Curaleaf International said on 2 October 2026 that its Que Medical Inhalation Device (QMID) is now commercially available in Australia and New Zealand, after becoming the first liquid cannabis-extract inhaler registered with Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration. The TGA listed the device on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods as a Class IIb device on 15 September 2026; Medsafe, New Zealand's medicines and medical device regulator, added it to its Web Assisted Notification of Devices register two days later. Curaleaf International, the European and Australasian arm of Curaleaf Holdings, Inc. (TSX: CURA), says QMID is now available in seven countries.
QMID's Australia and New Zealand entry, in four figures
Figures from Curaleaf International's 2 October 2026 announcement and independent coverage of the TGA and Medsafe listings.
ARTG 531287 becomes a commercial launch
Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration added the device to the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods on 15 September 2026, entry 531287, describing it in the register's own generic terms as a "therapeutic agent vaporizer, ambulatory," classified Class IIb, with Vicki Partridge Pty Ltd listed as sponsor and Jupiter Research LLC as manufacturer. Curaleaf International supplied the QMID brand name and the clinical framing when it confirmed, on 2 October 2026, that the device was commercially available — the first inhaled cannabis-extract device of its kind on Australia's device register. New Zealand followed two days after the TGA listing: Medsafe, the country's medicines and medical device regulator, added QMID to its Web Assisted Notification of Devices (WAND) register on 17 September 2026, opening the device to prescribers there. In Australia, distribution runs through Bioxyne Limited's subsidiary Breathe Life Sciences, which holds an exclusive agreement to import, manufacture and supply QMID and its cartridges locally.
“We are proud that QMID is the first liquid cannabis inhalation device to be approved under both EU and Australian medical device frameworks. We are grateful to the TGA for the rigour and engagement it brought to this process. Its insistence that devices meet the same standards as the medicines they deliver is exactly right, and it is what makes this 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.” Juan Martinez, Chief Executive Officer, Curaleaf International — 2 October 2026 announcement
What makes QMID a medical device
QMID is a rechargeable handheld inhaler built around a magnetic snap-in cartridge: load one of Curaleaf's EU-GMP liquid cannabis extract cartridges, in 0.5mL or 1.0mL sizes, and the device aerosolizes a measured dose automatically as the patient inhales, rather than relying on the patient to judge how much flower to heat or how hard to draw. A 1.0mL cartridge delivers up to 240 inhalations, and the device itself carries a minimum six-month lifespan from first use. That is the distinction Curaleaf's chief medical officer draws between QMID and the dried-flower vaporizers and combustion route most medicinal cannabis patients still use: "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," said Dr. Mikael Sodergren, Curaleaf International's chief medical officer, in the company's announcement.
Three things a metered cartridge buys
Dosing like a metered inhaler
Sodergren's framing is specifically about the delivery mechanism — standardised, repeatable dosing per inhalation — not a clinical claim about any particular cannabis formulation's effectiveness, which remains governed separately by Australia's medicinal cannabis access pathways.
Two classes, one device
The identical hardware carries a Class IIa certification under the EU's Medical Device Regulation, granted in May 2025, and a Class IIb listing from Australia's TGA, granted in September 2026 — two regulators independently assessing the same device and landing one risk class apart.
Hardware Curaleaf doesn't manufacture
QMID runs on the Liquid Que platform built by Jupiter Research, a TILT Holdings subsidiary, under an exclusive five-year manufacture-and-supply agreement the two companies signed in November 2022; Curaleaf International's own contribution is the EU-GMP liquid cannabis extract the cartridges carry.
A vaporizer market Curaleaf didn't create
Handheld vaporizers for cannabis are already a large, mostly consumer-facing hardware category, and QMID is entering it from the narrow end: a prescription-only medical device that can be dispensed solely where a regulator has listed it, rather than sold over the counter. That distinction matters for sizing the opportunity — the device competes for the sliver of the vaporizer market that is medically authorised and prescribed, not the much larger recreational and wellness segment the published figures below mostly describe.
The vaporizer category QMID is entering
$6.6B → $20.3B
Global handheld marijuana medical vaporizer market, 2026 estimate to 2033 forecast, per Market Research Future.
Sources: Market Research Future, Handheld Marijuana Medical Vaporizer Market report · Global Market Insights, Cannabis Vaporizer Market report
Regulatory News outlook
QMID is a prescription-only medical device competing for a narrow slice of a market dominated by recreational and wellness vaporizer hardware; its near-term addressable pool is bounded by how many countries list it as a registered medical device, not by the vaporizer category's full size.
How we got here: Market Research Future's published 17.4% compound annual growth rate on its $6.6 billion 2026 estimate for the handheld marijuana medical vaporizer market reaches roughly $20.3 billion by 2033; we treat QMID's addressable share as a small, prescription-gated fraction of that figure, not a proxy for the device's own sales.
QMID against other inhaled cannabis options
| Product | Delivery format | Target patients | Regulatory status |
|---|---|---|---|
| QMID (Curaleaf International) | Rechargeable liquid-extract inhaler, metered dose | Prescription medical-cannabis patients, AU/NZ/EU | TGA Class IIb (AU, Sep 2026); EU Class IIa (May 2025) |
| Volcano Medic / Mighty Medic (Storz & Bickel) | Dried-flower convection vaporizer, not liquid extract | Prescription medical-cannabis patients, AU | TGA-approved medicinal cannabis vaporizers (established) |
| Oral or sublingual cannabis extracts | Oral or sublingual drops, not inhaled | Prescription medical-cannabis patients, AU | TGA Special Access Scheme or registered medicines |
| Smoked dried cannabis flower | Combustion, no dose metering | Patients without an approved inhaler device | Prescribed as a medicine; the combustion route is not itself a registered device |
From each product's own labelling, the TGA's public medicinal cannabis device hub and the ARTG listing; not a clinical comparison. Storz & Bickel's devices are the only other TGA-approved vaporizers for medicinal cannabis inhalation; the oral/sublingual and smoked-flower rows describe delivery routes rather than naming specific competing products.
