Here’s What You Missed in Cannabis, Psychedelics This Week

In this week’s “Rising High,” The Fly’s recurring series focused on cannabis and psychedelic stock news, The Fly looks back on earnings, an acquisition and a development prioritization.

CYBIN REPORTS 2024 FINANCIAL RESULTS: On Wednesday, Cybin (CYBN) reported a 2024 loss per share of (C$0.25), which compared to a loss per share of (C$0.26) for 2023. The company also reported cash totaled C$209M as of March 31 and said with the completion of a private placement and a combination of the company’s current cash position and current at-the-market equity program, the company has access to over C$285M. “I am proud of the swift and meaningful progress we have made advancing our two lead programs, CYB003 for the adjunctive treatment of MDD and CYB004 for the treatment of GAD, this past year. As we stand poised to commence our Phase 3 study of CYB003, Cybin has evolved into a mature, late-stage company with critical milestones on the near-term horizon,” stated Doug Drysdale, CEO “Supported by the BTD from the FDA and positive four-month durability data for our CYB003 program, and the initiation of our Phase 2 study of CYB004, we are progressing quickly to potentially change the treatment paradigm for MDD and GAD and bring to market innovative treatment options for patients in need.” (read more)

HIGH TIDE TO ACQUIRE RETAIL STORE FOR C$600,000: High Tide (HITI) announced Wednesday that it has entered into a definitive asset purchase agreement pursuant to which High Tide will acquire a retail cannabis store in Mississauga, Ontario, currently operating as Cantopia for C$600,000. The store is located at 6400 Millcreek Drive, Mississauga and is situated in a bustling retail plaza surrounded by several small businesses. For the trailing three months ended May 31, the store generated annualized revenue of C$2.3M and annualized adjusted EBITDA of C$0.4M. The purchase price represents 1.5x annualized adjusted EBITDA for the trailing three months ended May 31. “High Tide has always been focused on quality over quantity when looking at M&A opportunities, and this acquisition is another example of our targeted strategy. Since the end of calendar 2022, we have been focusing on greenfield growth, adding 24 locations organically with effectively no M&A. As it has been and continues to be a buyers’ market, we have been patient pursuing only the highest quality opportunities while not chasing any deals or giving into unrealistic seller’s expectations, unlike some of our peers,” said Raj Grover, CEO. “As the Canadian retail cannabis market is going through heightened consolidation, many operators are assessing the current macro conditions and the limited options available to them. Joining the High Tide family allows these retailers to weather the storm while providing us with fully operational sites with strong revenues for reasonable multiples. I am pleased to add another highly accretive store to our outstanding retail portfolio and look forward to more strategic and accretive M&A as the opportunities arise.” (read more)

ENVERIC PRIORITIZES DEVELOPMENT OF EB-003: Enveric Biosciences (ENVB) announced Tuesday the company is prioritizing the development of EB-003, its approach to address difficult-to-treat mental health disorders. EB-003 and other neuroplastogens developed by Enveric are designed to promote neuroplasticity without inducing hallucinations, a hallmark side effect of many psychedelic and psychedelic-inspired compounds. Enveric is currently advancing pre-clinical development activities for EB-003 and targeting a Pre-IND meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for early 2025. “EB-003 has the potential to be a breakthrough neuroplastogen drug candidate that offers the ability to treat resistant mental health disorders without the hallucinogenic effect typically associated with psychedelic-based molecules,” said Joseph Tucker, CEO. “Minimizing the hallucinatory effect is vital for the clinical development of EB-003 since it will allow for truly blinded placebo-controlled clinical trials and eliminate the need for co-administration of psychotherapy. In addition, minimizing the hallucinatory effect will enable the administration of such therapies in an outpatient setting, and support a more widespread acceptance for psychedelic-inspired drugs. The potential advantages of EB-003 were underscored during the recent U.S. FDA Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee for Lykos Therapeutics’ MDMA-assisted therapy. During the Lykos Adcom meeting, the advisory committee raised several issues that likely will need to be overcome by hallucination-inducing psychedelics currently in development. Notably, ‘expectation bias’ and the inability to adequately blind both patients and study monitors due to the psychedelic properties of the Lykos candidate decreased reviewer confidence in the efficacy data reported from the studies. Reviewers also questioned the relative contributions of the pharmacological treatment versus the supportive psychotherapy to the reported outcomes and expressed concerns regarding the lack of standardization of the psychotherapy. Enveric believes EB-003 is uniquely designed to address these valid concerns of the Advisory Committee and accordingly have determined to elevate EB-003 to be our lead development candidate to accelerate our plans to advance it to human clinical studies.” (read more)

