to US private equity firm SK Capital.In 2020, it renamed the business Extractas Bioscience to reflect its expanding portfolio of plant extracts, which at the time, included medicinal cannabis.After such a prolonged downturn in the market, Poppy Growers Tasmania president Michael Nichols believes the industry is finally turning a corner."Two years ago we were only growing 3,000 hectares and this year there's potential of 12,000 hectares if they can find the area," Mr Nichols said."They've got a very proud history, they might have changed names a few times, but that hasn't taken away the quality of the product produced by the farmers."Michael Nichols says the industry is finally turning a corner. (ABC News: Meg Fergusson)Mr Murdoch credited the company's longevity to its staff and growers."We've got people who've been here for 30, 40, years," he said."Second generation people, including the farmers that we work with, who are second or third generation growers."For us, I think to have the talent that we've got, the dedication that we've got, is the reason that we're a success."Posted 11m ago11 minutes agoSat 10 May 2025 at 10:17pmShare optionsCopy linkFacebookX (formerly Twitter)Top StoriesIsrael is keeping up its blockade of aid as kids starve to deathTopic:WarPhoto shows A small baby in a pink onesie sleeps on a blue and yellow blanket.India-Pakistan ceasefire breaks down hours after truce announcedTopic:Unrest, Conflict and WarPhoto shows Two soldiers walk down a path next to people taking photos on the banks of a riverHow Australia's biggest pokies dynasty is rewriting its legacyTopic:GamblingPhoto shows Len Ainsworth poses for a portrait at a table in a dark room with poker machines behind him.Harry, Charles and the grief dilemma tearing apart the royal familyTopic:RoyaltyPhoto shows An older man and two younger men Soviet spacecraft Kosmos 482 plunges to Earth after 53 years in orbitTopic:SpacecraftPhoto shows A small circular spacecraftRelated storiesAustralia's island of poppies rides booms and busts of global painkiller businessTopic:Agricultural CropsPhoto shows An insects view of poppies, tall brown stems tower into the sky with big round capsules perched on top.Related topicsAgricultureHobartLauncestonPharmaceuticalsTASWestburyTop StoriesIsrael is keeping up its blockade of aid as kids starve to deathTopic:WarPhoto shows A small baby in a pink onesie sleeps on a blue and yellow blanket.India-Pakistan ceasefire breaks down hours after truce announcedTopic:Unrest, Conflict and WarHow Australia's biggest pokies dynasty is rewriting its legacyTopic:GamblingHarry, Charles and the grief dilemma tearing apart the royal familyTopic:RoyaltySoviet spacecraft Kosmos 482 plunges to Earth after 53 years in orbitTopic:SpacecraftJust InTasmanian poppy processor taps into weight-loss drug marketTopic:Pharmaceuticals11m ago11 minutes agoSat 10 May 2025 at 10:17pmItalian crowd compares Sinner's victorious return to pope's ascentTopic:Tennis32m ago32 minutes agoSat 10 May 2025 at 9:56pmAfter 40 years calling the Sunshine Coast home, Narelle has been forced out Topic:Housing Policy36m ago36 minutes agoSat 10 May 2025 at 9:52pmLey's leadership push met with mixed response in home electorateTopic:Political Leadership49m ago49 minutes agoSat 10 May 2025 at 9:39pmMore Just InBack to top