Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. Announces Listing of Warrants
Momentum Public Relations
Press Release: May 30 2018
Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. (“Tetra” or the “Corporation“) (TSXV: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF), a global leader in cannabinoid-based drug development and discovery, is pleased to announce that a total of 11,500,000 common share purchase warrants (the “Warrants“) of the Corporation will be listed and posted for trading under the symbol TBP.WT on the TSX Venture Exchange effective on or about June 1, 2018.
The Warrants were issued in connection with the Company’s bought deal prospectus offering of Units (the “Units“) that closed on March 5, 2018. Each Unit consisted of one common share (a “Common Share“) and one Warrant. Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share at an exercise price equal to $1.30 at any time before March 5, 2021.
The Warrants are governed by the terms of a Warrant Indenture dated March 5, 2018 between the Company and Computershare Trust Company of Canada as warrant agent, a copy of which is available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com. For further details regarding the Warrants, please refer to the Warrant Indenture.
About Tetra Bio-Pharma:
Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX-V: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) is a biopharmaceutical leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development with a clinical program aimed at bringing novel drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. The Company has several subsidiaries that are engaged in the development of Bio Pharmaceuticals and Natural Health Products containing Cannabis and other medicinal plant based elements.Tetra Bio-Pharma is focused on combining the traditional methods of medicinal cannabis use with the supporting scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing bio pharma industry by regulators, physicians and insurance companies.
More information at: www.tetrabiopharma.com
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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 Corporation 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 Corporation’s ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Corporation 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 failure to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Corporation’s business plan; the success of the Rx PrincepsTM product offering and inhalation device; guidance on expected sales volumes associated with the Rx PrincepsTM product offering and inhalation device; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, and other risks disclosed in the Corporation‘s public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Corporation 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. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Corporation 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.
SOURCE Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc.
View original content: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2018/30/c3264.html
Contact:
For further information, please contact Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc., Robert (Bob) Béchard, Vice President, Finance & Business Development, (514) 817-2514; For investors information, please contact: investors@tetrabiopharma.com
- Published in Tetra Bio Pharma
InMed Pharmaceuticals arranges $1-million financing
2015-04-06 11:25 ET – News Release
Mr. Craig Schneider reports
INMED PHARMACEUTICALS, INC. ANNOUNCES NON-BROKERED PRIVATE PLACEMENT FOR UP TO C$1,000,000
InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. will conduct a non-brokered private placement of up to four million units at a price of 25 cents per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1-million. Each unit will consist of one common share and one-half of one non-transferable share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant will be exercisable by the holder to acquire one additional common share at a price of 40 cents for a period of 12 months following the closing of the financing.
Completion of the private placement is subject to receipt of regulatory approval. All securities issued will be subject to a statutory four-month hold period under applicable securities laws.
The net proceeds from this private placement will be used for general working capital purposes. Finders’ fees in cash or warrants may be payable in accordance with the policies of the exchange.
We seek Safe Harbor.
- Published in Blog, Life Sciences
Spending Bill to Restrict Persecution of Legal Cannabis Businesses
In wake of the government shutdown as Congress attempts to wrap up a two-year legislative session, the 2014 Continuing Resolution Omnibus bill was passed on Saturday.
With 1603 pages, this $1.1 trillion dollar bill, one long line has received little fanfare – It states that the Department of Justice (and, therefore, the FBI) cannot spend money to investigate, raid or prosecute cannabis businesses that are accredited as legal within their parent states. It is important to note that this does not restrict spending from previous budgets.
To be specific, the bill says:
“None of the funds made available in this Act to the Department of Justice may be used, with respect to the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, to prevent such States from implementing their own State laws that authorize the use, distribution, possession, or cultivation of medical marijuana.”
“Congressional leaders seem to have finally gotten the message that a supermajority of Americans wants states to be able to implement sensible marijuana reforms without federal interference,” said Tom Angell, head of the pro-legalization Marijuana Majority. “This legislation greatly reduces the chances that costly and senseless DEA raids will come between seriously ill patients and the doctor-recommended medicine they need for relief.
This does not mean that the DOJ will stop monitoring the cannabis industry, or that there is a sudden change in legalization. It will also not affect any on going investigations or persecutions, and only applies to the states mentioned – any state who changes their cannabis laws will have to wait till the next budget to be recognized.
