Van Sun urges caution on Vodis, other pot stocks
See In the News (C-VP) Vodis Pharmaceuticals Inc
The Vancouver Sun reports in its Wednesday edition reefer madness is a reasonable description of the frenzy sparked by Canada’s decision to replace 30,000 small medical marijuana producers by licensing a few big ones. The Sun’s Daphne Bramham writes eventually, the market could be worth as much as $3-billion. There has been so much hype that in June, the B.C. Securities Commission urged people to be “cautious” about investing in medical marijuana companies, most of which have yet to receive Health Canada approval. Health Canada confirms only 22 applications have been approved so far, and only three of those are publicly traded. The rest are trading on the imprimatur of big names and the hopes and dreams of all the money to be made. The licensed OrganiGram trades above $2, while the unlicensed Vodis Innovative Pharmaceuticals trades at 40 cents. Vodis recently added sitting Liberal Senator Larry Campbell to its advisory board. He is being paid in stock options — 250,000 at 40 cents. Also on the board is John Reynolds, a Conservative bagman, former speaker of the B.C. legislature, former MP and former Howe Street stock promoter. Muileboom Organics boasts former prime minister John Turner on its board.
- Published in Blog
Sirona Biochem Announces Positive Results of PK Study for Type 2 Diabetes
Vancouver, British Columbia – September 3, 2014 – Sirona Biochem Corp. (TSX-V: SBM.V FSE: ZSB) today announced that Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals has successfully completed another study in the pre-clinical validation of its anti-diabetic SGLT2 Inhibitor, SBM-TFC-039, for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes.
The pharmacokinetic (PK) study of SBM-TFC-039 confirms an excellent oral bioavailability of SBM-TFC-039. Bioavailability refers to the drug’s ability to be absorbed into the body. The results are in accordance with results of an earlier study conducted by Sirona Biochem. The drug was administered as a single dose in SD rats. The first milestone of the license agreement with Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals is expected after the next scheduled study, assessing toxicology in rats during a 14 day test. This will trigger a second payment to Sirona from Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals as part of the $9.5M in upfront and milestone payments.
“These results provide further evidence that we have an excellent compound for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes”, said Dr. Howard Verrico, CEO. “Good bioavailability of a drug equates to lower dosing. It’s a win for us in terms of the development of our SGLT2 Inhibitor.”
About Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals
Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals is the leading pharmaceutical company in China that specializes in research, production and marketing of medicines for diabetes, cardiovascular disease and endocrinology. Among domestic pharmaceutical companies, Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals is one of the largest manufacturers and marketers of a comprehensive portfolio of drugs for diabetes.
Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals is a subsidiary of Shanghai Pharmaceutical Group which is listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Fosun Pharma, one of the major shareholders of Sinopharm Group, the largest drug distributor in China, is part of Fosun International, the leading non-state owned enterprise group in China which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
About Sirona Biochem Corp.
Sirona Biochem is a cosmetic ingredient and drug discovery company with a proprietary platform technology. Sirona specializes in stabilizing carbohydrate molecules with the goal of improving efficacy and safety. New compounds are patented for maximum revenue potential.
Sirona’s compounds are licensed to leading companies around the world in return for licensing fees, milestone fees and ongoing royalty payments. Sirona’s laboratory, TFChem, is located in France and is the recipient of multiple French national scientific awards and European Union and French government grants. For more information visit www.sironabiochem.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
For more information regarding this press release, contact:
Christopher Hopton
CFO
Sirona Biochem Corp.
Phone: 1.604.282.6064
Email: chopton@sironabiochem.com
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OrganiGram ships first medical marijuana orders
ORGANIGRAM PASSES PRODUCT TESTING AND SHIPS MEDICAL MARIJUANA TO CUSTOMERS
OrganiGram Holdings Inc. has shipped its first orders of medical marijuana to customers.
The product being shipped was sent to RPC Laboratory to undergo product testing as per Health Canada guidelines. The company has received the results of said testing that confirm the product to be in conformance with the Health Canada marijuana for medical purposes regulations (MMPR).
Chief executive officer Denis Arsenault states: “We are extremely pleased to have passed testing and shipped product to our first customers. The fact that we were able to produce product that passed testing without the process of irradiation (cold pasteurization) confirms the high quality of our team, facility and validated the benefits of our organic growing process.”
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- Published in Medical Marijuana
The best college for every major
In many cases, a worker’s paycheck will have more to do with the major they chose than the school that granted them a diploma, but experts say prospective students should look at both.
In a study released Thursday, PayScale, a provider of compensation data and software, created a list of the best schools for each college major. The firm surveyed 1.4 million college graduates with bachelor’s degrees about their degrees and earnings and found that even students choosing less lucrative majors like English may have a better chance of landing a higher-paying job if they attend a particular school. “There will be differences in earnings by majors and by school, and they are substantial,” says Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education. “You need to be informed,” he says, adding that students considering a certain program should also turn to professors and former students for guidance.
Video: The best college for every major
To be sure, the reasons behind the differences weren’t clear, and researchers pointed out that the list ranking the best schools for each major excluded many small and liberal arts schools. That said, here is a look at some of the best paying schools for each college major.
