Top 5 Marijuana Stocks to Watch in 2015
It’s been a long and rough road for a push toward…
universal legalization of marijuana in the US. Since the early beginnings in California many decades ago with medical marijuana to the latest trail being blazed from states like Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska, this has certainly become a growth driven marketplace full of opportunity. It seems like those entering the space are facing the “kid in a candy store” mentality as so many industry assets can be applied to this new sector. From consulting services to biotech, there is a myriad of options for companies to focus on during these early stages. But the question remains, “Are ‘pot’ stocks really delivering for investors?” So, which stocks should you be in right now?
Over the last 45 days, Oxis shares have seen highs of $0.039 and over recent weeks, the company has made several key announcements that put this on the list of top potential cannabis investments in 2015. Not only has Oxis executed definitive agreements licensing certain assets for the treatment
of multiple myeloma but the company has also brought on some of the foremost authorities in research, especially those focused on cannabinoid research. Starting with Dr. Sean Xie (Dr. Xiangqun Xie), his research work is beyond the proof-of-principle stage and has already shown to successfully identify several CB2 ligands with “nanomolar receptor binding affinity” (US patents). Currently, he has established collaboration with MD experts at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for in vivo animal evaluation.
Furthermore, the Company also announced that Dr. James J. Mulé, Ph.D and Dr. Lisa A. Haile have joined the Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Mulé is a Special Government Employee of the NCI and the FDA. There is literally no better person to have on your team as a biotech company than someone who works for the FDA that can oversee and manage the different trial phases for FDA drug approval.
Among many of his accomplishments, Dr. Mulé is recognized for his translational research studies in cancer immunotherapy. Mulé previously worked with Oxis CEO Tony Cataldo at Mr. Cataldo’s last biotech company, Genesis Biopharma (previous GNBP), which later became Lion Biotechnologies (LBIO). Under the helm of Mr. Cataldo, Genesis grew from a penny stock with a mere $2million market cap to a $250million market cap now trading around $8 a share. Needless to say, early investors were beyond thrilled.
I like to invest in management with a proven track record. People that have been through the gauntlet and came out on top because they are more likely to do it again than a newbie is to make it big for the first time. In addition, CEO Tony Cataldo has been quoted stating that he believes their patents and data are comparable to cannabis biotech juggernauts GW Pharma and Insys Therapeutics, two companies also on this Top 5 list who both sport market caps around $1.5Billion. But moving on.
Dr. Haile, Ph.D. currently serves as Co-Chair, Global Life Sciences Sector at DLA Piper and has substantial experience when it comes to FDA counseling and licensing strategy. She is also noted as being one of the nation’s best lawyers when it comes to successfully bringing innovation to market and making sure it remains proprietary to the company. According to her biography, Dr. Haile has extensive experience with US and International patent preparation and prosecution relating to novel genetically altered organisms, including plants, antisense molecules, peptides, proteins, DNA, antibodies, vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, as well as patentability, infringement and validity determinations, licensing and strategic counseling. This should add another layer of professional advisory to the Oxis Scientific Board especially with the current path the company has begun to head down in consideration of the multiple myeloma licensing.
As far as paid in capital is concerned, Oxis shows something more similar to a large cap company and reports slightly over $82M in additional paid in capital. Therefore, it could be very possible that the CEO who took Genesis from a micro-cap stock to where it sits today as Lion Biotech, may be gearing up to do it all over again. A strong team to conduct R&D is crucial to future success. Additional paid in capital is very important when it comes to making investment decisions in many biotechs generally because most of these are pre-revenue through the multiple stages of R&D and through the different phases of FDA approval. This valuation method has been used because when you’re not selling product, how can success be determined? By utilizing “additional paid-in-capital” and various patent valuations along with other financial reporting documentation.
No comments:
Post a Comment