Robots Predicted to be Performing 85% of surgeries by 2025
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: July 11, 2018
AI Medical Diagnosis APP Gets Better Exam Mark Than Doctors
Exploding AI Medical Market Predicted to Hit US$12.15 Billion by 2023
Robots Predicted to be Performing 85% of surgeries by 2025
On June 28, 2018, Forbes ran a story with the headline reading, “This AI Just Beat Human Doctors on a Clinical Exam MD.”
The story by Parmy Olson, tells how an artificial intelligence application created by Babylon Health scored on a standard British test designed to grade the diagnostic ability of doctors in training. For the last five years the average passing grade has been 72%. Babylon Health’s artificial intelligence powered software performed ten points above the average coming in at 82%.
At the beginning of 2018 Research House Frost & Sullivan made some predictions. The one that perhaps best defines future shock is that by 2025, 85% of surgical procedures are likely to be done by robots. Over the next two to three years Frost & Sullivan also predict that AI platforms in medical imaging will increase productivity by 10-15%.
Babylon Health was founded five years ago and has raised US$85 million for research and development. Babylon has developed an intriguing mix of AI and human diagnosis that could if adopted drive down overall health care costs by using its diagnostic apps to pre-screen patients and suggest what’s wrong, while leaving the final diagnosis in the hands of a living breathing MD.
While at first this may seem like an episode of Star Trek, the service is real enough. The company’s largest and most important client to date is the British National Health Service which has allowed 26 thousand patients to transfer from the standard GP based service to Babylon. Another 20,000 are on a waiting list.
In a typical scenario a Babylon patient will describe symptoms to a diagnostic engine which will then suggest a probable diagnosis. Then there is the video call between doctor and patient. While the interview is going on the app automatically records and transcribes the interview. The patients face is analyzed to determine if he or she is feeling confused, worried or normal, according to the movements of 117 muscles located in the nose, lips or eyebrows. At the end of the consultation the live doctor will, if necessary send a prescription to the patients pharmacy.
The software also creates a digital twin of the patient and the company believes the twin will be used to determine what medical problems will develop in the future. All of this should help make healthcare timelier and more affordable.
Babylon’s business model is to sell its services to health care providers such as government Medicare systems or health insurance companies. The company also sells its consulting service to individuals and offers access to software that individuals can use to investigate an ailment. Babylon intends to launch in the US, during 2019.
Forbes sums up recent market activity like this, “Investment in the AI medical market is pouring in, from tech giants like IBM’s Watson, Alphabet and Philips to pharmaceutical companies and swiftly proliferating start-ups. The market for artificial intelligence in health care and the life sciences is projected to grow by 40 percent a year, to $6.6 billion in 2021, according to estimates from Frost & Sullivan.”
In March of this year research house Mordor Intelligence predicted that by 2023 the global artificial intelligence in medicine market would reach US$ 12.15 Billion. The report, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Market-by Application and Geography-Growth, Trends, and forecasts (2018-2023) details how AI is moving into the medical workplace providing faster and more efficient medical care.
While AI can be used to manage patient records and other types of data the real payoff for AI in medical applications comes in reducing human error. When AI systems have been used in image labelling, error rates have been reduced from 28.5% to 2.5%.
According to Mordor, the artificial intelligence in medicine market will grow from US$1.6 billion in 2017 to US$12.5 billion by 2023, a CAGR of 40.15% from 2018 to 2023. A number of factors are driving the market and can be divided into two categories. On the one hand there is the increased efficiency which AI systems offer providing a more efficient diagnosis. This also applies to patient data management. Both of these, better diagnosis and better data management, will help drive down the cost of medical treatment.
The flip side of the coin is the high cost of error. According to the Mordor report preventable medical mistakes result in roughly 210,000 deaths per year. Diagnostic mistakes account for roughly 440,000 deaths per year. And finally, medical mistakes cost the healthcare industry approximately US$1 trillion per year.
As well as the companies listed above other key players developing artificial intelligence and deep learning medical applications include: Intel; Microsoft, Siemens and General Electric.
With a market value that is growing at 40% CAGR a year, the AI in medical applications market is a developing sector that retail investors should take a good look at. It is a market driven by demographic factors, as the baby boomers continue to age they will require more medical attention, and efficiency. Any technology that cuts medical costs will be highly valued.
While there are no sure bets in the stock market, one AI diagnosis company that you should take a look at is the Montreal-based Diagnos. Diagnos has specialized in developing a proprietary technology, CARA, computer assisted retinal analysis that uses enhanced retinal digital images to detect the initial stages of diabetic retinopathy.
The retina is at the back of the eye and it is the only place where doctors can observe veins and arteries and detect early diabetes. Diabetes can lead to blindness if untreated and early detection can prevent 85-90% of vision loss. The process is simple. An image of the eye is taken and then image can then be analyzed.
CARA has been used to diagnose 222,034 patients at last count, in 16 countries, using 131 screening sites. In early June, The Montreal Gazette ran a story on Diagnos’ setting up its first Canadian pilot project at the Centre hospitalier de l’Universite de Montreal (CHUM). Diagnos is a company on the move and with its shares, (TSXV: ADK) closing at $0.06 on July 10, 2018, an attractive entry point into the explosive AI medical market.
Forward-looking statements
Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words “may”, “will”, “should”, “continue”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “intend”, “plan” or “project” or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company’s business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Company’s research and development strategies, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions and other risks disclosed in the Company’s public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. While no definitive documentation has yet been signed by the parties and there is no certainty that such documentation will be signed. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.
FULL DISCLOSURE: Diagnos is a paid client of Momentum PR.
- Published in Blog
Continued demand seen for battery metals
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: June 20 2018
Bloomberg New Energy Finance predicts that by 2040 55% of all new car sales and 33% of the global fleet will be electric.
