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September 8th 2015
GW Pharma at Morgan Stanley HealthCare Conference
Not a waste of money at all. Just nudging the FDA in our direction toward drug approval. Money well spent. It's independent of the election.
GW Pharma Inc. has hired Sidley Austin to lobby on FDA and DEA regulation of cannabidiol.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/07/15/former-klobuchar-aide-leaves-delta-air-lines-for-heather-podestas-firm-drone-company-dji-taps-new-policy-vp/
GW Pharmaceuticals gets new board member
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5077485/GW-Pharmaceuticals-gets-new-board-member.html
GW Pharma Inc. has hired Sidley Austin to lobby on FDA and DEA regulation of cannabidiol.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/wp/2015/07/15/former-klobuchar-aide-leaves-delta-air-lines-for-heather-podestas-firm-drone-company-dji-taps-new-policy-vp/
GW Pharmaceuticals gets new board member
http://www.stockmarketwire.com/article/5077485/GW-Pharmaceuticals-gets-new-board-member.html
DEERFIELD MANAGEMENT COMPANY Top 10 13F Holdings in Q1 2015
http://www.octafinance.com/deerfield-management-company-top-10-13f-holdings-in-q1-2015/64826/
DEERFIELD MANAGEMENT COMPANY Top 10 13F Holdings in Q1 2015
http://www.octafinance.com/deerfield-management-company-top-10-13f-holdings-in-q1-2015/64826/
Damn, I had a hunch they would issue more shares and dilute the current outstanding. Hate that!!!!!
Management would not be hurt by this because they get more shares to counter the dilution. Meanwhile, Ordinary shareholders like us get screwed.
GW is not making money hence they have to issue more shares to finance their clinical trials, payroll, pipelines...etc. Like I said, it comes down to FDA approval and getting your products out there to make profits. Or else you gonna just keep issuing more shares and shareholders take it in the chins.
Here's the only pot stock worth owning
The marijuana business is attracting a lot of interest from entrepreneurs, venture capitalists -- and consumers -- in states where pot is legal for recreational and/or medicinal use.
There are even dozens of publicly traded pot stocks. But should you buy any of them? Probably not ... unless you don't mind seeing your portfolio do a Cheech and Chong and go up in smoke. (Sorry.)
Many of the companies are trying to attract investors with goofy names and ticker symbols that make it obvious they're in the pot business.
American Green (ERBB). CannaGrow Holdings (CGRW). Hemp (HEMP). Medical Marijuana (MJNA). WeedHire International (WDHR). (Amusingly, the stock with the ticker symbol is THC is not a pot firm but giant hospital owner Tenet (THC).)
These companies are basically wrapping themselves in a red, yellow and green flag with a leaf and the number 4/20 on it.
But once you weed (sorry, again) out the large number of speculative penny stocks that don't trade on big exchanges like the NYSE or Nasdaq, you are left with just a handful of companies that seem legit.
"Opportunities are there but a lot of people don't know where to invest because of the early stages of the industry," said Michael Swartz, analyst with Viridian Capital & Research, an investment firm that caters to the cannabis industry.
Swartz said the biggest problem right now is that there is a shortage of "seasoned" (his word, not mine) executives and board members at many of these young and tiny pot companies.
The fact that marijuana is legal only in some states but not at the federal level also makes things more complicated.
Swartz said that investors looking at any pot company have to do their homework to make sure that the firms are complying with all laws and taking quality control seriously.
The lack of any real industry standard for products doesn't help either. He noted how a candy bar sold in one dispensary can have a different amount of THC in it than one with an identical brand sold in a nearby town.
Swartz said there's only one marijuana-related stock that actually trades on one of the big exchanges: GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH), a British biotech listed on the Nasdaq.
The company is working on several cannabis-based drugs. The stock popped more than 25% this week after the American Academy of Neurology reported there were some promising results for patients in a clinical trial taking GW Pharmaceuticals' Epidiolex drug to treat epileptic seizures.
Hilary Bricken, an attorney with Seattle-based law firm Harris Moure, and contributor to its Canna Law Blog, agrees that GW Pharmaceuticals stands out in the crowded field of penny pot stocks.
It has a market value of more than $2 billion. It is working closely with the FDA on its drugs. A few Wall Street analysts cover it. And several well-known investing firms, such as Fidelity, Federated (FII), Janus (JNS) and BlackRock (BLK) are among the top holders of the stock.