The spending bill also “prohibits both federal and local funds from being used to implement a referendum legalizing recreational marijuana use in the District of Columbia,” according to a summary from the House Appropriations Committee.
DC’s initative would actually cost them nothing – it would save district money to not enforce laws against marijuana possession. Essentially, it prevents DC Council from spending its time and resources to approve the legalization initiative and send it to Congress. Under federal law, this is a required step in order to legalize.
Congress previously used this authority to block DC from implementing a medical marijuana law for nearly 12 years. Federal lawmakers have also prevented DC from using local tax dollars to fund abortion services and life-saving clean needle exchange programs. They can experiement with medical marijuana… but not legalization.
While not all encompassing, this does show that the American federal government is moving away from persecution, and is willing to update its archaic views on cannabis sativa.
- Published in Blog, Medical Marijuana
New Research Shows How Marijuana Compound Can Reduce Tumor Growth In Cancer Patients
Scientists have long known that compounds derived from marijuana have some cancer fighting properties, but a recent discovery demonstrates how exactly one compound may fight tumors.
Published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the research reveals two previously unknown “signaling platforms” in cells that allow THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis known for producing the “high” sensation, to shrink some cancerous tumors.
“THC, the major active component of marijuana, has anti-cancer properties,” Dr. Peter McCormick, a researcher from University of East Anglia in England and co-author of the study, said in a statement. “This compound is known to act through a specific family of cell receptors called cannabinoid receptors. However, it was unclear which of these receptors were responsible for the anti-tumor effects of THC.”
When the researchers applied THC to tumors induced in mice using human breast cancer cells, the interaction between two cannabinoid cell receptors — CB2 and GPR55 — were responsible for THC’s anti-tumor benefits.
“Our findings help explain some of the well-known but still poorly understood effects of THC at low and high doses on tumor growth,” McCormick added. He emphasized in an email to The Huffington Post that dosage is critical to outcome, since the wrong protocol can sometimes increase tumor growth, he said.
“So, the ideal would be either the purified THC in an effective dose provided by a health care provider to reduce the known cognitive side effects and still deliver the appropriate reduction in tumor growth, or a synthetic homolog that provides the same effects,” McCormack said. He added that the research team didn’t screen all tumors and that some types may not respond to this treatment if they do not have compatible receptors expressed.
The endocannabinoid (EC) system is a communications network in the brain and body that is involved in a number of physiological processes that affect a person’s feelings, motor skills and memory. The EC system is responsive to the body’s naturally-occurring endocannabinoids as well as the cannabinoids found in marijuana, like THC. And scientists have found that the CB2 receptor specifically is sensitive to the therapeutic properties of marijuana-based compounds.
This isn’t the first time scientists have found that marijuana can be effective at fighting cancer. Previous studies have found that THC cuts tumor growth in lung cancer in half and also prohibited the cancer from spreading. THC has also been shown to induce death in brain cancer cells.
But THC is just one of many cannabinoids found in marijuana. Others, like CBD, a non-toxic, non-psychoactive chemical compound in the cannabis plant, has also shown promise in the battle against cancer. Researchers in California found that CBD could stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer.
In the United Kingdom, a team of scientists found that six different purified cannabinoids — CBD (Cannabidiol), CBDA (Cannabidiolic acid), CBG (Cannbigerol), CBGA (Cannabigerolic acid), CBGV (Cannabigevarin) and CBGVA (Cannabigevaric acid) — showed a wide range of therapeutic qualities that “target and switch off” pathways that allow cancers to grow.
A number of studies in recent years have demonstrated the medical potential of pot beyond cancer treatment. Purified forms of cannabis has been tied to better blood sugar control, and may help slow the spread of HIV. Legalization of the plant for medical purposes may even lead to lower suicide rates.
Currently, the federal government classifies the plant as one of the “most dangerous” substances alongside heroin and LSD with “no currently accepted medical use.”
McCormack told HuffPost that the researchers are moving toward clinical trials but that it would be at least five years before those would begin.
- Published in Blog
Marijuana, now officially more expensive then gold
Shatter hash and other similar concentrates make up one of the fastest-growing facets of Colorado’s bustling marijuana industry — but shatter, which can be used for dabbing, is also still quite controversial.