Wheaton Precious Metals and Cobalt 27 sign streaming agreements for Voisey’s Bay cobalt
Continued demand seen for battery metals
Sometimes paradigm shifts begin to take place without you really noticing them. Last week when I was driving between Montreal and Ottawa I saw two electric vehicles and one of them was doing more than 120. When I visited a building on business one day I noticed that there were four electric vehicle charging stations. Earlier on in the year I noticed that a raft of recharging stations was being installed at the Fairview Mall in Pointe Claire.
Spotting two electric cars driving to Ottawa doesn’t amount to very much in the grand scheme of things except to say that I go to Ottawa fairly frequently and have never before seen a single electric vehicle on the 417. As a symbol of things to come those two EVs qualify as a harbringer of change.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance has predicted in a recent report that by 2040, 55% of all new car sales and 33% of the global fleet will be electric. It also predicts sales of electric vehicles increasing from a record 1.1 million worldwide in 2017, to 11 million in 2025 and then surging to 30 million by 2030 as they become cheaper to make than internal combustion engine vehicles. That 55% of the market by 2040, breaks down to 60 million vehicles.
In many cases air pollution is driving the shift from gas to electric, especially in China where Bloomberg forecasts the country will take a leadership role in EV production and purchase. By 2025 Bloomberg believes China will account for almost 50% of the EVs purchased globally, declining to 39% annually by 2030 as global demand picks up.
The report notes that the increase in EV demand will create a longterm demand for battery metals. These include: lithium; cobalt, graphite, manganese and nickel. Curiously, the report did not figure into account the rising demand for battery metals generated by utility scale battery farms that store electricity generated by wind, wave and solar energy.
Bloomberg paints a rosy picture for longterm battery metal demand and they are not alone. Perhaps the most interesting development in the battery market can be seen in the development of a company, Cobalt 27 Capital Corp., whose corporate strategy is based on stockpiling physical cobalt and creating royalty stream agreements with cobalt mining companies. Cobalt 27 has royalty stream agreements with four producing cobalt miners and eight exploration stage cobalt companies.
On June 11, 2018 Cobalt 27 and Wheaton Precious Metals signed separate royalty streaming agreements with Brazilian mining giant Vale to acquire a majority of the cobalt produced at Voisey’s Bay. Royalty streaming agreements were originally developed in the gold mining industry as a way for a major company to secure gold in exchange for financing gold exploration and in some cases both exploration and mine development.
Vale will use the capital raised, a combined US$690 million to finance its expansion at Voisey’s Bay, a project which had before this been put on hold. In the February 21st edition of Resource World, Peter Kennedy reports on a BMO Capital Markets report on battery metals that questions whether or not cobalt will retain its key position as a battery metal.
The thinking goes like this: The majority of the world’s cobalt is produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kennedy quotes from the report, “No purchasing manager wants to be so reliant on the supply of a critical raw material from a single supply source, particularly one with a poor human rights track record and the threat of political instability.”
While this state of affairs and Tesla’s known desire for a North American supply change have jointly fueled the rush to explore and develop North American cobalt resources it may also be driving battery manufacturers to develop a lithium-ion rechargeable battery containing much less cobalt. In the near term BMO wouldn’t be surprised to see a doubling in cobalt prices. The report also notes that cobalt demand has grown from 40,000 tonnes in 2000 and is predicted to rise above 100,000 tonnes for the first time in 2018.
Any active investor is probably wondering, if they haven’t already decided, just what the best play will turn out to be in battery metals. Cobalt is like silver, it is usually found with other metals in the case of Voisey’s Bay, that metal is nickel. If you decided to bet on existing battery technology then a company like Cobalt 27 may very well be your ticket.
If you want to temper that exposure with gold and silver then Wheaton Precious Metals may be the company you are looking for.
On the other hand you may want to consider a company like SRG Graphite, (TSXV: SRG) which traded in the C$1.20 range on June 18th. SRG has an advantage over other battery metal stocks because it is in the process of exploring and developing deposits of three of the most important battery metals, graphite, nickel and cobalt.
While you can easily understand the value of cobalt and nickel in EV batteries graphite is a bit of a dark horse that is going to sooner or later win the Triple Crown because of what can be done with.
Well known as an industrial lubricant or the lead in lead pencils, graphite is an amazing material that will become increasingly important as it is used to develop new technologies.
British scientists have developed a graphite based coating that when applied to a building can be used to generate enough solar power to provide all the electricity the building needs to function, lights, heating and cooling.
Not being content with just being a power source the graphite coating can also change colours on demand. Because of its nature as a highly conductive material graphite is also at the foreground in nanotechnology. Simply put graphite is the metal of the future.
SRG has a 100% owned property in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa where it is developing two separate deposits, the first is the Lola graphite deposit, which at 8.7 km long and on average 370 meters wide is one of the largest in the world. A recent mineral resource estimate on the Lola project shows a measured and indicated resource of 12.2 million tonnes grading 5.6% graphite and an inferred resource 2.1 million tonnes grading 6.1%.
The second is the company’s nickel/cobalt/scandium deposit, Gogota, is located on the same mining claim as Lola. A recent NI 43-101 shows that Gogota has an inferred resource of 44.9 tonnes of mineralized material grading 1.28% nickel for 573,040 tonnes of contained nickel, 0.13% cobalt for 59,560 tonnes of contained cobalt and 29.4 grams per tonne of scandium for 1.17 tonnes contained scandium.
For an investor, buying SRG really provides the opportunity to hedge your bets in the battery metals market. If longterm demand for cobalt weakens because of new battery chemistries that require less cobalt, the graphite and nickel deposits are there to pick up the slack. And then there is the unknown role that graphite will play as a supermaterial in the future to consider.
This blog does not constitute investment advice. Investors should perform their own due diligence when buying shares in a company. In the interests of transparency, SRG Graphite is a client of Momentum PR.