Of course, the company is still very risky. Like many small biotechs, it's losing money. But it's a beacon of safety compared to the rest of the pot sector.
"This is a tough place to find legitimacy. Fraud has run rampant," Bricken said. "GW may be the only one that's viable. The rest of these companies live life from press release to press release."
The Securities and Exchange Commission cracked down on pot stocks last year, suspending trading in five of them "because of questions regarding the accuracy of publicly available information about these companies' operations."
The SEC added that two of those suspensions were due to alleged illegal trading activity.
But there is no denying the potential in the marijuana business. Alcohol and tobacco companies bring in billions of sales and profits every year. Why shouldn't there be an Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD) or Altria (MO) of pot?
Swartz even thinks that before the end of the year, a big drug firm or agricultural products company will look to buy a cannabis business. Monsanto (MON)? Weeds and seeds? FrankenPot?
Bricken isn't so sure though. She thinks that such validation of the industry is still many years away since so many state and federal laws would need to be changed.
Still, many investors are willing to roll the dice with the hopes of a big pay day. Bricken knows this firsthand.
"My mom is on TD Ameritrade and is constantly asking me, "When I should invest in pot stocks?' My answer is, 'Never.' But she invested in one and it wound up getting investigated by the SEC," Bricken said.
http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/17/investing/marijuana-stocks-pot-gw-pharmaceuticals/
I don't think INSY is pure a cannabis play. They are more diversify than GW.
In any event, the last thing I want to see is GW utilizing all these funds to finance clinical trials for Sativex and Epidiolex and NOT get FDA approval for them. And worse, that means GW would have to issue more shares to finance the next drug in the pipeline.
Constantly issuing more shares is not a viable business model especially for shareholders. That is why we need FDA approvals and get the drugs out to start generating profits.
The first FDA approval is the hardest to get.
I am long and strong GW.
But I am mindful of INSY. Unlike GW, they don't have issue additional shares to finance their pipelines.
We need GW to get FDA approval and start selling their drugs and make money. That way, they don't need to issue additional shares to dilute the outstanding.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/16/opinions/medical-marijuana-revolution-sanjay-gupta/
Sativex is one of the photos on this link on the CNN website.
That I don't know.
But whatever drug they're trying to get FDA approval on in the cannabis space, GW has to get FDA approval first especially with epidiolex or sativex. Or else we're screwed. It's winner takes all!
Well, I held gwprf for 11 years. GW better get FDA approval before Insy does. You know Insy is in GW's rearview mirror. We are not out of the woods until we get FDA approval.
FDA Approval....one step closer. Getting there.
That's the link.
Can't believe I held on to gwprf for 11 years already.
Just posting what I found online...good or bad.
I am a long on this stock. Bought gwprf 11 years ago.
MS Society, Cannabis And The SATIVEX Scam.
11 Apr 2015
In the week just gone, on 8th April, Peter Reynolds of CLEAR was interviewed on BBC Radio Kent. Peter was on the programme to talk about CLEAR's recent publication Medicinal Cannabis: The Evidence
Also appearing on the show was Nick Rijke, Director of Policy and Research for the MS Society. Now you would expect Nick to be especially well informed about the cannabis debate because of the history it has within the society. Cannabis has been something of an issue for some years because of the number of MSers ('MSer' is the term people with MS use to describe themselves) pushing for the right to use it as a medicine, a situation which still exists.
Nick didn't debate anything with Peter, but rather simply outlined the MS Society's attitude to cannabis.
It makes for interesting listening, not only for his - it can only be deliberate - misunderstanding of the issues surrounding cannabis law reform, but also the way he is seemingly unaware of the options for prescribing cannabis beyond Sativex. For someone in his position to show such a lack of understanding is surprising to put it mildly.
Listen to Nick Rijke of the MS Society speaking on Radio Kent 8th April 2015
To understand why I make that criticism of Nick I need t explain a little about MS the illness, MSers the people and my contact with the MS debate.
MSers are an interesting bunch who are very proactive. There's a lot of them, about 100,000 people in the UK have MS and many of them are quite young. As a group they are big on self-help in a way I haven't seen with any other illness.
