The Daily Hit is a recap of the top business stories for the cannabis industry for March 7, 2022.
On the Site
Seelos
Seelos Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SEEL) announced its year-end 2021 business and clinical update. In the second half of 2021, Seelos said it had achieved several major clinical and financial milestones and continued to make progress on its multiple clinical-stage development programs. As of year-end 2021, Seelos had $78.7mm of cash. SLS-002 (intranasal racemic ketamine). In July, Seelos began dosing patients in Part 2 of the registration-directed, double-blind, placebo-controlled cohort in Acute Suicidal Ideation and Behavior (ASIB) in patients with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). In June, based on feedback from a Type C meeting with the FDA, Seelos is planning to expand the size of the trial and the number of sites now that this trial has been labeled registration directed. Read more here.
Atai
On April 7, 2021, Atai Life Sciences , (NASDAQ: ATAI) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing psychedelics and non-psychedelic compounds for mental health wellness, acquired a majority stake in Delaware-based Psyber, a company working on a brain-to-computer (BCI) interface device. It is hoped that the Psyber brain-to-computer device, still in development, can enable various digital therapeutics to improve mental health disorders through inducing behavioral changes. But the device also represents an evolutionary step toward an even greater understanding of the human mind—and perhaps a better way to understand and treat mental health. Read more here.
In Other News
MedMen
MedMen Enterprises Inc. (CSE: MMEN) (OTCQX: MMNFF) previously announced in November 2021 that a jury had completely exonerated the Company in a lawsuit brought by former CFO James Parker. On March 1, 2022, the judge further ordered that Parker repay MedMen $612,000 in legal fees that the Company had previously advanced to Parker, affirming that Parker was not entitled to such reimbursement due to his material breach of his employment agreement: “Since Parker materially breached his employment agreement, MME USA was relieved from its advancement obligations as of the date of the breach,” the judge said in the order. The judge further ruled that Parker is not entitled to reimbursement of any further fees or expenses from the Company, following Parker’s request that the Company reimburse him for an additional $1,000,000 of legal fees.
“We are pleased that, in addition to being formally and thoroughly exonerated by the jury from the false allegations initially brought by Mr. Parker, that the judge has now ordered that he repay significant fees to the Company,” said Michael Serruya, MedMen Chairman and Interim CEO. “As a company, we are dedicated to responding vigorously to all false claims brought against the company and will pursue our remedies diligently to their conclusion.” Read more here.
AFC Gamma
FC Gamma, Inc. (NASDAQ: AFCG) announced it has expanded its senior credit facilities with three different borrowers: Verano Holdings Corp. (CSE: VRNO) (OTCQX: VRNOF), a leading multi-state operator with active operations in 12 states, including 12 production facilities; Devi Holdings Inc., doing business as Nature’s Medicines, a multi-state operator headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona; and Natrabis LLC, doing business as SocietyC, is a premium cannabis producer that operates a state-of-the-art 50,000 square foot indoor cultivation and processing facility in Lake Orion, Michigan. Read more here.