- Published in Blog
Deloitte Predicts $7 Billion Cannabis Market in 2019
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: June 14 2018
If you thought that all the bargains had already been found in Canada’s nascent marijuana industry, you may just want to think again. The marijuana market still appears to have plenty of legs.
According to a story posted by the CBC on June 5, 2018, accounting firm Deloitte is predicting that Canadians will spend almost $7 Billion on legal and illegal recreational marijuana and on medical cannabis. Deloitte also expects Canadians to increase their marijuana consumption by 35% once the California Rest Cure is legalized.
On June 7, 2018 the Canadian Senate voted on the marijuana bill with numerous amendments. The House of Commons now has the choice of either signing the bill as is or sending it back to the Senate. As slow as the pace is it does appear that marijuana legislation will be passed this year if not this summer.
When that finally happens market watchers expect marijuana stocks to be jolted higher. Marijuana industry valuations have been jumping since the New Year and as far back as January stock market watch dogs have expressed doubts as to the viability of the industry’s bull run.
On January 12, Toronto Star business columnist David Olive wrote that exceptional care needs to be taken in picking marijuana stocks. Among the conditions that have the potential to bring this bull market to its knees Olive included, sky-high stock valuations that have no relationship to earnings: too much competition and the potential of political interference to derail stock prices.
On January 12, Olive noted that there were 259 publicly traded pot stocks in Canada. Olive also noted that when US attorney general commented on his government’s willingness to prosecute marijuana users, Canadian marijuana stocks retreated.
Against this background it is obvious that the market still expects the marijuana industry to become as blue chip as any industry can become in this post-blue chip modern world.
In order to gain economies of scale and secure market share the marijuana industry has been consolidating for some time. In January Edmonton-based Aurora Cannabis bought CanniMed Therapeutics for roughly $1 Billion and in May Aurora bought MedReleaf Corp. for $2.9 Billion.
If you believe that Aurora will be one of the companies dominating its industry then you have the right idea. But it could be much bigger than that. The global recreational and medical marijuana market is in play and Canadian companies stand a good chance in taking the pole position because Canada is the first G7 country to legalize marijuana. Most of the big cannabis companies in Canada have more than one ace up their sleeve and they are investing in the international market.
Aurora, for example, has won the first medical marijuana tender issued by the Italian government. It also has distribution agreements in place with Shoppers Drug Mart and the Societe des Alcools du Quebec, the Quebec provincial liquor monopoly. Canopy Growth, has operations in seven countries on four continents. Aphria Inc. has operations in more than 10 countries on five continents.
If you think the market is now too high to buy in, you may want to think again. A story published in Forbes on March 1, 2018 predicts a robust and growing legal international marijuana poised for exponential growth. Investment bank Bryan, Garnier & Co have just predicted that the global marijuana market is poised to grow by a 1,000 percent to hit US$140 billion by 2027.
At this moment the bull market looks as if it will keep running. Consider this, marijuana companies are still going public. On May 2, 2018 The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings, (TSE: TGOD) listed at $3.61 and sold 31,510,000 shares. TGOD, a licensed producer, has two farms and intends to become the largest organic producer of marijuana in the world, and Canada’s lowest cost producer, specializing in breeding new strains and seeds to meet specific therapeutic targets.
On May 29 FSD Pharma (CSE: HUGE) went public on the Canadian Stock Exchange and broke the record for the largest volume traded in a single first day of trading. As the week went on following its listing on the CSE, things only got better. In the first five consecutive days of its listing FSD Pharma traded exactly 259,230,820 Class B subordinate voting shares, the largest number of shares ever traded by a CSE listed company following listing. With news like this it’s hard to believe that the marijuana market is over.
FSD Pharma, through its wholly owned subsidiary FV Pharma, a licensed producer, intends to build the largest hydroponic cannabis greenhouse in the world in what once was the Kraft production facility in Coburg, Ontario. Currently producing in a 20,000 SF phase one operation the company intends to increase that tenfold by the end of the year.
After that, there’s more room to expand in the 620,000 SF facility that sits on 70 acres of land. FSD Pharma is debt free because of the streaming agreement it made with what now is Auxly, Canada’s first marijuana streaming company, which will finance and advise on operations in return for 49.9% of production in perpetuity.
As the Canadian marijuana industry continues to mature there will be market corrections but on the whole marijuana stocks appear to have very energetic legs.
- Published in Blog
Arctic Star Reports Positive Results in Finland: Best Diamond Results Found in Finland
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: June 4 2018
Diamonds Are Forever
Arctic Star Reports Positive Results in Finland: Best Diamond Results Found in Finland
Monster Diamonds found by Lucara
The surprising thing about diamonds is that people pay so much for them. The price was controlled for a very long time by De Beers which prevented too many diamonds from hitting the market at the same time to keep the price up.
De Beers also controlled diamond marketing and so is also responsible for that ubiquitous slogan, Diamonds are Forever.
The value of diamonds benefits from a superb marketing effort that has lasted for generations and convinced much of the global middle and upper classes that diamonds are the only way to express your love.
And then there is the lasting effect of Marilyn Munro singing “Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend,” in the movie version of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
For something which is really only valuable as an industrial cutting tool, diamonds have secured an emotional value that has captured and held the imagination for a very long time. Diamonds show no indication of losing the monetary value associated with them.
Over the recent past the diamond market has been in a bit of a doldrum as millennials with cash to burn look to other luxury items. This will probably become just a market blip lasting as long as it takes the marketing machine to get revved up again. Then again, that may not be necessary. In a January 8, 2018 report the CBC quoted diamond analyst Paul Zimnisky predicting that the price of rough diamonds will increase by as much as four percent this year.
Unlike copper, gold or silver which regularly go in and out of high demand and high value cycles, as a commodity diamonds just appear to sit there looking pretty with an almost constant value, going up or down in cost in the low single digits.