Shatter can be dangerous to produce, as many have learned after blowing up their garages or hotel rooms. And it’s also an incredibly potent method of ingesting THC — hardly ideal for the inexperienced pot connoisseur.
Just how popular is shatter?
“At this point gold costs $43.50 a gram,” said Tucker Eldridge, master grower at Nature’s Herbs & Wellness, “and shatter costs $40 a gram off the shelf for medical patients. You add another 30{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} tax to that, and it ends up costing more than gold.”
Shatter can sell recreationally for $60-$90 a gram, Eldridge said in the above video, by Denver Post photographer Joe Amon.
So why do some prefer shatter to flower or edibles?
“If you’re looking for something that’s significantly more potent, has significantly less adulterant plant matter, which is what combusts and produces carcinogens, then shatter hash is going to be more your cup of tea,” Eldridge said. “If you’re not looking for something that’s that potent it can be almost psychoactive.”
- Published in Blog
Active Component Of Marijuana Has Anti-cancer Effects, Study Suggests
Guillermo Velasco and colleagues, at Complutense University, Spain, have provided evidence that suggests that cannabinoids such as the main active component of marijuana (THC) have anticancer effects on human brain cancer cells.
In the study, THC was found to induce the death of various human brain cancer cell lines and primary cultured human brain cancer cells by a process known as autophagy.
Consistent with the in vitro data, administration of THC to mice with human tumors decreased tumor growth and induced the tumor cells to undergo autophagy. As analysis of tumors from two patients with recurrent glioblastoma multiforme (a highly aggressive brain tumor) receiving intracranial THC administration showed signs of autophagy, the authors suggest that cannabinoid administration may provide a new approach to targeting human cancers.
Cannabinoid action induces autophagy-mediated cell death through stimulation of ER stress in human glioma cells
Story Source:
The above story is based on materials provided by Journal of Clinical Investigation. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
- Published in Medical Marijuana
Wonkbook: Washington’s legal marijuana policy experiment
1. Top story: Washington state’s experiment with legal recreational marijuana begins
Sales of recreational marijuana begin in Washington state. “Washington’s experiment with licensed, legal recreational marijuana began tentatively in a handful of places around the state on Tuesday, with limited supplies…but with great enthusiasm and hoopla in the places where the sales occurred.Where the experiment will lead after the novelty wears off remains deeply uncertain….Possessing marijuana in small amounts and consuming it at home has been legal in Washington for almost two years now…and local law enforcement agencies had mostly backed off enforcing marijuana laws before that. It had not, however, been legal to sell it for recreational purposes until Tuesday.” Kirk Johnson in The New York Times.
Explainer: How the recreational marijuana system in Washington state works. Katy Steinmetz in Time Magazine.
Chart: Where you can maybe buy recreational marijuana. German Lopez in Vox.
Slight problem: There’s a shortage of legal pot. “Although some of Denver’s marijuana shops ran out of product when they opened in January, the kind of shortages expected in Washington are above and beyond….The contrast speaks to just how varied different states’ experiences might be as they strive to legalize marijuana for recreational and medical purposes….Strangely enough, the lack of regulations on the medical marijuana system, which isn’t going through a shortage, could be the saving grace for Washington’s pot enthusiasts. Because the system is so unregulated, many of Washington’s marijuana users already have access to the drug through friends and medical dispensaries….The shortage might only affect curious newcomers and tourists.” German Lopez in Vox.
Interview: Why illegal/unlicensed pot dealers are freaking out. Matt Berman in National Journal.
Lessons from Colorado: A pot learning curve. “The two states have been under scrutiny as they embark on test cases in legalization, watched closely by everyone from legalization critics to advocates pushing legal marijuana in other states, including Oregon and Alaska. Observers are keeping tabs both on how smoothly the rollout goes, as well as looking to the differences in the two states’ approaches….The area of legalization under the most scrutiny in Colorado is the sale of ‘edibles.’…In response to Colorado’s experiences, Washington last month issued some new rules governing the packaging, labeling, and sale of edibles, and it has yet to issue a license for a kitchen to produce such products.” Amanda Paulson in The Christian Science Monitor.
Explainer: 7 differences between Colorado and Washington state’s recreational-marijuana systems. Trevor Hughes in USA Today.
