Incannex has completed a landmark acquisition which strengthens its global leadership in the cannabinoid and psychedelic sectors.
Clinical-stage pharmaceutical company Incannex Healthcare (ASX:IHL) has announced it has finalised the acquisition of leading cannabinoid biotech company APIRx Pharmaceuticals (APIRx).
IHL announced in March it was buying APIRx in a deal that has now supercharged its technical and drug development capability.
The completion of the APRIx acquisition marks possibly the most significant corporate transaction in the medicinal cannabis sector since the takeover of GW Pharmaceuticals (developer of CBD-based Epidiolex) by Jazz Pharmaceuticals for US$7.2B that was first announced in May 2021.
In a statement to the ASX today Incannex said APIRx stakeholders (sellers) have been issued 218,169,497 new shares in IHL at a notional price per share of $0.573, representing share consideration agreed between the sellers of APIRx and Incannex in March 2022.
APIRx founders Dr George Anastassov and Lekhram Changoer have joined the Incannex team as non-executive director and chief technology officer respectively. The APIRIx sellers have entered a voluntary escrow deed over their shares for 12 months.
More projects and more patents
IHL CEO and managing director Joel Latham said the acquisition of APIRx follows a solid relationship with Dr Anastassov and Changoer that first began in 2018 when Incannex transitioned its business towards development of pharmaceutical cannabinoids.
“After extensive due diligence and corporate strategy assessments of the APIRx assets, we are excited and ready to commence development activities over our newly acquired portfolio of drug candidates,” Latham said.
Following the deal, 22 additional clinical and pre-clinical research and development projects have been transferred to Incannex, which it says represents aggregate addressable markets of ~US$400 billion annually.
These projects are underpinned by an intellectual property portfolio that includes 19 granted patents and 23 pending patents.
In conjunction with patent applications derived through development of its combination cannabinoid drug candidates, Incannex now has the world’s largest portfolio of patented medicinal cannabinoid drug formulations and psychedelic treatment protocols.
Initial high-priority drug candidates resulting from the acquisition are:
- MedChew Dronabinol for chemotherapy induced nausea and vomiting
- MedChew Rx for pain and spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis
- CanQuit and CanQuitO –chewables that combine nicotine and cannabinoids and cannabinoids and opioid antagonists for smoking cessation and opioid addiction, respectively
- CheWell –high-bioavailability chewable tablet to be implemented in adolescent drug addiction studies, among other indications
- CanChew –patented high-bioavailability and long-acting CBD chewing gum for the over-the-counter market.
Earlier this week IHL announced it had engaged Curia Global (Curia) to further develop and manufacture its proprietary inhaled drug product IHL-216A for the treatment of concussion and traumatic brain injury (TBI).
Incannex is also listed on the Nasdaq under IXHL listed as American Depositary Shares (ADS).
This article was developed in collaboration with Incannex Healthcare, a Stockhead advertiser at the time of publishing.
This article does not constitute financial product advice. You should consider obtaining independent advice before making any financial decisions.