This year, 2018, may just go down in the history books as the monster year of enormous diamond finds. On April 26, 2018 Bloomberg News reported in a headline: Another Week and Another Huge Diamond Is Found in Botswana.
The story reports that Lucara Diamond has just discovered a 327 carat white diamond at its mine in Botswana, hard on the heels of discovering a 427 carat light brown one. In comparison, most diamonds used in jewelry are in the one to two carat range.
Last year, Lucara sold a 1,109 carat diamond, the second biggest so far discovered for US$53 million. Last year Lucara also sold an 813 carat diamond for US$63 million. Lucara is not alone. Gem Diamonds Ltd. discovered a 910 carat diamond in Lesotho this year that it has already sold for US$40 million.
Along their way to the marriage ceremony or engagement party diamonds took a detour when they became the preferred way of financing murder and mayhem in Africa. This stigma has been done away with by the development and continuing exploration of diamond fields in Canada and Russia.
If matters pan out those productive diamond fields will soon be joined by the Timantti Diamond Project in Finland. Canadian junior Arctic Star Exploration has assembled a dream team of diamond finders who believe that the diamond rich Russian pipes extend into Finland and recent exploration results back up this theory.
There is a certain amount of wisdom in adages and folk sayings. In mining there is the one that goes, “The best place to find a gold mine is next to a gold mine.” This can be followed up by saying that the best person to find a diamond mine is someone who has found one before. Arctic Star’s exploration team is run by two of the most experienced diamond finders now working. Among other discoveries Buddy Doyle found the Diavik diamond mine in Northern Canada and Roy Spencer discovered the Grib diamond mine in Russsia. Both are multi-billion dollar mines.
In an April 16, 2018 press release Arctic Star’s Vice-President of Exploration Buddy Doyle said, “We are greatly encouraged by the results, to date. So far every kimberlite we have discovered on the Timantti property has proven to be diamondiferous. We are particular pleased by the results from the Wolves, as demonstrated from table 3, these are the best diamond results to date ever reported from Finland, at least at this initial discovery phase. We look forward to adding to this as the diamond results from our drilling become available.”
Arctic Star has a 100% interest in the 243 hectare Timantti property and exclusive exploration rights for two years on a further 95,700 hectares. The Finnish property is in the same geological belt as both the Russian multi-billion dollar Grib and Lomonsov diamond mines. The company is well financed and just finished an over-subscribed private placement for more than a million dollars.
To further pique your interest in Arctic Star, the company is far from being a one trick pony. It has three more highly prospective diamond projects in the Canadian north, the Diagras project, a joint venture with Margaret Lake, located close to and in the same geological formations as the multi-billion dollar Diavik diamond mine, the 100% owned Stein Diamond Project which has six drill ready targets and Redemption, which is close to the two major discoveries, Ekati and Diavik, that sparked the Canadian diamond exploration rush.
Just for variety, along with its four diamond projects Arctic Star also has a rare earth elements project in British Columbia called Cap. One way or another the odds appear stacked in Arctic Star’s favour.
- Published in Arctic Star Exploration, Blog
Marijuana Stocks Still Have Legs
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: June 1 2018
Marijuana Stocks Still Have Legs
Bryan, Garnier & Co: Global Marijuana Market to Hit US$140 Billion by 2027
Canadian Licensed Producers Expanding Abroad
The exact date when recreational marijuana will be legalized is still uncertain. The Trudeau government has repeatedly said that it will be legalized this summer. When that great day comes to pass it may be the only time in Canadian history that the government has created an economic stimulus package that actually works: the legal marijuana industry.
Not content with only being valued in the billions of dollars in Canada, our domestic marijuana industry is also hell-bent on international expansion.
On January 28, 2018 the CBC ran a story quoting Bloomberg that said there were 87 publicly listed marijuana companies on the TSXV and that collectively they were worth US$37 billion. In January Statistics Canada estimated that almost 5 million Canadians spent $5.7 billion dollars buying marijuana, with only 10% of that going to legal medical cannabis.
On May 28, 2018 Aurora Cannabis announced that it had signed a distribution agreement with German plant based pharmaceutical distributor Heinrich Klenk. Klenk distributes its products in more than 25,000 drug stores across Germany and Europe. Klenk is a trusted name and Aurora has launched a new brand that will be produced in Canada named Cannabis Klenk which the company will distribute. Medical cannabis is legal in Germany.
Aurora has been making international plans and putting them into action for some time. It owns Berlin-based Pedanios, the leading marijuana importer, exporter and distributor of medical marijuana in the European Union as well as 51% of Aurora Nordic which plans on constructing a one million square foot greenhouse in Denmark. To round out its diversified activities the company also owns two companies that specialize in building greenhouse lighting systems, BC Northern Lights and Urban Cultivator.
Aurora is not alone on the international stage, Canopy Growth, which has Snoop Dogg as a spokesman, has operations in seven countries on four continents. Aphria Inc. has operations in more than 10 countries on five continents. It recently created a joint venture, Canninvest Africa with the South African Verve Group of Companies that will see it gain an interest in Verve Dynamics, a licensed producer of medical cannabis extracts, which it believes will become one of if not the lowest cost producer in the extract field.
Driven by economies of scale and the desire to have all the pieces to the puzzle in one place the industry has been consolidating for some time. The most recent example is the merger of Aurora and MedReleaf, which has created the largest marijuana company in the world.
If you think the market is now too high to buy in, you may want to think again. A story published in Forbes on March 1, 2018 predicts a robust and growing legal international marijuana poised for exponential growth.
The story is based on a report by Arcview Market Research which predicts that by 2027 spending on legal recreational and medical marijuana will hit US$57 billion with a 67% market share for recreational marijuana and a 33% share for medical cannabis.
