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PharmaDrug looking to develop and commercialise a range of psychedelics, cannabis and naturally-derived drugs

Published 2022-08-02, 09:27 a/m
© Reuters.  PharmaDrug looking to develop and commercialise a range of psychedelics, cannabis and naturally-derived drugs

  • Owns 80% of Pharmadrug GmbH, a German medical cannabis distributor
  • Owns 100% of Super Smart, a Dutch company building a modern adult-use psychedelic retail business
  • Recently acquired Sairiyo Therapeutics, biotech firm specializing in researching and reformulating established natural medicines
What Pharmadrug does:

PharmaDrug Inc. (CSE:BUZZ) (OTCPINK:LMLLF) is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the research, development and commercialization of controlled-substances and natural medicines such as psychedelics, cannabis and naturally-derived approved drugs.

In Medical Cannabis, the company currently sources and wholesales product to pharmacies in Germany with a strategy to launch and develop its own brand of cannabis for distribution in Germany and other legal jurisdictions in the European Union. The company owns 80% of Pharmadrug GmbH, a German medical cannabis distributor, with a Schedule I European Union narcotics license and German EuGMP certification.

In psychedelics, the company has said it intends to utilize a unique two-pronged approach. The first will be to capitalize on markets in The Netherlands through consolidation of legal adult-use psychedelic dispensaries. Secondly, as products get developed and achieve regulatory approval or get legalized in jurisdictions across the Eurozone, the company will seek to utilize the company’s controlled substance important and distribution license to establish a pharmaceutical psychedelic business.

The firm owns 100% of Super Smart, a Dutch company building a modern adult-use psychedelic retail business with an elevated and educational focus.

PharmaDrug recently acquired Sairiyo Therapeutics, a Japanese biotech company that specializes in researching and reformulating established natural medicines with a goal of bringing them through regulatory and research-driven clinical trials.

Sairiyo is focused on repurposing and developing improved formulations of naturally derived compounds for serious, rare, and life-threatening diseases with the aim to obtain European Medicines Evaluation Agency and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval.

How is it doing:

PharmaDrug has had a busy start to 2021.

At the start of February completed its acquisition of Sairiyo Therapeutics. Sairiyo is advancing the clinical development of its lead drug candidate, Cepharanthine, a repurposed and reformulated naturally derived compound for the potential treatment of cancer, neurological, inflammatory and infectious diseases. The company is also developing a strategy to commence research activities in the psychedelic space.

Also in February, PharmaDrug revealed that it entered into a supply agreement on January 4, 2021, with a Canadian-based multinational cannabis company for EU-GMP certified medical cannabis, with the supply already registered and approved for sale in the German market.

Under the agreement, the company's licensed German distributor, Pharmadrug Production GmbH will purchase branded medical cannabis from the supplier's German subsidiary. Pharmadrug Production has already received regulatory approval to distribute the cannabis and the product has been added to their license.

The group said the flower will be imported into Germany by the global supplier and sold under the supplier's medical cannabis brand.

The company noted that it expects to begin receiving shipments of cannabis shortly with the goal of commencing distribution to its pharmacy network in the current quarter of 2021.

At the same time, PharmaDrug said it had also made significant advancements towards launching a CBD line. The CBD business model will differ from PharmaDrug's Medical Cannabis business as it will seek to be a supplier of branded product to be sold via distributors and e-commerce platforms.

A quality supplier has been sourced and Pharmadrug Production is already in possession of its first shipment of bulk inventory. The product has been tested by several potential distribution partners and the feedback has been positive, and the company's management is in the process of registering the product for approval with the applicable state regulator.

Once approval has been obtained, the company will finalize distribution agreements and begin to package the product for retail sale under a proprietary Pharmadrug brand.

PharmaDrug also revealed in February that its balance sheet had undergone a significant improvement since it reported its third-quarter numbers.

Firstly, the selling of marketable securities and the exercising of the company's warrants have contributed to an increase of cash on the balance sheet, now equaling approximately $3.5 million. Secondly, the Interrobang debentures have been converted into equity resulting in approximately $2.5 million in debt being eliminated.

The company said it still holds marketable securities with a current value of over $1 million dollars and PharmaDrug has "in the money warrants" outstanding which can potentially bring in approximately $1 million in additional cash.

The group said its management believes it has more than enough cash on hand to fund all its activities in 2021.

In the boardroom, on February 8, PharmaDrug announced the appointment of world-renowned chemist and neuroscientist Dr Steven Barker to the company's newly formed scientific advisory board for psychedelic pharmaceuticals.

The company said Dr Barker will lead the research and development initiatives of N,N-Dimethyltryptamine (DMT) for mental health, neurological, and inflammatory disorders. He is professor emeritus at Louisiana State University in the Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences at the School of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr Barker has been actively involved in the research of psychedelics, with a primary focus on DMT since 1976 and appeared in the 2010 documentary "DMT: The Spirit Molecule," which was hosted by actor and commentator Joe Rogan, the company noted.

Inflection points:

  • Further expand its supply channels
  • News on discussions with Eurozone emerging extractors to supply white label product
  • Register own cannabis strain from Eve & Co offerings
What the boss says:

In February’s statement, PharmaDrug chairman and CEO Daniel Cohen said: "We will continue to work to expand our supply channels with the aim of supplying several key brands as well as developing our own. Our goal is to be a one-stop-shop for pharmacies seeking medical cannabis.

“To this end, we also continue to work with Eve & Co Incorporated to register our own strain from Eve's offerings, and much progress has been made in this regard. We are also in advanced discussions with emerging extractors within the Eurozone to supply us with a white label product that we can sell under our own brand."

Contact the author at jon.hopkins@proactiveinvestors.com

What the analyst says:

Click here to read Proactive analyst Ed Stacey's initiation report

Read more on Proactive Investors CA

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