Cannabis stocks could rise after the removal of US House Speaker. Picture Getty
Weed Week: US House Speaker ousting could boost weed stocks; TGA urged to allow the term ‘medicinal cannabis’
Health & Biotech
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- Cannabis stocks could rise after the removal of US House Speaker
- Montu says TGA has to allow the term ‘medicinal cannabis’ to be used
- We look at the best performing ASX weed stocks over the past month
Some experts believe cannabis stocks have finally hit their floor and are now poised for unprecedented growth.
One of the catalysts, they say, is the removal of Republican Kevin McCarthy as the speaker of the US House of Representatives last week.
McCarthy has a long record of opposing cannabis, both medical and adult-use, going back to his days in the State Assembly.
Experts believe his removal as House speaker could expedite safe passage of the Secure and Fair Enforcement Regulation (SAFER) Banking Act, which is expected to make the Senate floor for a vote in the near future.
The SAFER legislation will allow all US cannabis businesses to have access to deposit accounts, insurance and other basic financial services.
Also read: Big win for cannabis as SAFER Banking Act approved; market remains robust in Australia
Meanwhile back home, Australia’s plant medicine company, Montu, says it has submitted two proposals to the TGA, urging the regulator to amend its advertising guidelines to allow the use of the term ‘medical cannabis’.
At present, TGA guidelines do not permit the use of the term, which is causing confusion and uncertainty for patients, says Montu.
Christopher Strauch, Managing Director of Montu, believes that the use of plain English is critical to patient awareness and informed decision-making.
“Medical cannabis should be used as a term to speak plainly.
“This is firmly in the patient interest and aligns with the TGA’s own plain English guidelines – two of the many key issues we have outlined in our submission,” he said.
Strauch added that as a leading voice in the industry, Montu is advocating for a commonsense approach to the issue.
“With over a million prescriptions provided to Australians for medical cannabis products, this is no longer a fringe issue.”
To ASX Weed Stocks …
Here’s how the ASX weed stocks have performed, sorted by winners over the past month.
| Code | Company | Price | 1-week return | 1-mth return | 6-mth return | 1-year return | Market cap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AGH | Althea Group | 0.04 | 7.32 | 33.33 | -20.00 | -46.34 | $16,633,846 |
| LV1 | Live Verdure Ltd | 0.40 | 2.60 | 29.51 | 132.35 | 154.84 | $44,302,827 |
| ROO | Roots Sustainable | 0.01 | -16.67 | 25.00 | -44.44 | -86.11 | $766,562 |
| ALA | Arovella Therapeutic | 0.09 | 13.92 | 16.88 | 25.00 | 200.00 | $79,372,903 |
| VIT | Vitura Health Ltd | 0.36 | 1.43 | 9.23 | 18.33 | -63.02 | $201,057,611 |
| ECS | ECS Botanics Holding | 0.02 | 0.00 | 9.09 | 20.00 | 9.09 | $26,561,536 |
| HGV | Hygrovest Limited | 0.06 | 7.84 | 7.84 | 7.84 | -20.29 | $10,936,151 |
| EPN | Epsilon Healthcare | 0.03 | -15.15 | 3.70 | 55.56 | 12.00 | $8,109,558 |
| BOD | BOD Science Ltd | 0.07 | 30.00 | 1.56 | 8.33 | -32.99 | $11,527,002 |
| EXL | Elixinol Wellness | 0.01 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -63.16 | -75.86 | $4,419,407 |
| RGI | Roto-Gro Intl Ltd | 0.22 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $4,333,920 |
| ME1 | Melodiol Glb Health | 0.01 | -28.57 | 0.00 | -50.00 | -84.38 | $22,730,328 |
| AVE | Avecho Biotech Ltd | 0.00 | -11.11 | 0.00 | -20.00 | -55.56 | $10,793,168 |
| AC8 | Auscann Grp Hlgs Ltd | 0.04 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $17,621,884 |
| MDC | Medlab Clinical Ltd | 6.60 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -37.14 | $15,071,113 |
| EVE | EVE Health Group Ltd | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $5,274,483 |
| CGB | Cann Global Limited | 0.02 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | 0.00 | $5,614,845 |
| WNX | Wellnex Life Ltd | 0.05 | 0.00 | 0.00 | -18.46 | -33.75 | $24,486,107 |
| CAN | Cann Group Ltd | 0.12 | 4.35 | -4.00 | -24.40 | -47.41 | $48,990,470 |
| DTZ | Dotz Nano Ltd | 0.17 | 0.00 | -5.71 | -17.50 | -35.29 | $82,729,782 |