The lion’s share of the revenues will be generated in North America where the largest recreational market is expected to develop with sales going from US$9.2 billion in 2017 to US$47 billion in 2027.
All of which means that serious investors should start doing their due diligence on the marijuana industry now, if they haven’t already. That due diligence should also include bio-pharmas that are developing cannabis- based drugs for regulatory approval and for the over the counter market.
If you still think that marijuana stocks are overpriced you may wish to consider this, investment bank Bryan, Garnier & Co have just predicted that the global marijuana market is poised to grow by a 1,000 percent to hit US$140 billion by 2027.
One of the more interesting set of statistics put out by Statista is that in America, medical marijuana will take a larger slice of the pie than recreational marijuana. The company predicts that by 2025 cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals will be valued at US$13.2 billion and the legal recreational market at US$10.9 billion.
Whether or not cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals will surpass the legal recreational market is as yet unknown but predictions like the one above are a sure indication that bio-pharmas launching successful drugs will be lucrative.
A rising tide raises all ships. When Canadian recreational marijuana legalization takes place marijuana stocks are expected to jump and by association so will those pharmaceutical companies developing successful cannabinoid-based drugs.
Tetra Bio-Pharma, (TSXV: TBP) is one such company with a pipeline of cancer chronic pain, and other products under development. Its lead product, PPP 001, trademarked as RX Princeps has started Phase 3 clinical trials and stands to be the first cannabinoid therapy that will have its efficacy and safety proved.
Once that happens, PPP 001 will very likely become the first drug to be given Health Canada and American FDA approval. This achievement will be marked by a Drug Identification Number, DIN, which means that it can legally be prescribed by doctors and eligible for insurance plan coverage. TBP already has distribution agreements in place in Israel and in Europe.
The above does not and should not be taken as investment advice. Investors have the responsibility of performing their own due diligence. In the interests of transparency, Momentum PR represents Tetra Bio-Pharma.
- Published in Blog
Digital currency may have a limited lifespan but the launch of corporate coins or tokens and the blockchain technology behind it will be winners
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: April 10 2018
If you don’t keep up with the world there is a tendency to be left behind. That thought may come back to haunt those who are scorning the topsy-turvy world of cryptocurrency. Then again the naysayers may be right to scorn digital currencies.
In a CNBC interview aired on January 10, 2018, billionaire investor Warren Buffet, sometimes known as the Oracle of Omaha said that cryptocurrencies are headed for trouble.
“We’ll never have a position in them,” Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “I can say with almost certainty that they will come to a bad ending.”
Financial Post columnist Diane Francis sees investing in cryptocurrencies much like investing in Canadian Tire money and the biggest scandal since Bre-X.
Christine Lagarde, head of the International Monetary Fund, believes that unless cryptocurrencies are regulated they will become an oasis for money laundering and a method for financing terrorism.
Cryptocurrencies began life in 2010 when Bitcoins were launched as a digital currency independent of any regulatory agency. To say they have captured the imagination of investors is to understate the situation. According to Digital Trends there are 1,300 cryptocurrencies in existence. Among them are Dash, Ethereum, Einsteinium, Litecoin and Plasma. Some cryptocurrencies have turned out to be nothing more than frauds.
According to the CBC, Canadians lost C$1.7 million dollars to cryptocurrency fraud in 2017, double the amount lost in 2016. And then there are the cyberjackings that take place when cyberminers hijack your computer network and use it to mine bitcoins or some other cryptocurrency. In a Globe and Mail story, Troy Mursch was quoted as saying that up to 50,000 web sites had been taken over to mine cryptocurrencies. These included the websites of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and a number of municipal websites.
None of this appears to have quenched investors’ thirst for what some see as a valueless security. On March 23, 2018, The Toronto Star ran a story announcing that the owners of the TSX, TMX Group, through its subsidiary, Shorcan Digital Currency Network, was launching a cryptocurrency brokerage service. The new service will focus on Bitcoins and Ethers.
While people like Diane Francis and Warren Buffet scorn and avoid cryptocurrencies, other believe its time may have come. On February 23, 2018, CNBC published a financial commentary by Julian Hosp called, Five Reasons 2018 could be the best year yet for cryptocurrenices. To be fair, Hosp, who is heavily invested in Bitcoins, has also written a commentary for CNBC called Four triggers could cause a cryptocurrency crash. Hosp knows about cryptocurrency. He cofounded TenX which provides debit cards that people can use to spend their cryptocurrency. TenX has also issued a large Initial Coin Offering or ICO.
ICOs are the way that digital currencies are launched. To say that digital currencies have blown a breath of fresh air through the investment community would be an understatement. In one way or another, individual companies are jumping on the bandwagon and finding ways to take advantage of the situation.
Digital currencies are driven by blockchain technology where separate nodes all store essential ledger information. In order for a transaction to go ahead, it has to be verified in all the nodes. The information is encrypted and there are only two keys. One key is held by the digital currency and one key is held by the individual currency owner. This makes the currency or process tamperproof and provides a secure payment network. The ability to provide a very secure payment network is perhaps the chief attraction of digital currency.
On January 11, 2018, ATWTech, (TSXV:ATW), announced that it had partnered with the Einsteinium Foundation, EMC2 to launch Einsteinium coins, a cryptocurrency. ATWTech is a carrier billing company that is heavily invested in interactive communication. It provides telephone voting services for television shows and texting services that provide appointment alerts to consumers for the Quebec Ministry of Health, among other activities.
In order to diversify its payment options, Voxtel, a subsidiary of ATW Tech, plans to implement EMC2 cryptocurrency in all its platforms such as mobile donations, social communities, messaging, gaming and voice services. The Einsteinium cryptocurrency may as yet, be the only cryptocurrency with an altruistic bent. Its objective is to fund scientific research, advanced IT research and advance cryptocurrency projects.
