As Australian Open tennis players could attest, Australia takes its pandemic protocols pretty seriously.
Meanwhile in the US, where the COVID-19 death toll has climbed above 400,000, the vaccine effort is underway.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, attempting to vaccinate significant swathes of an entire country’s population is a… non-linear process.
New US President Joe Biden has called the vaccine rollout a “dismal failure” so far, pledging to facilitate 100 million vaccines in his first 100 days in office.
And this report from High Times shows a cannabis dispensary in Michigan — which legalised recreational cannabis use in 2018 — is trying to do its part.
The Greenhouse in Walled Lake has launched a “pot for shots” initiative to get people into the vaccination clinic.
Customers who show up at their store on the outskirts of Detroit with written proof of the ‘rona jab will be eligible for a pre-rolled joint — on the house.
Proprietor Jerry Millen said it reflects Greenhouse’s standing as a good corporate citizen to promote optimal health outcomes for the community it serves.
While Greenhouse is doing what it can, data from AP-NORC suggests that getting Americans vaccinated won’t be easy.
More than half of respondents to a recent survey said they didn’t plan to take it, while around 25 per cent rejected the idea outright.
To local markets now, where recreational cannabis is not a thing.
But we took a closer look this week at three Aussie cannabis companies (including two ASX players) who are taking the bio-pharma approach to profits — working towards cannabis products with clinical backing.
Turning to the ASX, a number of cannabis (or cannabis-adjacent) companies are coming off a pretty good week.
The latest print from Stockhead’s data team shows there were 16 winners over the past seven days, with seven stocks posting double-digit returns.
Another eight companies traded flat while 12 lost ground.
Below is a summary of the latest weekly, monthly and annual price performance for ASX-listed cannabis stocks:
Scroll or swipe to reveal table. Click headings to sort.
| Code | Name | Price ($) | 1W % Ret | 1M % Ret | 1Y % Ret | Market Cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| YPB | YPB Group Ltd | 0.0035 | 75.0% | 75.0% | -22.2% | $12.7M |
| APH | AP Hemp Ltd | 0.5 | 51.5% | 42.9% | 185.7% | $21.3M |
| LSH | Lifespot Health Ltd | 0.135 | 37.8% | 68.8% | 286.3% | $20.2M |
| LV1 | Live Verdure Ltd | 0.25 | 31.6% | 25.0% | 0.0% | $9.8M |
| MDC | Medlab Clinical Ltd | 0.315 | 31.3% | 26.0% | -16.0% | $78.3M |
| BOT | Botanix Pharma Ltd | 0.16 | 18.5% | 28.0% | 68.4% | $131.4M |
| NTI | Neurotech Intl | 0.052 | 15.6% | 0.0% | 246.7% | $29.2M |
| IHL | Incannex Healthcare | 0.17 | 8.1% | 15.5% | 142.8% | $176.8M |
| CAN | Cann Group Ltd | 0.68 | 7.1% | 34.7% | -50.5% | $186.4M |
| EOF | Ecofibre Limited | 1.9 | 6.4% | -2.6% | -31.4% | $284.6M |
| CGB | Cann Global Limited | 0.0085 | 6.3% | 21.4% | -46.9% | $41.1M |
| ROO | Roots Sustainable | 0.022 | 4.8% | 15.8% | -53.2% | $10.8M |
| ZLD | Zelira Therapeutics | 0.099 | 4.2% | 3.1% | 73.7% | $115.0M |
| AGH | Althea Group | 0.465 | 3.3% | 9.4% | -1.1% | $116.7M |
| BDA | Bod Australia | 0.475 | 2.2% | 1.1% | 26.7% | $51.3M |
| ECS | ECS Botanics Holding | 0.05 | 2.0% | 8.7% | 2.0% | $21.9M |
| IDT | IDT Australia Ltd | 0.185 | 0.0% | 5.7% | 12.1% | $44.1M |
| ESE | Esense-Lab Ltd | 0.018 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 28.6% | $9.2M |
| DTZ | Dotz Nano Ltd | 0.24 | 0.0% | 0.0% | 287.1% | $90.3M |
| CP1 | Cannpal Animal | 0.185 | 0.0% | 12.1% | 12.1% | $16.8M |
| THC | THC Global Grp Ltd | 0.235 | 0.0% | -9.6% | -39.0% | $44.5M |
| SUD | Suda Pharmaceuticals | 0.041 | 0.0% | 7.9% | -10.4% | $15.3M |
| MXC | Mgc Pharmaceuticals | 0.026 | 0.0% | 4.0% | -31.6% | $46.7M |
| EVE | EVE Investments Ltd | 0.009 | 0.0% | -10.0% | 28.6% | $34.6M |
| WOA | Wide Open Agricultur | 0.87 | -2.8% | -7.4% | 625.0% | $81.8M |
| RGI | Roto-Gro Intl Ltd | 0.065 | -3.0% | 8.3% | -48.0% | $14.3M |
| MMJ | MMJ Group Hlds Ltd | 0.13 | -3.7% | 8.3% | -18.8% | $31.0M |
| CPH | Creso Pharma Ltd | 0.235 | -4.1% | 46.9% | 30.6% | $219.9M |
| AC8 | Auscann Grp Hlgs Ltd | 0.185 | -5.1% | 5.7% | -47.9% | $58.7M |
| EXL | Elixinol Global | 0.185 | -5.1% | -11.9% | -77.4% | $58.0M |
| SCU | Stemcell United Ltd | 0.016 | -5.9% | -11.1% | -15.8% | $12.4M |
| PAL | Palla Pharma Ltd | 0.705 | -9.0% | -7.8% | -30.2% | $88.2M |
| LGP | Little Green Pharma | 0.545 | -9.9% | -5.2% | 0.0% | $43.4M |
| RNO | Rhinomed Ltd | 0.135 | -10.0% | -25.0% | -25.0% | $34.3M |
| CAU | Cronos Australia | 0.12 | -11.1% | -14.3% | -44.2% | $6.2M |
| MRG | Murray River Grp | 0.45 | -18.2% | 0.0% | -59.5% | $19.9M |
Australian Primary Hemp (ASX:APH) has had a good week, after it became the latest cannabis player to ink a distribution deal with grocery giant Woolworths.
APH shares rose strongly before the announcement before going into a trading halt, then jumped again yesterday as the stock came out of a halt as the company announced “firm commitments” for a $5.2m share placement to sophisticated investors.
A number of bio-pharma stocks in the cannabis space also found momentum after providing clinical research updates.
Among them was Botanix Pharmaceuticals (ASX:BOT), which jumped after flagging research from the University of Queensland — now published in peer-reviewed journal Communications Biology — which showed that a synthetic cannabidiol formulation can kill certain types of bacteria.
The company also said data from the phase 2a antimicrobial study testing its BTX 1801 ointment in the treatment of staph infections will be released in the coming weeks.