| ZLD | Zelira Therapeutics | 0.93 | -4.12 | -6.06 | 0.00 | -26.19 | $10,552,854 |
| LGP | Little Green Pharma | 0.16 | -3.13 | -6.06 | -8.82 | -32.61 | $48,014,918 |
| IRX | Inhalerx Limited | 0.04 | 20.00 | -6.67 | -4.55 | -40.00 | $7,970,212 |
| EMD | Emyria Limited | 0.07 | 12.70 | -7.79 | -57.92 | -64.24 | $25,162,391 |
| IDT | IDT Australia Ltd | 0.06 | 1.72 | -7.81 | -22.37 | -40.40 | $20,737,289 |
| NTI | Neurotech Intl | 0.06 | 6.90 | -8.82 | 21.57 | -52.31 | $54,703,188 |
| IHL | Incannex Healthcare | 0.06 | 9.09 | -20.00 | -50.00 | -77.78 | $88,872,662 |
| RNO | Rhinomed Ltd | 0.03 | -6.25 | -25.00 | -66.67 | -77.78 | $8,571,591 |
| WFL | Wellfully Limited | 0.00 | -25.00 | -25.00 | -72.73 | -86.36 | $1,478,832 |
| EOF | Ecofibre Limited | 0.15 | -11.76 | -25.00 | -16.67 | -25.00 | $56,731,085 |
| BOT | Botanix Pharma Ltd | 0.13 | -1.92 | -29.17 | 46.55 | 102.38 | $179,662,311 |
| WOA | Wide Open Agricultur | 0.18 | -46.15 | -46.15 | -46.15 | -50.70 | $24,357,901 |
| BP8 | Bph Global Ltd | 0.00 | -33.33 | -50.00 | -77.78 | -92.41 | $1,615,563 |
| MXC | Mgc Pharmaceuticals | 0.00 | -33.33 | -50.00 | -87.50 | -92.86 | $8,855,936 |
Althea announced that its THC20:CBD1 cannabis oil (50 ml) has been approved for reimbursement in Ireland.
Althea THC20:CBD1 will be reimbursed for intractable nausea and vomiting associated with chemotherapy.
Controlling chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is critical to ensure adherence with chemotherapy, and reduce morbidity and total healthcare costs.
The agreed reimbursement price for Althea THC20:CBD1 (50ml) is €330, or approximately $552.
Currently, Althea is the only supplier with multiple cannabis oils approved for reimbursement in Ireland – Althea THC20:CBD1, and previously Althea CBD12:THC10.
Separately, the company’s stock has been rising after it generated CAD$4.6m (approx. $5.32m) following a sale and leaseback agreement on its Canadian land and building assets.
The sale of its property in Ontario has generated CAD$4.6m while the subsequent leaseback with a private investor in Canada has secured lease term of up to 15 years.
The property was purchased by AGH in 2019 for $2.6 million, and is home to the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Peak Processing Solutions, a Health Canada-licensed contract manufacturer of adult-use cannabis products.
Arovella Therapeutics (ASX:ALA)
Arovella has also been rising after announcing that it has entered into a global, exclusive licence with Sparx Group to develop a world-first iNKT cell therapy targeting gastric cancers, gastroesophageal junction cancers, and pancreatic cancer.
Under the licensing deal, Sparx will have access to the use of a novel monoclonal antibody (mAb) sequence targeting CLDN18.2 in cell therapies.
The mAb, known as SPX-101, has completed all preclinical proof-of-concept, safety and toxicology studies required to commence a Phase 1 trial to treat gastric cancers.
Sparx will use the SPX-101 sequence to generate a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that will be incorporated into Arovella’s iNKT cell platform to target those cancers and other solid tumours.
The iNKT cell therapy specifically targets the Claudin 18.2 (CLDN18.2), a cell surface protein specifically expressed in those cancers.
The company says CLDN18.2-iNKT cells are expected to provide superior cancer killing properties relative to an antibody alone.
Arovella also announced that it has issued 4.3 million new shares at 0.069c to fund these activities.
ECS secured a $24 million offtake agreement with MediCann Health for the supply of medicinal cannabis dried flower.
The supply will commence in January 2024, with over four tonnes of dried cannabis flower to be delivered over five years.
Under the agreement, ECS will supply two ECS strains of GMP medicinal cannabis dried flower exclusively to MediCann.
This deal built on existing two-year contract highlighting the strong demand for ECS flower, the benefit of the recent capacity upgrades and ECS’ strong foundations as a globally competitive business.
Now read: ECS Exclusive: How we pulled off the biggest cross-border pot deal in Aussie history
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