One of the most interesting developments that digital currency has produced may be its use as a way to finance corporate development. Canadian Oil and Gas junior Hillcrest Petroleum (TSXV: HRH), announced in late January that it has signed an agreement with Entoro Capital to establish a digital Initial Coin Offering, ICO. The Hillcrest digital currency would be based on future revenue from its oil and gas business.
Hillcrest believes that launching an asset backed digital currency could provide it with substantial development funding and open the doors to a broader swath of investors.
As Hillcrest CEO Don Currie said in the press release announcing the decision, “The investment community has been extremely supportive of alternate currencies and Hillcrest looks forward to participating in this new and rapidly evolving investment process.
If the Bitcoin bubble does break, chances are that digital currencies will survive as an alternative financing mechanism when they are backed by real assets, as is the case with Hillcrest.
Relevium Technologies, (TSXV:RLV), a wellness and health care products aggregator, sees a slightly different angle in digital currencies. While it too is contemplating launching an ICO, it appears much more keen to use the blockchain technology that keeps digital currency transactions secure to ensure the security of its online transactions.
Whether or not cryptocurrencies are fated to fall as quickly as they rose is a moot point. On the surface investing in Bitcoins and the like does seem to be an advanced case of the Emperor’s new clothes.
Corporate tokens or coins, on the other hand, may very well have a long life because they are asset based, offer a new financing method for junior companies and in the end may very well prove to be the new form of company shares, with the advantage that you won’t have to go through a stock exchange to purchase or sell them.
Given that cryptocurrencies are havens for fraud and money laundering, that the bubble may or may not burst at any moment, the wise investor may see corporate tokens and blockchain technology companies as the best safe investments in the digital currency environment.
Check out our recent post, A Bitcoin Primer
- Published in Blog
A Bitcoin Primer
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: March 26 2018
Some of us know a little, some of us know a lot, but most of us haven’t got the foggiest notion of what a Bitcoin or a cryptocurrency is.
If you follow the news, you will have noted that media coverage is increasing. On Thursday March 15th, CNBC reported that the value of global cryptocurrencies fell from US$372.9 billion to US$310.4 billion. According to Digital Trends there are 1,300 cryptocurrencies in existence. Among them are Dash, Ethereum, Litecoin and Plasma.
Investing in them may be a dangerous gamble, even Venezuela has floated a cryptocurrency, the Petro. Financial Post columnist Diane Francis has ranked them on a par with the Bre-X scandal, Canadian Tire money and has advised investors to avoid them like the plague.
The reason for the recent fall in value was mainly twofold, the threat of increasing regulation and the actions of the trustee for Mt Gox a bankrupt Japanese bitcoin clearing house, who flooded the market with bitcoins in an attempt to pay off creditors.
The slide in value was also pushed along by the news that first Facebook in January and then Google in March banned advertising for cyptocurrencies, wallets and ICOs. Highly volatile, the value of bitcoins fell from US$20,000 in 2017 to US$8,219 a bitcoin on March 15th.
Cryptocurrencies are a digital currency. They aren’t backed by any national bank or regulated by any government or financial regulatory agency. Their only value is what you think it is and that may end up being nothing at all or a great deal.
Bitcoins are generated by solving complex mathematical puzzles. A process which makes seeing any real value in them difficult. It is a process which consumes a great deal of electricity. Wallets are applications that store cryptocurrencies on your computer and ICOs are Initial Coin Offerings which take place when a new cryptocurrency is launched.
Along with last week’s fall in cryptocurrency value, other recent news headlines include Plattsburg, New York’s decision to stop selling cheap electricity to bitcoin miners because they have driven the cost of electricity up for other residents and the arrival of a bitcoin mining operation in Sherbrooke, Quebec where Sherbrooke Hydro offers cheap electricity.
Quebec-based Bitfarm says that its Sherbrooke operation will employ up to 250 people. The company has operations in several communities in Quebec’s Eastern Townships. Bitfarm is reportedly spending $250 million to set up its Sherbrooke operation.
Bitcoin miners from as far afield as China have been reported as eyeing Quebec because of its comparatively cheap electrical rates.
All of this was topped by the announcement by Quebec Premier Philippe Couillard that bitcoin miners were not welcome in the province because they didn’t provide any added value for Quebec. Quebec may even decide to deter bitcoin operations by increasing the amount Hydro Quebec charges them for electricity.
It appears that while we were napping and concentrating on real stocks with real products and real business plans that the business of cryptocurrencies has become the object of intense speculation.
American financial regulators have allowed the trading of bitcoin futures. There is even a company, HashChain, trading on the TSXV and OTCQB that along with being an active bitcoin miner, offers tax software targeted at the fast and exciting world of cryptocurrency.
By their very nature cryptocurrencies are shadowy and elusive. Murky because we don’t really know who bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto is, or if he actually ever existed. Nakamoto has said via internet posts that he lived in Japan but the internet server he used was a free one located in Germany.
Even the name is a little confusing. Merriam Webster defines crypto as a “person who adheres or belongs secretly to a party, sect or other group.” The word was coined in 1946 and most commonly used in a compound form, crypto-communist, crypto-fascist, etc.
Crypto in cryptocurrency, instead refers to the fact that transactions on a cryptocurrency network are encrypted, safe and secure.
In 2008 Nakamoto posted a paper on the creation of a cryptocurrency on a cryptographers message board. During 2009 he launched bitcoin. By 2010 Nakamoto had handed bitcoin over to another developer, Gavin Andreson who had helped develop bitcoin technology. Nakamoto stopped posting on bitcoin forums in 2010 and hasn’t been heard of since.
The benefits of a cryptocurrency or rather, the technology behind it could be very large. Blockchain technology promises to make transactions faster and ensure privacy. Bitcoin was initially developed during the 2008 banking crash and subsequent recession.