Perhaps it's because of the nature of MS; it's a creeping degenerative illness that often starts with small issues, tingling in arms, numbness, dizzyness, symptoms which get worse and worse and in some people lead to being chairbound and in great pain. It often starts in teenage or early twenties and an MSer can sometimes have a long time to come to terms with the illness, not that that helps. So perhaps all this explains why MSers are such a proactive bunch, and make no mistake, they are very proactive.
Cannabis has acknowledged medicinal benefits for MSers, not least in reducing spasticity. Cannabis isn't a cure for MS, there isn't one, but as many MSers have said, it helps. Of course this is counter to the government's insistence that there is no medicinal benefit from herbal cannabis. Getting access to medicinal cannabis for MSers is therefore a part of the cannabis law reform debate.
It's no surprise then that in the years I've been involved with the campaign, I've had the privilege of meeting a fair few MS activists and of hearing about a great many more.
The CLEAR Medicinal Users Panel (MUP) includes several MSers, Penny Fitzlyon and Clare Burns feature on our latest medicinal leaflet 'Cannabis Save Lives'. MUP has been lobbying the government to allow doctors to prescribe medicinal cannabis.
In the past, before CLEAR, there were some notable campaigners whose efforts showed the brutal side of cannabis prohibition:
Mark and Lezley Gibson - Lezley has MS - ran an organisation called THC4MS for several years, supplying cannabis infused chocolate to MSers around the country. They had good relations with the police and made no secret of what they were doing, but one day in 2005 they were busted and in 2006 they were found guilty of supply. - Guardian report.
One person I never met was Biz Ivol, an MSer who lived in the Orkney Islands. Again, Biz made cannabis infused chocolate for other MSers and made no secret of her actions. Biz was a real fighter whose life was made unbearable by her MS. She described it as like having barbed wire pulled through her spine. She was raided in 2004 and faced a lengthy court trial. Biz was weak and very ill and iit was just too much for her. She took her own life rather than endure the torture - and that is not too strong a word for what she faced.
This phase of activism took place between about 1995 and 2005 and along with other MSers speaking out and wanting change they looked to the MS Society for help.
The MS Society's mission statement makes it quite clear what its role is supposed to be:
The MS Society is the UK’s leading MS charity. Since 1953, we’ve been providing information and support, funding research and fighting for change.
Note the "fighting for change" bit, there is nothing in there about enforcing or supporting any aspect of government policy.
The issue of medicinal access to cannabis was threatening to get out of hand and had the potential to undermine the hard line against cannabis being taken by the 'New Labour' government of Tony Blair. It determined that a lid should be placed on the cannabis law reform debate and these people needed to be silenced.
But despite this hard line repression the government had to be seen to be doing something to help these genuinely ill people. The green light was thus given for the development of a "cannabis based" medicine.
Instead of campaigning in support of the many MSers who had been using cannabis illegally, the MS society fell into line with the government plans.
Unbelievably the line from the MS Society seems to have been the law must be obeyed and MSers just had to suffer and wait for the new government approved medicine. Sativex is the long awaited cannabis drug which MSers have been told to wait for, the problem is Sativex doesn't come cheap.
If you look on the MS Society website today, all it has in the way of information about cannabis is "cannabis is an illegal drug". It goes on to say "However a cannabis-based oral spray called Sativex is licensed for the treatment of spasticity in people with MS", but that's it. Nothing else. It should be noted that Sativex isn't a "cannabis based" drug, it is cannabis, containing as it does all the active ingredients found it herbal cannabis, albeit with a carefully controlled THC/CBD ratio.
So instead of fighting for change the MS Society went along with the government's promise of allowing a pharmaceutical company to develop a cannabis medicine and for about 10 years it did nothing to support MSers. Biz and Lezley were treated like criminals and had no support from the MS Society, upholding the government's prohibition policy was seen as somehow more important. The cynic in me suspects this was due to pressure from the Tony Blair government and it seems like the MS Society rolled over and agreed not to rock the boat on the promise of a legal medicine soonish.
Now of course, because of my interest in cannabis law reform it may be that I have an unrepresentative view of MSers and to an extent this is true, or was true until a few years ago.
I work in a college as a media technician, which means I run the TV studio and editing suites amongst other fun things. Sometime around 2006 we had a student with MS who I became friends with. Gloria had no connection with any aspect of the cannabis campaign and had no wish to be associated in any way with recreational cannabis users. She was a budding film maker and when she finished her course she demonstrated the MS activism I mentioned by setting about making a DVD for newly diagnosed MSers. She bit off a bit more than she could chew and one day she turned up in my office with a bunch of tapes asking for help editing the final production. The result was 'Shifting MS'.