THE CANNABIST COMPANY PARTNERS WITH BLOOM: The Cannabist Company (CBSTF) announced Wednesday a new multi-state partnership with The Bloom Brand, a leader in cannabis concentrates and vape technology. New Jersey and Virginia will be the first two markets featuring this collaboration. This will mark the sixth and seventh states where Bloom products are available. The partnership will launch Bloom’s proprietary hardware technology designed to provide a vaping experience that replicates flower consumption. The Cannabist Company will utilize its flower combined with Bloom’s strain formulas to produce Bloom’s Classic and Seasonal Live strains for the Bloom Surf and 510 vape cartridges, both in 0.5g and 1.0g formats. Bloom products will hit shelves at the two Cannabist dispensaries in New Jersey in Q3 as well as at the eight Cannabist and three gLeaf dispensaries in Virginia in Q4. Bloom will also be available through the company’s wholesale channels in both states once launched. (read more)

ORGANIGRAM INVESTS IN SANITY GROUP: Organigram Holdings (OGI) announced Tuesday its first strategic investment aimed at expanding its presence in the European cannabis market. Using proceeds from its Jupiter strategic investment pool, the company has agreed to invest EUR14M initially comprised of EUR11M via an unsecured convertible note and EUR2.5M to purchase equity interests from existing Sanity Group founders and shareholders providing the company with a minority stake in Berlin-based cannabis company Sanity Group. In addition, the company may advance another EUR3M as a second tranche of the unsecured convertible note for future opportunities to be pursued by Sanity subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions. The company said, “Sanity has quickly established itself as a leader in the German cannabis market where it maintains a robust distribution network with over 2,000 pharmacies working with approximately 5,000 physicians in Germany. Sanity currently holds approximately a 10% share of the German medical cannabis market where its medical brand, avaay, is estimated to hold the number two position and has shown impressive revenue growth since the recent legal reforms regarding partial legalization of adult-use recreational cannabis in Germany.” Additionally, Sanity is currently participating in a Swiss recreational cannabis pilot program in the Basel canton, with one store operational and a plan to expand its retail footprint in Switzerland. In the coming months, Sanity is expected to invest in proprietary distribution channels providing it with what it believes will be a competitive advantage that capitalizes on new medical consumers entering the market. The company’s investment also expands the previously announced supply agreement between Organigram and Sanity Group. Until such time as Organigram receives EU-GMP certification at its Moncton production facility, Sanity Group has committed to purchase significantly higher annual volumes of dried flower under the new agreement as compared to the previous one. Once Organigram receives EU-GMP certification in Moncton, Sanity Group will shift its annual purchase commitment from Organigram to a percentage of its overall assortment of flower offerings for the European market. Organigram expects to complete its final EU-GMP audit before the end of the calendar year. Additionally, the new commercial agreement contemplates, subject to terms and conditions, avenues by which Organigram can launch its brands, products, and IP in the German market. (read more)

CANNABIS/PSYCHEDELIC STOCKS: Publicly-traded companies in the space include Acreage (ACRHF), Ascend Wellness (AAWH), Atai Life Sciences (ATAI), Aurora Cannabis (ACB), Avant Brands (AVTBF), Ayr Wellness (AYRWF), BZAM (BZAMF), Cannara Biotech (LOVFF), Canopy Growth (CGC), Chicago Atlantic (REFI), Clearmind (CMND), Clever Leaves (CLVR), Compass Pathways (CMPS), CordovaCann (LVRLF), Cresco Labs (CRLBF), Cronos Group (CRON), Curaleaf (CURLF), CURE Pharmaceutical (CURR), CV Sciences (CVSI), Entourage Health (ETRGF), Fire & Flower (FFLWF), Flora Growth (FLGC), Trees Corporation (CANN), Green Thumb Industries (GTBIF), Goodness Growth (GDNSF), Greenlane (GNLN), GrowGeneration (GRWG), Hemp (HEMP), Heritage Cannabis (HERTF), IGC Pharma (IGC), Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR), InterCure (INCR), IM Cannabis (IMCC), Indiva (NDVAF), Lotus Ventures (LTTSF), Lowell Farms (LOWLF), Lucy Scientific Discovery (LSDI), Medipharm (MEDIF), MedMen (MMNFF), MindMed (MNMD), NewLake Capital (NLCP), Numinus (NUMIF), Optimi Health (OPTHF), Organigram (OGI), Planet 13 (PLNHF), Red White & Bloom (RWBYF), Relmada Therapeutics (RLMD), Reunion Neuroscience (REUN), Revitalist (RVLWF), RIV Capital (CNPOF), RYAH Group (RYAHF), Safe Harbor Financial (SHFS), Sproutly (SRUTF), Skye Biosciences (SKYE), SNDL (SNDL), Stem Holdings (STMH), Sunniva (SNNVF), TerrAscend (TSNDF), Tetra Bio-Pharma (TBPMF), Tilray (TLRY), Trulieve (TCNNF), Tryp Therapeutics (TRYPF), Verano (VRNOF), Village Farms (VFF), Zynerba (ZYNE) and 4Front Ventures (FFNTF).