Some supporters see cryptocurrencies as a cure all for economic woes because cryptocurrencies are not state regulated. Because they are not regulated they can’t be used to provide economic stimulation that in turn devalues currency. Others believe they can eliminate credit card fraud, provide a financial safe haven for people living in war zones and the ability to provide people without bank accounts a safe way to transfer money.
While most of these are laudable desires, the true value in cryptocurrencies probably lies in the development of blockchain technology that allows cryptocurrencies to make fast, safe and easy transactions.
Cryptocurrencies had been dreamed of and worked on since the 1990s but Nakamoto was the first to solve the basic problem which had held development back, how to prevent people from simply cutting and pasting their digital currency again and again. This is called the double spend.
To put it a little more simply, he developed a system that would prevent digital currency fraud. He did this by creating a central registry or ledger that would be maintained by members of the bitcoin community in a variety of locations. Because every ledger entry is checked against other nodes in the network fraud becomes impossible.
The central registry and bitcoins themselves depend on blockchain technology. Cryptocurrencies are based on the idea of making transactions quicker and simpler by bypassing government control of currency. It does this by storing information across a peer to peer network, a blockchain. This can be better understood if you think of the blockchain as an operating system and bitcoin as the application that runs on it.
Bitcoins and for the most part other cryptocurrencies are generated by what is called mining. This is a computer intensive activity whereby a series of computers are strung together to solve a mathematical puzzle. The first “miner” to solve the problem is rewarded with a set number of bitcoins. The amount of electricity this uses globally is equivalent to all the electricity used by Ireland.
Wired has an excellent guide to bitcoins and cryptocurrencies which you can read by following this link. Next week this blog will explore the reasons behind calls for an intense regulatory regime for cryptocurrencies and some of the reasons why some investors won’t touch them with a ten foot pole.
Canadian Companies Have Chance to Dominate Global Medical Cannabis Market.
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: March 21 2018
Tetra Bio-Pharma Receives FDA Orphan Drug Status for PPP001
Canadian Companies Have Chance to Dominate Global Medical Cannabis Market.
Grand View Research has predicted that the global medical marijuana market will reach US$55.8 billion by 2025.
When licensed medical marijuana producers first began to list on the Canadian stock exchanges they received sky high valuations.
Some analysts and producers looked beyond the domestic market and wondered if the legalization of marijuana in Canada would allow Canadian marijuana growers to take a dominant position in the global market as marijuana legalization rolled out around the world.
It now looks as if Canada stands a good chance to become a global leader in the development of cannabinoid-based drugs and the regulatory approvals that ensure their safety and efficacy.
The cannabinoid-based drug market is going to be huge. Grand View Research has predicted that the global medical marijuana market will reach US$55.8 billion by 2025.
A Bloomberg News story published in the Financial Post on December 28, 2017 explains why Canadian medical cannabis producers and drug companies are set to move onto the global stage.
The established use of medical cannabis in Canada and the legalization of recreational marijuana both play a part in this.
Canopy Growth CEO Bruce Linton was quoted in the story as saying that the theme for 2018 will be the globalization of medical cannabis. One of Canada’s first medical marijuana producers, Canopy already ships to Germany and has partnerships with companies in Australia, Spain and Jamaica.
In effect, Canada has first mover status on the international market and if domestic producers do the right things they stand a good chance of dominating the global market.
While medical cannabis is now being prescribed in a variety of jurisdictions, it is only being prescribed because of anecdotal evidence. There is no scientific proof that medical cannabis-based therapeutic treatments work. The pharmaceutical companies that succeed in providing regulatory approval backed by hard science stand to profit with a very large market share.
Canada is leading the way because while one might assume that research powerhouse the United States would be at the head of the line, American research is hamstrung by the fact that while legal in many states, it is not legal at the American federal level. This means that federal research funding is not available.
Against that backdrop Canadian biopharmaceutical research and development company Tetra Bio-Pharma, dedicated to becoming the first to prove the safety and efficacy of cannabis-based drugs, has received funding from the National Science and Research Council of Canada.
The company has already started a Phase 3 clinical study designed to prove the safety and efficacy of its flagship product, smokable PPP001, designed as a therapeutic treatment for chronic and cancer pain. The company believes that PPP001 will be on the market no later than 2019.
Canada’s ability to lead the international pack when it comes to the development of cannabis-based therapeutic drugs can be illustrated by two recent developments.
On March 14, 2018 Tetra Bio-Pharma announced that it had received “Orphan Drug Status” for PPP001, for the treatment of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome by the American FDA.
Orphan drug status is a designation used to encourage research into drugs for the treatment of rare diseases that affect only a small percentage of the population, 200,000. It provides a seven year marketing exclusivity for the orphan drug.
Tetra Bio-Pharma is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to providing the science that will prove that medical cannabis-based drugs are safe and actually work.
Unless a dark horse dramatically emerges, Tetra Bio-Pharma will also be the first biopharmaceutical to be granted Health Canada and FDA approvals, which in return will grant the approved drugs a Drug Identification Number, DIN. DIN numbers allow the drug to be prescribed by doctors, sold by pharmacies and covered by insurance plans.
DIN numbers are the Holy Grail in pharmaceutical research. Once you have them your products are legal to market. Without a DIN number they can’t be sold.
Tetra has a pipeline of cannabis-based drugs under development and has recently created a veterinary division to create cannabis-based drugs for the lucrative cat and dog market.
The company has also just announced its first European foray with partner PS Innovations. PS Innovations manufactures Tetra’s trademarked RX Princeps Inhalation Device. Tetra announced on March 6, 2018 that PS Innovations will apply for CE Marking, a process that guaranties the product conforms to European regulations and can be sold in the European Economic Area where it will be listed as a Class 1 Medical Device.