It takes a lot to protect a pot shop. “To protect the people working, the pot and the profits, several layers of security are needed, he said. ‘You can’t cut in from above. You can’t tunnel in from below,’ said Davis, pointing to a maze of circuits on the ceiling. ‘The system will pick you up before you ever manage to get inside.’ Davis also has 14 high-definition, infrared cameras always rolling. Bullet-resistant glass is part of a demolition-resistant wall that customers first see after they walk through the front door. The facility is outfitted with motion sensors, heavy-duty locks and alarms.This, plus panic buttons for the workers, are what’s necessary to deal with cannabis in an all-cash environment, he said.” Natalie Swaby in KING-TV.
What’s the pot-shop experience like? “Seattle’s first pot shop, in an industrial district south of downtown, is no Starbucks. It’s on a busy six-lane road on which trucks frequently rumble by, and it has no off-street parking. The store’s name is in small print above the mailbox. Under state rules, cannabis can’t be displayed in windows and the stores can’t be near schools, playgrounds, libraries, or parks. Inside, glass jewelry cases once used in a Sears (SHLD) department store display pipes and bongs. The bright lights and wood laminate flooring call to mind an optometrist’s shop in a mall, except for the cash machine next to the register. There’s no place to comfortably sit; pot can’t be consumed on the premises.” Peter Robison in Bloomberg Businessweek.
Quotable: “It’s the quality. It’s like a candy store, like chocolates. You can never get enough.” — Deborah Greene, a customer at a new recreational-pot shop in Wash. state. Maria L. La Ganga in Los Angeles Times.
Whose pot is better: Washington’s or Colorado’s? It’s hard to say. “Retailers in Washington braced for long lines and high demand. The same happened when Colorado legalized recreational sales Jan. 1, and tens of thousands of buyers got the chance to pick from a wide variety of strains, from Blue Dream to AK-47 and Facewreck. Those names represent known genetic strains of marijuana plant — think Macintosh and Granny Smith apples — that are cultivated the world over. But even though the genetics are the same, how the plants are grown makes an enormous difference, experts say. That makes it all but impossible to make consistent comparisons.” Trevor Hughes in USA Today.
Explainer: A guide for recreational-marijuana shoppers. Trevor Hughes in USA Today.
Cuomo signs bill legalizing medical pot in N.Y. state. “The measure, which passed both houses of the legislature during the final moments of the legislative session, in June, is significantly more restrictive than other medical-marijuana laws in the nation.” Erica Orden in The Wall Street Journal.
Other legal reads:
Odd couple — Cory Booker, Rand Paul — team up on sentencing reform bill. Ed O’Keefe in The Washington Post.
Mob-busting tool used against online crime. Andrew Grossman in The Wall Street Journal.
Top opinion
PORTER: Blueprints for taming the climate crisis. “It offers a sobering conclusion. We might be able to pull it off. But it will take an overhaul of the way we use energy, and a huge investment in the development and deployment of new energy technologies. Significantly, it calls for an entirely different approach to international diplomacy on the issue of how to combat climate change….But despite these risks, the report offers a promising new path to overcome the decades-old logjam of climate change negotiations. For the first time, when we say we can stop the climate from heating we will more or less know what we are talking about.” Eduardo Porter in The New York Times.
McARDLE: Who’s the real Hobby Lobby bully? “I think…Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor are obviously correct — they are being forced by the government to buy something that they don’t want to buy….If it weren’t for state power, the Little Sisters of the Poor would be happily not facilitating the birth-control purchases of its employees; the Barack Obama administration has attempted to force them to do otherwise….All this is old ground. The interesting question is why people on the other side view ceasing the coercion as itself coercive while arguing that the original law did not, in fact, force anyone to violate their religious beliefs.” Megan McArdle in Bloomberg View.
CHAIT: GOP after the apocalypse. “The reformicons’ retreat from Ryan-style apocalypticism is not only a shrewd tonal shift, but also a welcome — albeit unacknowledged — recognition that the party’s doomsaying has not come to pass, and that the American way of life will indeed survive Obama’s reforms. Indeed, the success of Obama’s domestic agenda may create more space for a conservative counteroffensive, in the way that Reaganism opened political room for Bill Clinton. Whether or not the reformicons ever compose a workable domestic agenda, they have come to recognize that they cannot run a presidential campaign promising to rescue America from fire and rubble visible only to themselves.” Jonathan Chait in New York Magazine.