During the months we spent on various elements of this production I was introduced to the local MS branch. Although none of these people were cannabis activists, they were just ordinary people with this terrible illness, they were very much aware of the debate.
In this respect Gloria was probably typical of many if not most MSers; she was aware of the claims about cannabis but didn't want to break the law, so she didn't want to try something many people told her would help. This might go some way in explaining the attitude of the MS Society.
What this video does show though is the proactive nature of the MSers. One of the people interviewed is George Pepper who started an MSer support website called 'Shift.ms' which is happy to discuss medicinal cannabis use. Shift.MS has grown to be a major resource for MSers.
At the time we were making 'Shifting MS' Sativex was just about to become available, so I made sure it was included in the list of drugs shown on the video which could be used by MSers. The expectation was that it would soon be generally available, but as we now know, this wasn't to be.
So we come back to Nick Rijke comments to Radio Kent and his plea for Sativex to be given to MSers. This, after all, was the promise made to the MS Society by Blair's government. Sativex isn't available on the NHS (apart from in Wales) because of the cost; Sativex, which is cannabis oil with a THC:CBD ratio of 1:1, is simply too expensive. It is the world's most expensive cannabis by a country mile. The MS Society has every right to feel let down by the government.
What Nick should be aware of is the option of Bedrocan, the herbal cannabis grown to very high standards for the Dutch government which costs a fraction of the price of Sativex. He surely knows about this option, yet the MS Society has said nothing about it. How can this be?
Of course CLEAR supports the MS Society plea for Sativex to be made available to MSers. But it isn't the only option.
So I would like to ask Nick Rijke and the MS Society if they will support the CLEAR campaign to allow doctors to prescribe Bedrocan herbal cannabis. This is a very narrow and well defined option which does involve challenging the government's policy, but is far away from the "free for all" Nick fears.
I'm not actually asking him or the MS Society so publicly affiliate to the CLEAR campaign, simply to speak out in support of the aims. MSers could have medicinal cannabis tomorrow at a fraction of the cost of Sativex.
Derek Williams
http://clear-uk.org/ms-society-cannabis-and-the-sativex-scam/
Weed 3, hosted by CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, will air Sunday, April 19 at 9pm.
Earlier this year, Dr. Gupta won a DuPont award for his documentary, Weed.
talking with @SenGillibrand & sen @CoryBooker about medical #marijuana for #weed 3 — sunday, april 19 at 9p on @CNN pic.twitter.com/DuRgxzSVeN
— Dr. Sanjay Gupta (@drsanjaygupta) March 25, 2015
It will be a “high” Sunday… Weed 3 at 9pm, High Profits at 10pm.
http://cnncommentary.com/2015/03/25/weed-3/
Only two things can take this stock to the next level: FDA and/or a buyout. Short of that, this stock will stay flat or trend down.
Medical Marijuana Trial Shows Promise in Epileptic Children
01/21/2015 07:20 PM
http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/medical-marijuana-trial-shows-promise-in-epileptic/21929/TC-QsCXJkkSsG_sodNLgVg
Medical Marijuana Trial Shows Promise in Epileptic Children
01/21/2015 07:20 PM
http://www.your4state.com/story/d/story/medical-marijuana-trial-shows-promise-in-epileptic/21929/TC-QsCXJkkSsG_sodNLgVg
New Developments for GRU Cannabis Oil Patient
Posted: Jan 19, 2015 4:46 PM EST
Updated: Jan 19, 2015 5:10 PM EST
http://www.wjbf.com/story/27886254/new-developments-for-gru-cannabis-oil-patient
New Developments for GRU Cannabis Oil Patient
Posted: Jan 19, 2015 4:46 PM EST
Updated: Jan 19, 2015 5:10 PM EST
http://www.wjbf.com/story/27886254/new-developments-for-gru-cannabis-oil-patient
Anyone listen to the 26th Annual Piper Jaffray Healthcare Conference today? What was the takeaway?
Anyone listened to the health conference? What was the take away?