Another indication that Canada stands a good chance of leading the medical cannabis world is the recent agreement between Sandoz Canada and licensed medical marijuana producer Tilray Inc. On March 19, 2018, Tilray announced that it had formed an exclusive partnership with Sandoz Canada to develop non-smokable cannabis-based therapeutic drugs delivered through gel caps or lotions.
Sandoz is owned by Novatis and the agreement represents big pharma’s first venture into developing cannabinoid-based therapeutic treatments.
Pascal Biosciences discovered certain cannabinoids that help our immune system kill tumor cells.
Canopy Growth also has a medical division that holds a number of patents. If Canada can develop the momentum that comes with first mover status there is a good chance that it can dominate the global medical cannabis market.
- Published in Blog
Mining Industry Turnaround Showcased at PDAC 2018
Momentum Public Relations
Blog: February 28th
The premiere mining convention in the world is about to take place
in Toronto as the Prospectors and Developers Association of
Canada, PDAC, holds its annual convention from March 4-7, 2018.
As mining conventions go, PDAC attracts the largest numbers in
the world with more than 24,000 attendees expected this year.
PDAC has a domestic and international membership 7,500 strong.
Canadian mining companies operate in more than 100 countries
and no wonder. Canadians are good at mining, it is, not to put too
fine a point on it, one of our bedrock industries.
Internationally, mining companies like to list on the TSX because
after the C$ 6 billion Bre-X gold scandal of the 1990s and the
resulting mining sector slaughter, Canada cleaned up its regulatory
act and introduced NI 43-101, a mechanism that fosters
transparency in what can and cannot be said about a mining claim.
NI 43-101 helped eliminate fraud and boiler room scams in the
industry and made the Toronto exchange the place for listing and
raising capital. As a result more than half the mining companies in
the world list on the TSX and TSXV.
Last year almost 600,000 people worked in the Canadian mining
industry and the dollar value was in excess of C$60 billion. In
terms of the social fabric, Canadian mining employs more
Indigenous Canadians than any other industry.
Canadian governments recognize the importance of mining to the
Canadian economy. British Columbia has just announced a 12
member task force made up from the mining industry, Indigenous
community and labour to assess the health and vitality of the
industry in British Columbia and make proposals on how to
provide job security during commodity price fluctuations. In
British Columbia the mining industry generates 30,000 jobs and
generates C$6 billion. No small potatoes.
Mining is important to industry. Without iron ore, for instance, we
wouldn’t have steel. Moving forward, the next great industrial
revolution, from petroleum to renewable energy, won’t be able to
take place without the mining industry exploring for secure sources
of cobalt, lithium and graphite, new generation rechargeable
battery metals.
And then there is graphene, a material that is refined from graphite
which is much thinner and much stronger than steel. Among the
remarkable products that graphene can be used to produce is a
building coating that not only generates and supplies all the
electricity used to power a building but can also be used to change
the colour of a building. Imagine your office going from green
when it is open and to red when it is closed.
After going through an ugly period where financing was difficult
for majors and almost impossible for juniors, explorers and
developers are beginning to find project financing.
Last year, according to a story in the Globe and Mail’s February
27, 2018 issue, Brian Milner wrote that 20 mining companies went
public on Canadian exchanges and that roughly C$830 million was
raised for mining companies during 2017. Mining companies
provided more than half of the new issues introduced last year. The
amount invested, C$830 million, was the largest sum invested in
seven years.
At the moment, the mining industry seems poised for takeoff.
Commodity prices for base metals have improved. Major
companies that overspent on resources have largely put their
financial houses in order. Because prospecting and exploration
were put off during the recent past, mining companies are now
looking to find new reserves and build up project pipelines.
During mining’s recent awful bad day that went on for years,
prominent newsletter writers continuously wrote that it was time
for the industry to clean up its act and reduce the number of
zombie companies on the exchange.
A typical zombie company would be a junior that has a good story
and not much else, not the skill or the financing to advance any
project that it does hold. By listing on the exchange and raising
money it dilutes the capital available for juniors that have the skill
and ability to develop a project.
Doug Ramshaw, the President and CEO of Corex Gold, (TSXV:
CGE) believes that the industry needs more mergers like the one
which Corex is currently engaged in. Corex and Minera Alamos
are in the merger process in what Ramshaw describes as a perfect
fit.
The merged company will operate under the Minera Alamos name
for the time being and have three advanced stage gold projects
under development. One, Corex’s Santana property is expected to
be in full production by the end of the year producing 25-35,000
ounces of gold a year.
The resulting revenue will be used to help finance production at
Minera Alamos’ two advanced stage projects, Fortuna and
Guadelupe dos Reyes. All three projects will be processed using
low-capex heap leaching and Ramshaw estimates that when all
three projects are up and running annual production will hit
150,000 ounces of gold.
By using low cost heap leaching the mines will be profitable even
if the price of gold falls back. Merging the two companies will
produce one that has a market cap in the C$50 million range, one
that will be able to attract any financing it needs going forward.
If you feel like placing a bet on a junior gold exploration company
you may want to consider Alliance Mining, (TSXV: ALM) which
is starting to consolidate land claims in the Bissett gold camp in
southeastern Manitoba. The company already has three highly
prospective targets, including Packsack, a past producing gold
mine.
The best place to find a gold mine is next to another gold mine and
Packsack is four km away from Klondex’s True North Mine and
mill complex. More than 1.7 million ounces of gold have been
produced at the Bissett-Red Rice Lake gold camp.
On the other hand you may also be interested in investing in the
future. Equitorial Explorations, (TSXV: EXX) is currently
advancing three significant lithium properties.
You can also invest in the future of mining by investing in Albert
Mining, (TSXV: AIIM). Albert is named after Einstein because the
company has an AI powered exploration system called CARDS
which it using to find drill targets.
Canada’s mining industry is back and attracting smart money. If
you do invest remember to do your own due diligence, caveat
emptor.
- Published in Blog