KRUGMAN: Conservative delusions about inflation. “Confronted with a conflict between evidence and what they want to believe for political and/or religious reasons, many people reject the evidence. And knowing more about the issues widens the divide, because the well informed have a clearer view of which evidence they need to reject to sustain their belief system….I found myself thinking about the similar state of affairs when it comes to economics….And if you look at the internal dynamics of the Republican Party, it’s obvious that the currency-debasement, return-to-gold faction has been gaining strength even as its predictions keep failing. Can anything reverse this descent into dogma? A few conservative intellectuals have been trying to persuade their movement to embrace monetary activism, but they’re ever more marginalized.” Paul Krugman in The New York Times.
EDSALL: How much do our genes influence our political beliefs? “It’s been a key question of American politics since at least 1968: Why do so many poor, working-class and lower-middle-class whites — many of them dependent for survival on government programs — vote for Republicans? The debate over the motives of conservative low-income white voters remains unresolved, but two recent research papers suggest that the hurdles facing Democrats in carrying this segment of the electorate may prove difficult to overcome.” Thomas B. Edsall in The New York Times.
WEISER: Sharing the leverage. “In their new book House of Debt, economists Atif Mian and Amir Sufi connect the vast increase in consumer debt with the Great Recession and slow-motion recovery. But rather than sing a requiem for a half-century of proxy Keynesianism…they shout hosannas for even more debt….Complex and opaque debt structures enable politicians and crony capitalists to disguise high leverage while spinning the predictable blowups as black swan events. If a consumer debt hangover is hindering the economy, as Mian and Sufi plausibly argue, then the government should be encouraging writedowns in exchange for the elimination of future guarantees and other hidden debt subsidies. Borrowers and lenders, not taxpayers, should bear the risk.” Jay Weiser in National Review.
Animals interlude: Looks like Grumpy Cat has some company. “Purrmanently sad cat” looks adorably sad all the time.
2. Obama’s requests emergency-funding to deal with the migrant crisis
Obama’s border migrant-crisis funding request faces tough path on Capitol Hill. “Hours after the Obama administration requested $3.7 billion in emergency funding to address the current child immigration crisis at the southern border, few on Capitol Hill were predicting speedy passage — if at all — of legislation to provide Obama with the money he has requested. Instead, the conventional wisdom on the Hill among both Democrats and Republicans is the same as it has been for any number of issues this year — from minimum wage, to unemployment extension, to any number of jobs bills: probably not going to happen.” Wesley Lowery in The Washington Post.
Chart: A breakdown of the White House’s request. The Washington Post.
Border help for HHS, amid a potential new public-health crisis. “Those funds will help HHS provide ‘appropriate care’ for the children, who are mostly coming from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras….HHS is one of the agencies responsible for caring for the children, a little-known task that could prove arduous as the number of unaccompanied kids continues to surge. The department’s Unaccompanied Alien Children (UAC) program handled about 6,000 to 8,000 children a year between 2003 and 2011 while they were readied for deportation or took their cases to court. But a new wave of immigrants from Central America means the workload could soar to 90,000 unaccompanied kids this fiscal year and 127,000 in 2015, advocates told The Hill.” Ferdous Al-Faruque in The Hill.
U.N. urges U.S. to treat migrant children as refugees. “People who enter the U.S. and nearby countries illegally from El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras should not be forced to return home and should be treated as refugees, a U.N. agency says. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says people from those countries are subject to persecution….The call from the U.N. echoes statements made in the spring, when the refugee agency released ‘Children on the Run,’ a report that cited interviews with migrant children who had crossed international borders to flee violence. This week, the U.S. and its neighbors will hold meetings in Nicaragua to discuss ‘updating a 30-year-old declaration regarding the obligations nations have to aid refugees,’ the AP says.” Bill Chappell in NPR.