— By Jonnelle Marte
- Published in Blog
California marijuana market poised to explode
Looking around last week at the exhibitor showroom of CannaCon, the huge marijuana-business expo held outside Seattle, Greg James had something of an epiphany: The pot industry in America is growing like, you guessed it, a weed.
“There was everybody from soil companies to grow-light companies to lawyers and security and insurance firms to a TV network doing shows just on marijuana,” said James, whose Seattle-based Marijuana Venture newsletter has exploded from eight to 84 glossy pages since it launched in March and is already turning a profit. “I’m not sure how many of them will survive, but it’s amazing how fast this thing is moving.”
The legal pot business in the United States, including both the newly legalized retail operations in Washington and Colorado and the medical-marijuana use now allowed in California and 22 other states, is expected to grow this year to $2.6 billion from $1.5 billion in 2013, according to the ArcView Group, a San Francisco-based marijuana research and investment firm. In five years, that number could swell to more than $10 billion. And if backers are successful in getting a legalization measure on the 2016 ballot in California, the Golden State, with its already outsize medical-pot market, could soon be entering a Golden Era of commercialized cannabis.
Although the state in 1996 became the first in the nation to legalize pot for medicinal reasons, California has yet to approve it for the overall adult population, or so-called “adult-use.” Despite that, it has the largest pot market in the nation, according to a widely referenced report last year by ArcView.
“California remains the largest state market at $980 million, even without Adult Use regulations,” said the report. And “once Adult Use is adopted — which is likely by 2017 — the total California market is projected to increase dramatically.”
As marijuana use has become more mainstream, a veritable smorgasbord of professionals and young startups has popped up to feed off and support the pot culture. Lawyers, accountants and real-estate brokers are going after pot clients like hogs to truffles. There are security outfits protecting Mendocino County farms and software developers churning out cannabis-news apps and GPS-enabled tools like Weedly to find the nearest pot club. And there are even pot-friendly resorts where the Hollywood set can go to get high in peace, provided they have a prescription.
“I’ve worked with Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake, who can’t go to traditional dispensaries, so we have a resort outside Grass Valley as a place for them to get away,” says Cheryl Shuman, the self-styled “Martha Stewart of Marijuana” who has delivered her pro-pot mantra to “Good Morning America” and anyone else who’ll listen. “We also have mansion parties in L.A. with chefs from five-star restaurants; it’s just like wine-tasting dinners, but you pair different strains of cannabis with the food.”
Still, the pot business is a long way from maturity, despite the already impressive amount of cash it’s generating.
“It’s still a sort of fragmented cottage industry, so the laws still have to change and allow for entrepreneurs to push this business forward,” says former investment banker Derek Peterson, who co-founded Blum Oakland, a medical cannabis dispensary, in 2012 and has seen 35 percent year-over-year growth. He figures that just a few of the dispensaries in the East Bay do a combined $50 million in revenues each year.
David Hodges, who runs the All American Cannabis Club in San Jose, says that while it’s hard to get a solid grasp of the industry’s size, he estimates San Jose alone hosts a $60-million-a-year medical-marijuana business and that the black market is three times that, for a combined value of about $240 million in his city alone.
By Peterson’s estimate, the overall legal Bay Area pot market is roughly equal in size to Colorado’s, which analysts predict will be about $253 million this year.
Even though California’s current medical-marijuana industry is riddled with conflicting laws and policies that can differ city by city, with some pot clubs paying taxes and others not, the business is booming with no sign of letting up. Nate Bradley, an ex-cop and executive director of the California Cannabis Industry Association, says an estimated 100,000 Californians already are employed in the industry, either growing pot or servicing suppliers and their customers, a number that would soar with legalization.
“Once the medical-marijuana industry is legalized statewide, and you legitimize the entire production and distribution of medical cannabis,” says Bradley, “the business will explode and the state would collect $400 million a year or more in sales taxes.”
In the meantime, companies large and small are lining up to grab a piece of the cannabis action. Eaze, a San Francisco startup that fancies itself as “the Uber of medical cannabis delivery,” taps into a network of “caregivers” who pick up pot for you at the dispensary and deliver it to your home, sometimes within 10 minutes.
Eddie Bernard runs a pot-focused marketing agency in Southern California that worked with High Times magazine on its first Cannabis Cup competition in America, with awards going to the best pot varieties. He also does “product placement” for the marijuana industry.
“We did an endorsement deal with Snoop Dogg,” says Bernard, “and for an FX TV show we placed bongs around the house.”
Yet even as more and more entrepreneurs jump into the pot business, the path forward is far from clear. Despite strong revenues and taxes already being collected in Washington and Colorado, the industry faces years of political and regulatory challenges. At the top of the list are federal laws declaring the possession, sale and cultivation of pot illegal, leaving states and the federal government in an awkward standoff. Public opinion on legalization is also split. And a sprawling and powerful black market thrives in the shadows, while groups on both sides of the legalization debate bicker among themselves.
Still, many aspiring business owners are convinced that a pot-based gold rush is upon us. To former Intuit engineer Ben Curren, his new San Jose-based tech startup, Green Bits, is at the right place at the right time, offering point-of-sale and inventory management software for the legal pot industry.
“2016 will be the deciding year,” says Curren. “But it’s amazing how much stuff is happening in this space right now. If the momentum continues, this is going to be really big.”
- Published in Blog