From a 2022 Jupiter deal to WAND
QMID's road to an Australian and New Zealand launch
- November 2022
Exclusive manufacturing deal signed
Jupiter Research, a TILT Holdings subsidiary, signs a five-year exclusive manufacture, supply and distribution agreement with Curaleaf International for the Liquid Que vaporizer platform.
- May 2025
EU Class IIa certification
QMID becomes the first handheld liquid cannabis inhalation device certified under the EU's Medical Device Regulation.
- September 2026
UK commercial launch
Curaleaf Laboratories launches QMID in the UK as the country's first CE-certified liquid inhaler for cannabis-based medicines.
- 15 September 2026
TGA registration, Australia
The device is added to the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods as entry 531287, classified Class IIb — the first inhaled cannabis-extract device of its kind registered in the country.
- 17 September 2026
Medsafe listing, New Zealand
QMID joins Medsafe's Web Assisted Notification of Devices (WAND) register, opening prescribing in New Zealand.
- 2 October 2026
Commercial availability confirmed
Curaleaf International announces QMID is commercially available in Australia and New Zealand, with Bioxyne's Breathe Life Sciences as the exclusive Australian distributor.
Patients still wait on PBS listing
A TGA listing on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods certifies a device's quality, safety and performance as hardware; it is not an approval of a medicine. Australia's medicinal cannabis extracts themselves continue to reach patients mainly through the TGA's Special Access Scheme or Authorised Prescriber pathways, processes that sit apart from QMID's device registration. QMID does not appear on Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, so patients and prescribers bear its cost directly, as they already do for the cannabis extract it delivers. Local distribution runs through Bioxyne Limited's subsidiary Breathe Life Sciences under an exclusive import, manufacture and supply agreement — a separate, publicly disclosed company whose own filings may eventually say more about QMID's Australian sales than Curaleaf's do, since Curaleaf Holdings has not broken out QMID-specific revenue in its public reporting.
- What changed: QMID gained TGA Class IIb registration (ARTG 531287, 15 Sep 2026) in Australia and a Medsafe WAND listing (17 Sep 2026) in New Zealand, with commercial availability confirmed 2 Oct 2026.
- Not a new drug approval: the registration covers the inhaler hardware; the cannabis extracts it delivers still reach patients through Australia's Special Access Scheme or Authorised Prescriber pathways.
- Local distribution: Bioxyne Limited's subsidiary Breathe Life Sciences holds the exclusive Australian import, manufacture and supply rights for QMID and its cartridges.
- Not yet public: QMID-specific unit sales or revenue, any PBS subsidy decision, and a confirmed list of all seven countries where Curaleaf says the device is now available.
Sources & further reading
- PR Newswire (APAC), “Curaleaf International Secures Australian First with TGA Registered Liquid Medical Cannabis Inhalation Device and Extends Availability to New Zealand,” 2 October 2026. prnewswire.com
- Mugglehead, “Curaleaf Holdings' QMID enters Australia's Class IIb medical device register,” October 2026. mugglehead.com
- Cannabis Business Times, “Curaleaf International Secures Australian 1st With TGA-Registered Liquid Medical Cannabis Inhalation Device.” cannabisbusinesstimes.com
- The Marijuana Herald, “Curaleaf's Liquid Medical Marijuana Inhaler Becomes First of Its Kind Registered in Australia,” October 2026. themarijuanaherald.com
- TipRanks / The Fly, “Curaleaf Intl secures regulatory approval for handheld liquid inhalation device.” tipranks.com
- Cannabis Science and Technology, coverage of Curaleaf International and Jupiter Research's EU medical device certification for QMID, May 2025. cannabissciencetech.com
- New Cannabis Ventures, “TILT Holdings Enters into Exclusive Manufacture and Distribution Agreement with Curaleaf International,” November 2022. newcannabisventures.com
- Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia), “Medicinal cannabis vaping devices approved in Australia.” tga.gov.au
Regulatory News reports on public regulatory documents. It is not legal advice, and the primary sources above govern. If we have made an error, we will say so in public: see corrections.
Frequently asked questions
What did Curaleaf actually announce on 2 October?
That its Que Medical Inhalation Device (QMID) is commercially available in Australia and New Zealand, after Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration listed it as a Class IIb device (ARTG 531287) on 15 September 2026 and New Zealand's Medsafe added it to its WAND register on 17 September 2026. The 2 October release is the commercial-availability announcement; the regulatory listings themselves came about two weeks earlier.
Is this an approval of a cannabis medicine, or of the device?
The device. TGA registration on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods certifies QMID's quality, safety and performance as hardware. The cannabis extracts it delivers continue to reach Australian patients mainly through the TGA's Special Access Scheme or Authorised Prescriber pathways, which are separate processes.
Who makes QMID, and who sells it in Australia?
Jupiter Research LLC, a subsidiary of TILT Holdings, manufactures the device under an exclusive five-year agreement with Curaleaf International signed in November 2022. In Australia, Bioxyne Limited's subsidiary Breathe Life Sciences holds the exclusive import, manufacture and supply rights for QMID and its cartridges.
Is Curaleaf International a separate public company from Curaleaf Holdings?
No. Curaleaf International is the European and Australasian operating arm of Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange as TSX: CURA and on the OTCQX market as CURLF. Curaleaf Holdings does not break out QMID-specific revenue in its public filings.