Obama will visit Perry, but not the border. What will they discuss? “President Barack Obama will meet Texas Governor Rick Perry on Wednesday to discuss a surge of Latin American young people crossing the U.S.-Mexico border that has put the two leaders at odds with each other. Perry’s office welcomed the meeting, to take place in Dallas on the governor’s turf, in a Tuesday statement that said they would discuss the humanitarian and national security crises along the southern border….But the White House said he would not visit the border, a sign that officials do not see a political upside.” Mark Felsenthal and Jon Hershkovitz in Reuters.
Other immigration reads:
Mark Zuckerberg’s immigration push hits brick wall. Jessica Meyers in Politico.
ALDEBOT-GREEN: America’s young refugees. “The president’s solution to change the law governing the processing of unaccompanied youth would be a disaster, particularly for youth who have valid immigration claims. For now, the White House has decided to separate its emergency funding request from these contentious policy changes in order to more carefully consider the competing needs of respecting due process and speeding up removal. This is a good and prudent start to setting better policy in a trying context. No doubt the United States is now facing a refugee crisis within its borders. Yet the administration should not bow to pressure simply to gain political cover. Rather, it should advance policies based on the principle that unaccompanied youth migration is a humanitarian crisis.” Scarlett Aldebot-Green in Foreign Policy.
Wonky caffeine interlude: What does it take to make a decent cup of coffee in space?
3. Improving your experience with your doctor
What are drug companies paying your doctor? You can find out soon. “The financial ties, which naturally raise conflict-of-interest concerns, aren’t always clear, but that’s about to change because of a lesser-known Obamacare provision. Some of the major drugmakers have been reporting some information about financial relationships with care providers — some voluntarily, some as the result of litigation — but a comprehensive nationwide effort is about to launch this summer, and the federal government is now looking to bring even greater transparency. Drug and device companies will now have to report to the government payments to doctors and teaching hospitals of at least $10 (or $100 over the year), and the Medicare agency will soon post the reports in a public database.” Jason Millman in The Washington Post.
Long wait times have become the norm. “One small consolation of our high-priced health care system — our $2.7 trillion collective medical bill — has been the notion that at least we get medical attention quickly. Americans look down on national health systems like Canada’s and Britain’s because of their notorious waiting lists. In recent weeks, the Veterans Affairs hospitals have been pilloried for long patient wait times, with top officials losing their jobs. Yet there is emerging evidence that lengthy waits to get a doctor’s appointment have become the norm in many parts of American medicine, particularly for general doctors but also for specialists. And that includes patients with private insurance as well as those with Medicaid or Medicare.” Elisabeth Rosenthal in The New York Times.
Doctors may soon be paid for not making you wait. “More doctor pay is being tied to patient satisfaction metrics, another sign health care may be coming more consumer-friendly, according to a new national analysis of physician compensation. Already, doctors and hospitals increasingly have more of their pay tied to health outcomes and related clinical measures as medical care moves toward value-based compensation rather than fees for service. But momentum is slowly building for physicians to also be measured on how quickly phone calls are returned to how long a patient sits in a physician office waiting area as part of ‘patient satisfaction metrics’ insurers are working into contracts with medical-care providers.” Bruce Japsen in Forbes.
Preventive services differ between primary care docs and OB/GYNs. “The services women receive during annual preventive care visits may partially depend on what type of doctor they see, suggests a new report. Women who saw primary care doctors for their annual checkup tended to receive a broader range of services, compared to those who saw obstetrician/gynecologists (OB/GYNs), researchers found.” Reuters.
Explainer: 4 medical tests that are awkward, embarrassing, and unnecessary. Sarah Kliff in Vox.
Other health care reads:
Smallpox vials found in storage room of NIH facility. Lena H. Sun and Brady Dennis in The Washington Post.
Without federal action, states move on long-term care. Michael Ollove in Pew Stateline.
U.S. Democrats aim to turn contraception into campaign drive. David Morgan in Reuters.
Food science interlude: The chemistry of why meat browns on the grill, or not.
4. Signs of promise on highway funding, Ex-Im Bank reauthorization
First, highway stopgap funding. “House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) on Tuesday proposed a transfer of almost $20 billion from the general tax fund to help sustain transportation funding until next April….Without the transfer, federal officials have warned that money for the nation’s major transportation projects would begin to slow after Aug. 1 as the Highway Trust Fund dwindled. Separately, senators said Tuesday that they are nearing an agreement on a plan to replenish the highway fund. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Del.)…declined to specify the parameters of their emerging plan.” Ed O’Keefe and Ashley Halsey III in The Washington Post.
