Staff
It’s time for your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for August 7, 2018.
On The Site:
Aurora Cannabis Inc.
Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACBFF) today announced that it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire HotHouse Consulting Inc. Founded in 2004, HotHouse provides greenhouse consulting services and specializes in hybrid greenhouse growing techniques. Initially, the company focused primarily on agricultural clients, but in the ensuing years has shifted towards the cannabis industry. Under the agreement, the company has granted 1,940,000 options to buy shares of Aurora to officers of HotHouse, which will vest annually over the next three years and are exercisable at $7.39 per common share.
Navy Capital
New York-based cannabis-focused institutional fund Navy Capital Green International Ltd. invested $3 million of equity into Nevada-based Oasis Cannabis. Oasis is an integrated cannabis producer and retailer in Nevada. It is also a subsidiary of CLS Holdings USA Inc., which operates as Cannabis Life Sciences.
Navy Capital said that it has an extreme interest in the CLS patented extraction and processing technology. According to the company statement, Navy Capital or select others may invest an additional two million with a 15% overallotment for a total of up to $5,750,000 by August 15, 2018.
In Other News
GW Pharmaceuticals plc
GW Pharmaceuticals plc (GWPH) reported its fiscal Q3 results for the quarter ending June 30, 2018, with revenue rising 34.6% to $3.5 million. The net loss fell 31.7% to a loss of $35.7 million. The company will be meeting with FDA in the back half of the year to clarify regulatory pathway for Sativex (nabiximols) in MS spasticity. GW Pharma will also begin to study CBDV in autism this quarter.
“The recent FDA approval of Epidiolex represents a major medical advance for patients with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and Dravet syndrome. We anticipate rescheduling to be completed within 90 days of FDA approval and for the product launch to take place in the Fall,” stated Justin Gover, GW’s Chief Executive Officer. “In preparation for launch, we have now completed the hiring of our U.S. sales organization and are engaged with patient organizations, physicians and managed care organizations/payors. This approval has been a transformative event for GW, not only opening a new chapter as a commercial-stage company, but also validating and reinforcing our world leadership in cannabinoid science, and the potential of our product pipeline.”
22nd Century Group, Inc.
22nd Century Group, Inc. (XXII), a plant biotechnology company that is focused on tobacco harm reduction, Very Low Nicotine tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research, announced its second quarter 2018 financial results. The company posted net sales revenue of more than $6.9 million and significantly increased spending – to more than $2.7 million this quarter – on the Company’s Modified Risk Tobacco Product (“MRTP”) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for “BRAND A” Very Low Nicotine cigarettes. As of June 30, 2018, the Company had more than $53 million in cash and short-term investments, which are sufficient reserves to meet regular operating expenses for a number of years.
The company had a net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2018, of $6,739,000, or ($0.05) per share, as compared to a net loss of $3,356,000, or ($0.04) per share, for the three months ended June 30, 2017. The increase in the net loss for the second quarter of 2018 of $3,383,000, or 100.8%, was due primarily to the net increase in the operating loss of $3,758,000.
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA) reported a net loss of 65 cents per share or $31.8 million for the second quarter of 2018 versus last year’s loss of 77 cents per share. It was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 62 cents. Revenues totaled $4.0 million, consisting of $3.1 million in collaboration revenue, and $0.9 million in royalty revenue. At June 30, 2018, Arena’s cash, cash equivalents, and investments balance were $592.4 million and approximately 49.3 million shares of Arena common stock were outstanding.
“We have made significant progress over the past three months across our clinical programs, including the initiation of our ADVANCE Phase 3 program for ralinepag in patients with PAH. We are excited for the opportunity to potentially advance the treatment paradigm for patients suffering from this critical illness,” said Amit D. Munshi, President and CEO of Arena. “Additionally, we are pleased to have submitted our meeting request to the FDA for etrasimod in UC, and look forward to the data readout from our Phase 2 study of olorinab for pain associated with Crohn’s disease in September.”
NUGL Inc.
NUGL Inc. (NUGL) announces its North American Marketing Strategy. NUGL’s platform delivers exclusive profiles and features for brands and listings in the cannabis space leading search app offers every type of cannabis company and professional service the ability to create individual profiles for marketing, connecting and expanding client bases in and out of the NUGL community. NUGL’s platform also gives brands and listings cutting-edge software that helps their business expand their client base and network.
