Curaleaf International’s Que Cannabis Inhaler Registered in Australia

Curaleaf International, part of Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (CURA.TO ), in partnership with Jupiter Research LLC, said in an announcement issued through PR Newswire on 2 October 2026 that its Que Medical Inhalation Device (QMID) is available in Australia following registration by the country’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on 15 September 2026. The device is listed as a Class IIb medical device in the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG), and the company states it is the first device intended for the delivery of Cannabis Sativa L. extracts via inhalation by the patient to receive regulatory approval in Australia. QMID was also added on 17 September 2026 to the Web Assisted Notification of Devices (WAND) database operated by Medsafe, New Zealand’s medicines and medical device regulator, making the device available to prescribers in New Zealand.

The Australian registration came one year after the device received EU medical device registration, the company said. Australia joined the device’s markets following a multi-year regulatory process to secure inclusion in the ARTG, while New Zealand availability came through Medsafe’s WAND notification process, with Vicki Partridge Pty Ltd acting as both Australian and New Zealand sponsor.

Dr Mikael Sodergren, Chief Medical Officer at Curaleaf International, said: “This registration means that, for the first time, clinicians in Australia and New Zealand can prescribe a liquid cannabis inhalation device that has been formally approved and delivers standardised dosing, in the same way as other medicines.” He said the registration reflects the level of clinical evidence, safety testing and regulatory scrutiny required before a new technology reaches patients.

Juan Martinez, Curaleaf International CEO, said QMID is the first liquid cannabis inhalation device to be approved under both EU and Australian medical device frameworks. He thanked the TGA for the rigour and engagement it brought to the process and said the regulator’s insistence that devices meet the same standards as the medicines they deliver is what makes the registration meaningful for patients. “Together with Jupiter, we have invested heavily to meet that bar, and we intend to bring the same standard to more patients wherever the regulatory pathway allows, starting with New Zealand,” he said.

Regulatory Context

The company said the registration addresses a long-standing gap in the Australian market. While cannabis medicines are prescribed through the TGA’s approved pathways, the devices used to inhale them have largely remained outside the ARTG, according to the announcement. Prescribers and pharmacists have reported difficulty obtaining approvals for unregistered batteries, leaving some patients with their prescribed medicine but no compliant means of using it, and the regulator has repeatedly called for clinical justification where unapproved devices are used. The company presents QMID as a registered alternative: a device whose safety and performance have been formally assessed rather than one supplied outside the regulatory framework.

More than one million patients have accessed treatment under Australia’s prescribing framework since it was established in 2016, the company said, citing Prohibition Partners’ Global Medical Cannabis Market Review 2026. The announcement describes the registration as the next step in Curaleaf International’s strategy to expand access to pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoid delivery technologies worldwide.

QMID is designed to provide energy to the product to facilitate aerosolization of the medicine. The company lists a controlled delivery system designed to support consistent dosing and comparable clinical data, a compact and simple design for discreet medical use, and reusable hardware compatible only with approved cartridges.

Rollout From Europe to Australasia

QMID became the first handheld liquid inhalation device for consistent medical cannabis administration to achieve certification as a Class IIa medical device under the European Medical Device Regulation (EU) 2017/745 in May 2025, according to the company. Following its European certification, the device has continued its international rollout and is now available in seven countries, the announcement states.

On 1 September 2025, Curaleaf Laboratories, part of Curaleaf International, announced the UK launch of QMID as the first CE-certified liquid inhaler for cannabis-based medicines available on prescription, describing the launch as the first step in a planned global rollout. The UK announcement listed CE-certified Class IIa approval, activation by inhalation suitable for home and clinical settings, and reusable hardware compatible only with Curaleaf’s EU-GMP liquid extract cartridges. Jonathan Hodgson, UK Managing Director at Curaleaf International, said at the time that inhaled liquid cannabis could for the first time be administered with controlled precision through a registered handheld device.

On 4 November 2025, Curaleaf International announced an exclusive manufacture and supply agreement with Breathe Life Sciences, a subsidiary of Bioxyne Limited, to bring QMID to Australia. Bioxyne CEO Sam Watson said the collaboration represented an important step in expanding access to regulated, medically compliant inhalation technology in Australia, and Martinez described the planned Australian launch as part of the company’s wider mission to develop innovative medical technologies that support healthcare professionals in the delivery of treatment.

Curaleaf International and Jupiter Research have made significant investments over several years in the engineering, safety testing and regulatory work required to bring QMID through two medical device frameworks, the company said. The announcement states that the TGA’s registration of QMID and its listing in New Zealand reflect a maturing regulatory pathway for certified cannabis-based medical devices in Australasia.