Ananda Developments
Ananda Developments has seen its stock increase over 5% this week after signing a ‘Drug Supply Agreement’ (DSA) with the University of Edinburgh (UOE) and NHS Lothian.
Ananda’s wholly owned subsidiary MRX Medical Limited, which it acquired for £2m in March 2023, has now signed a DSA for its proprietary CBD formulation, MRX1, to be used in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) into endometriosis-associated pain.
When the acquisition was announced last year, Ananda revealed that MRX1 was set to be used in two clinical trials being conducted by UOE, which together have £1.55m in grant funding.
The second RCT will investigate the effects of CBD on chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
Now that the deal has been signed, the MRX1 CBD oil formulation will be used as the ‘investigative medicinal product’ in the endometriosis trial (ENDOCAN-1).
Crucially, the company has been granted a licence over all intellectual property arising from the trial for internal research and development purposes, along with an option to licence the arising IP for all commercial purposes.
Ananda’s CEO, Melissa Sturgess, commented: “The drug supply agreement provides the legal framework for the provision of MRX1, our patent-pending cannabinoid medicine, to the endometriosis randomised controlled trial. Importantly, it also confirms that MRX retains full IP ownership of the medicine.”
The news came just days after the publication of Ananda’s quarterly results, in which the pre-revenue company reported a net loss of £244.3k for the three months ended January 31, 2024, alongside total ‘assets less liabilities’ of £7.2m.
German cannabis stocks react to CanG progress
On Friday, Business of Cannabis reported that the German Bundestag officially voted to pass the country’s landmark CanG bill, following months of roadblocks and delays.
While the bill still needs to pass through the Bundesrat, news of some long-awaited progress on Germany’s legalisation project had a ripple effect on cannabis stock prices not just in Europe, but also across the Atlantic.
Notably, a number of German-listed companies have seen their stock price dip following Friday’s announcement, though this represents a pullback following consistent weeks of double-digit increases since the start of February.
Cannovum Cannabis AG saw its share price spike to highs of nearly €6 on Friday, but has seen this correct to around €3.4 at the time of writing. Compared to the start of February, this still represents an increase of 113%.
Synbiotic’s shares mirrored this closely, dipping slightly this week following a dramatic increase as the news was announced.
Its trajectory has been similarly positive, increasing by 114% since the start of February, and 192% since the start of the year.
Cantourage has seen its stock price increase by about 4% overall since Friday’s news, but has also experienced a major boost since the start of February, increasing by nearly 60%.
Meanwhile, Friday’s news also saw a number of major US MSO’s stock prices move upward.
Curaleaf, which purchased a majority stake in German medical cannabis operator Four 20 Pharma in 2022, saw its stock increase by around 3.1% on Friday.
In a statement to MarketWatch, Curaleaf’s Executive Chair Boris Jordan said: “Today’s development represents a significant first step towards broader legalisation in Europe’s biggest economy, and the potential domino effect this may have on other European markets is not to be underestimated.”
Tilray, which saw its stock dip on Friday, echoed its rival’s statement, suggesting it sees ‘tremendous growth opportunities stemming from Germany’s landmark cannabis policy update’.
“Our presence in Europe allows Tilray to grow our brands globally from a base of over 700 million people in Europe, which is twice the population of the US”
Other US companies, including Trulieve Cannabis Corp, Green Thumb Industries, and Cresco Labs, also saw positive movement, despite not having any operations in the market.
Stenocare
Another winner on the stock market this week was Denmark’s Stenocare, which announced that it has received approval to sell another medical cannabis product in its home country.
While medical cannabis is not fully regulated in Denmark, there are a number of access schemes that enable patients to secure a prescription.
Data published late last year from the Danish Health Data Authority shows that the number of patients taking part in the medical cannabis Pilot Programme, launched in 2018, has skyrocketed in 2023, and now represents the largest access scheme in the country.
Stenocare has now received approval from the Danish Medicines Agency to launch a third cannabis oil into this Pilot Programme, meaning it has ‘regained the position of exclusive provider of all three essential oil products’.
“This is considered an important milestone for the company towards doubling sales and achieving break-even in 2024.”
Its new oil is a THC/CBD oil containing 15mg/mL of THC and 24mg/mL of CBD, and will be ‘available soon’, alongside its other THC and CBD-dominant oils.
In October 2023, Stenocare told Business of Cannabis that the recent rapid growth in the Pilot Programme coincided with the launch of its oil products into the scheme in Q1 and Q4 in 2022.
Stenocare’s CEO, Thomas Skovlund Schnegelsberg, said: “As the sole provider of three different full spectrum medical cannabis oils, ranging from high-THC to high-CBD and now a mixed THC-CBD, we demonstrate our regulatory capabilities and commitment to meeting the strict quality standards from the Danish Medicines Agency.
“We remain optimistic that this achievement will lead to strong sales growth in 2024 and pave the way for reaching break-even by year-end.”
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