GW Pharmaceuticals to Present at the Jefferies 2014 Global Healthcare Conference
LONDON, Nov. 17, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- GW Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq:GWPH) (AIM:GWP) ("GW," "the Company" or "the Group"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing novel therapeutics from its proprietary cannabinoid product platform, announced that Justin Gover, GW's Chief Executive Officer, is scheduled to present at the Jefferies 2014 Global Healthcare Conference in London, England on Wednesday, 19 November, 2014 at 4:20 p.m. GMT/11:20 a.m. EST time.
Hope that a prescription can mimic marijuana’s benefits
By Kay Lazar
http://www . bostonglobe . com/lifestyle/health-wellness/2014/11/17/some-parents-children-who-have-seizures-are-hoping-that-prescription-drug-will-able-mimic-marijuana-benefits/KoGizuhG99EO3w0RkyOrcO/story.html
Haley Osborn lives at a crossroads. Down one path, her parents are searching for marijuana they hope might ease their daughter’s relentless seizures. And down the other, researchers are hunting for ways to mine marijuana’s potential medicinal properties for patients like Haley to create consistent, reliable prescription drugs.
The 7-year-old Georgetown youngster is racked by seizures 15 to 20 times a day despite taking an experimental drug made from an active ingredient in marijuana, cannabidiol, or CBD, that has shown early promise for some children whose seizures were not quelled by traditional medicine.
At MassGeneral Hospital for Children, some of the children with seizures who are taking a CBD extract as part of an ongoing national study are already reaping benefits. Data released last month by GW Pharmaceuticals, a British company supplying the experimental medication, showed that for the 58 patients nationwide who had been on the drug at least 12 weeks, roughly 40 percent had the frequency of their seizures reduced by at least half.
The data also indicated that the most common side effects were sleepiness and fatigue.
“It is going to be definitely effective for a population of kids with epilepsy, but I know it is not the silver bullet,” said Dr. Elizabeth Thiele, director of Mass. General’s pediatric epilepsy program.
“These are kids who have been on 10 previous treatments without seizure control,” said Thiele, who has enrolled 38 children, and expects a total of 50, in the Boston section of the study.
“If even one of them becomes seizure free, that’s impressive,” Thiele said.
The CBD extract, so far, has not reduced the frequency of Haley Osborn’s seizures, and she has been on the drug since April. But the drug, dissolved in sesame oil and strawberry flavored, has significantly improved Haley’s reading ability, which had been delayed by seizures, and she is much more alert, able to process thoughts more quickly, and displaying a sense of humor — a quality her parents hadn’t seen before.
“That part of it has been great, and that’s why we haven’t given up on the study,” Jill Osborn said.
Rules of the study forbid patients to use any marijuana, so that researchers are certain the effects of the experimental drug, called Epidiolex, are not tainted. Haley is scheduled to be enrolled in the study until April. But her parents, who agonize over the accounts they hear from other states about children’s seizures melting away with marijuana use, will face a dilemma early next year. That’s when Massachusetts’s first marijuana dispensaries are scheduled to open.
What's the feeling on GWPH earnings on Monday?
Interview with 420 Investor's Alan Brochstein: Why Have Marijuana Stocks Gone Up in Smoke?
http://www . equities . com/editors-desk/stocks/consumer-discretionary/interview-with-420-investors-alan-brochstein-why-have-marijuana-stocks-gone-up-in-smoke
Don't GW have a presentation next week on Friday, November 14th? Hopefully, there's good news.
Big Ideas From Small Hedge Fund Managers
http://www . institutionalinvestor . com/article/3397366/asset-management-hedge-funds-and-alternatives/big-ideas-from-small-hedge-fund-managers.html#.VFo6C432Zz0
From the article via the link, the guy actually recommend shorting this stock. You guys are agree?
Big Ideas From Small Hedge Fund Managers
http://www . institutionalinvestor . com/article/3397366/asset-management-hedge-funds-and-alternatives/big-ideas-from-small-hedge-fund-managers.html#.VFo6C432Zz0
Big Ideas From Small Hedge Fund Managers
http://www . institutionalinvestor . com/article/3397366/asset-management-hedge-funds-and-alternatives/big-ideas-from-small-hedge-fund-managers.html#.VFo6C432Zz0
GW Pharma's cannabis-based drug comes up short in ulcerative colitis
October 14, 2014 | By Damian Garde
http://www.fiercebiotech . com/story/gw-pharmas-cannabis-based-drug-comes-short-ulcerative-colitis/2014-10-14
What is going on?! Gwp.l is tanking in the London Exchange....down 35.25 to 371.50. Not Good!