Primary source:
Need to get up to speed? See our previous coverage of this issue.
There’s one problem, though: Can negotiations get done in time? “The plan by House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, a Michigan Republican, would offset its costs by letting employers delay contributions to their employee pension plans, which raises corporate taxable income in a boon for the U.S. Treasury. It also would boost customs user fees and transfer $1 billion from a federal leaking underground storage trust fund. The proposal diverges from a plan in the Senate, complicating the ability to forestall a slowdown in disbursements from the highway trust to states next month.” Laura Litvan in Bloomberg.
And Ex-Im Bank renewal could be part of government funding bill. “High-level discussions between the two chambers are in their infancy….But there are forces in both chambers pushing to renew the Export-Import Bank and pass an extension of the Highway Trust Fund before the election. The House will go first, and plans to extend the Highway Trust Fund sometime in the next two weeks, keeping the program funded until early 2015, Republican sources said. That would give Congress more time to debate a more permanent solution….Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is considering attaching a short-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank to a continuing resolution that would keep the government funded past Sept. 30.” John Bresnahan and Jake Sherman in Politico.
S&P issues warns on potential downgrades if Ex-Im renewal falls short. “Political infighting regarding renewal of the charter of a U.S. agency that provides customers of big American corporations with loans for their wares is beginning to have an effect on investor thinking. Standard & Poor’s Monday cautioned Boeing, the largest beneficiary by far of the Export-Import Bank, could face a weakening long-term credit rating should the bank lose its charter.” Greg Morcroft in International Business Times.
Democrats: The party of big business? Not so fast. “Democrats are seeing a new opportunity to rebuild frayed relations with business groups, whose traditional alliance with the Republican Party has been strained by tea-party opposition to rewriting immigration laws, a renewal of the Export-Import Bank and the pursuit of other business priorities….But Democratic outreach faces a big obstacle: Many business leaders, despite their frustrations with the GOP, have a hard time seeing a home in the Democratic Party, with its history of supporting tax increases and government regulation….Business groups in Washington find themselves in a tricky political situation, with anticorporate sentiment on the rise among elements of both parties.” Janet Hook in The Wall Street Journal.
Dancing interlude: Watch Tom Hanks dance to “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan.
5. The NSA just had another bad day
Long read: Meet the Muslim-American leaders the FBI, NSA have been spying on. “Among the Americans on the list are individuals long accused of terrorist activity, including Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan, who were killed in a 2011 drone strike in Yemen. But a three-month investigation by The Intercept…reveals that in practice, the system for authorizing NSA surveillance affords the government wide latitude in spying on U.S. citizens. The five Americans whose email accounts were monitored by the NSA and FBI have all led highly public, outwardly exemplary lives. All five vehemently deny any involvement in terrorism or espionage, and none advocates violent jihad or is known to have been implicated in any crime.” By Glenn Greenwald and Murtaza Hussain in The Intercept.
The government has asked Verizon for information 190,000 times, and it’s only July. “Verizon’s just published its second-ever transparency report, showing that in the first six months of 2014, the company received nearly 149,000 requests for customer data from the government. That’s fewer than the 160,000 times that federal, state and local law enforcement asked Verizon for information on its customers during a similar period in 2013. For the first time, Verizon’s described (albeit in pretty general terms) the number of Americans affected by each request. Of the more than 72,000 requests that came in the form of a subpoena during the first half of the year, 90 percent targeted three or fewer customers, according to the company.” Brian Fung in The Washington Post.
Senate panel advances cybersecurity information-sharing bill, but privacy advocates fear it would give more power to NSA. “The legislation includes provisions aimed at protecting privacy, such as requiring that companies that share information first strip out personally identifiable data (such as names, addresses, and Social Security numbers) of known Americans. But the privacy groups are still worried that the legislation could encourage a company such as Google to turn over vast batches of emails or other private data to the government. The information would go first to the Homeland Security Department, but could then be shared with the NSA or other intelligence agencies.” Brendan Sasso in National Journal.
Primary source: Financial services industry backs Senate bill.
- Published in Blog
Marijuana Sector Positioned to Move Higher as FDA Reviews Drug’s Status
Jun 30, 2014 (ACCESSWIRE via COMTEX) — WHITEFISH, MT / June 30, 2014 / The Marijuana Index(TM) traded marginally lower last week after MedBox Inc. MDBX -2.31{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} and CannaVEST Corp.’s CANV -16.40{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} moves lower offset GW Pharmaceuticals plc’s GWPH -7.95{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} modest gains.
Top gainers included Tauriga Sciences Inc. TAUG -8.18{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} , which jumped more than 60{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} after saying that it remains on track with its Honeywood acquisition to commercial products in the medicinal cannabis sector, and Vape Holdings Inc. VAPE -7.69{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} , which jumped more than 40{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} after reporting results from the soft launch of its e-commerce website HiveCeramics.com last week. The largest decliners included Easton Pharmaceuticals Inc. EAPH -10.67{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} , which fell nearly 20{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} last week.
Cannabis regulatory initiatives and news were mixed last week. While the United Nations warned about a rise in cannabis-related medical cases following legalization efforts, the U.S. FDA indicated that it would reconsider marijuana’s status as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. Legalization efforts have also gained ground in many U.S. states, with Oregon and Alaska becoming two battlegrounds for recreational legalization efforts over the coming year.
What’s New?
– Cannabis Therapy Hemp Farm Measures Up – Cannabis Therapy Corp.’s CTCO -1.00{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} initial hemp cultivars are already well underway measuring in at 16 inches high with normal healthy growth characteristics.
– Cannabis Cultivation Strains Energy Grid – Cannabis cultivation could be putting a strain on the nation’s energy grid, leading some regulators and companies to come up with innovative solutions to the problem.
– A Junior GW Play in the Cannabis Industry – CannabisFN takes a closer look at Cannabis Technologies Inc. CANLF -1.82{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} (cse:CAN), which is being billed by many as a junior GW Pharmaceutials in the making.
– Debunking the Cannabis-Schizophrenia Link – Cannabis critics face a new argument that there may be a reverse association where schizophrenia may cause cannabis use rather than the other way around.
– Cannabis Tech to Begin Phase I Glaucoma Trials – Cannabis Technologies Inc. CANLF -1.82{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} (cse:CAN) announced the start of Phase I clinical trials of its CTI-085 topical cannabinoid therapy for the treatment of glaucoma.
– Abattis Secures Key International Patent – Abattis Bioceuticals Corp. ATTBF -5.21{92d3d6fd85a76c012ea375328005e518e768e12ace6b1722b71965c2a02ea7ce} recently secured an International Patent for refining the optimal natural sources of nitric oxide in the human body.
Exclusive Interview Series
In a recent episode of CannabisFN’s Executive Interview Series, Mike Elliott sits down to talk with Cannabis Technologies Inc. CEO Craig Schneider to discuss the company’s Cannabinoid Drug Design Platform and its plans to develop treatments to specific medical conditions utilizing cannabinoids.
Click Here: Watch the Full Interview
What to Watch This Week
The cannabis sector as a whole moved slightly lower last week, but a number of public companies in the space jumped higher. Traders and investors will continue to watch for positive regulatory developments, particularly as the FDA appears ready to review marijuana’s status as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. The removal of that marker could open up the door to new opportunities in the space.
Upcoming Events
– WeedStock Conference – June 29 to July 1, 2014 – The 1st Annual Cannabis Investor Conference in Denver, Colorado will feature networking events, industry speakers, expert panels, and more.
About CannabisFN
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Disclaimer: Except for the historical information presented herein, matters discussed in this article contain forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such statements. Emerging Growth LLC dba TDM Financial, which owns CannabisFN, is not registered with any financial or securities regulatory authority, and does not provide nor claims to provide investment advice or recommendations to readers of this release. Emerging Growth LLC dba TDM Financial, which owns CannabisFN, may from time to time have a position in the securities mentioned herein and may increase or decrease such positions without notice. For making specific investment decisions, readers should seek their own advice. Emerging Growth LLC dba TDM Financial, which owns CannabisFN, may be compensated for its services in the form of cash-based compensation or equity securities in the companies it writes about, or a combination of the two. For full disclosure please visit: http://www.cannabisfn.com/legal-disclaimer/ .
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- Published in Medical Marijuana