22nd Century Group Archives - Green Market Report

StaffMay 8, 2020

Arena Pharmaceuticals

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARNA) today provided a corporate update and reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020. Revenues for the first quarter totaled $0.3 million compared to $801.1 million in the first quarter of 2019. This decrease was driven by the $800.0 million upfront payment from the United Therapeutics transaction in the first quarter of 2019.

Research and development (R&D) expenses for the first quarter totaled $78.5 million compared to $45.4 million in the same period in 2019. This increase was primarily driven by advancing clinical studies, including the etrasimod Phase 3 program, as well as an increase in personnel expenses as we staff to support our clinical programs. The R&D non-cash share-based compensation was $6.6 million in the first quarter as compared to $6.7 million in the same period 2019
General and administrative (G&A) expenses for the first quarter totaled $26.4 million, compared to $16.6 million in the first quarter of 2019. This increase is primarily attributed to personnel expenses including share-based compensation. The G&A non-cash share-based compensation was $8.6 million in the first quarter as compared to $6.3 million in the same period 2019

Net loss for the first quarter was $100.2 million compared to net income of $620.1 million for the same period in 2019. In connection with the United Therapeutics transaction, we incurred transaction fees of approximately $17.0 million, of which $14.6 million was incurred in the first quarter of 2019, and was presented as transaction costs in the condensed consolidated statement of operations

“We are pleased to announce that our ongoing clinical programs are currently on track and our liquidity position remains strong with approximately one billion dollars in cash and investments. While maintaining momentum has not been easy, and we – along with the rest of the industry – have experienced a slowing in clinical trial operations, including site activations, our teams have been actively monitoring our ongoing trials day-by-day to ensure patient safety, study momentum and conduct, and drug supply. Additionally, prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, our programs were well ahead of schedule, giving us an important buffer to weather the storm. Finally, given the broad clinical site base across our programs, we are also monitoring certain countries and regions as they begin to lift restrictions. We continue to evaluate the situation in real-time and we will provide further updates frequently as circumstances evolve,” said Amit D. Munshi, President, and CEO of Arena.

CV Sciences

CV Sciences, Inc. (CVSI) announced its financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2020, with sales falling to $8.3 million, a decrease of 45% from $14.9 million in the first quarter of 2019. First-quarter sales were impacted by increased market competition in the natural product category, the continued impact on retail customers as a result of the uncertain regulatory environment for CBD, and the impact from the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The Company recognized an operating loss of $5.3 million in the first quarter of 2020, compared to an operating loss of $9.4 million in the prior year. The Company had a negative adjusted EBITDA for the first quarter of 2020 of $3.9 million, compared to adjusted EBITDA of $1.7 million for the first quarter of 2019.

The company’s retail store count increased to 5,799 stores nationwide as of March 31, 2020, up from 3,308 stores as of March 31, 2019, but apparently this didn’t result in increased sales.

“Over the past months, we have taken quick action to right-size our operations for the near-term industry outlook and to adapt our operations for the ever-changing operating environment created by the current global health crisis. Our production and distribution facilities continue to operate without interruption and our entire team of dedicated employees has risen to the challenge to ensure that we continue to deliver the highest quality hemp-derived CBD products on the market,” stated Joseph Dowling, Chief Executive Officer of CV Sciences.

22nd Century

22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE American: XXII) reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2020. Net sales revenue for the first quarter of 2020 was $7.1 million, an increase of $0.8 million, or 12.1%, over net sales revenue of $6.3 million during the first quarter of 2019. The increase was driven primarily by sales relating to contract manufactured cigarettes.

The Company experienced a net loss for the first quarter of 2020 of $4.0 million, representing a net loss per share of ($0.03) as compared to a net loss of $2.1 million, or a net loss per share of ($0.02) for the first quarter of 2019. The increased net loss for the first quarter was due primarily to a change in the fair value of warrants held by the Company in Aurora Cannabis, Inc.

Adjusted EBITDA was negative $3.2 million, or ($0.02) per share, for the first quarter of 2020, as compared to a negative Adjusted EBITDA of $4.6 million, or ($0.04) per share, for the first quarter of 2019, a decrease in the negative Adjusted EBITDA of $1.4 million, or 30%.

Debra BorchardtAugust 21, 2018

Asset manager BlackRock Inc. is now the biggest institutional holder of 22nd Century Group Inc. (XXII), a company that claims to be specializing in cannabis, but is really only a producer of tobacco products.

BlackRock Inc. filed a 13F-HR form disclosing ownership of 7,361,866 shares of 22nd Century with total holdings valued at $18,110,000 USD as of June 30, 2018. BlackRock Inc. had filed a previous 13F-HR on May 09, 2018 disclosing 2,809,955 shares of 22nd Century Group, Inc. at a value of $6,602,000 USD. This represents a change in shares of 161.99 percent and a change in value of 174% during the quarter.

22nd Century Group Top Holders

According to 22nd Century Group, institutional investors currently hold around $61 million or 24.3% in XXII stock. The top holders include Blackrock Inc. which owns $17.74 million in 22nd Century Group and represents roughly 6.42% of the company’s market cap and approximately 29.09% of the institutional ownership. The second largest owner, Vanguard Group Inc, owns 5,285,583 shares of the stock which are valued at $12.74 million. The third largest holder is Etf Managers Group, Llc, which currently holds $6.88 million worth of this stock and that ownership represents nearly 2.49% of its market capitalization.

22nd Century Group Sells Only Tobacco

22nd Century plans to mass produce a very low nicotine tobacco that will be available in cigarettes and smoking cessation products. The company claims to be the only company that holds the research and application patents worldwide for low nicotine tobacco, although these products have been in existence for some time such as the Next cigarette from Philip Morris in 1989 and the Quest cigarette from Vector Tobacco in 2003.

XXII says it owns exclusive rights to the patents to that will reduce exposure to smoke toxins. A company statement said that “The tobacco will address unmet needs of smokers: for those people that want to quit, as an innovative smoking cessation aid, and for those who continue to smoke, a product that has reduced levels of nicotine.”

At this time 22nd Century Group only sells high-level nicotine cigarettes call Red Sun and normal level nicotine cigarettes called Moonlight (sold in the Asian markets). There is a low nicotine cigarette product called Magic.

22nd Century says it holds 4 patents that give the tobacco company a new monopoly on the entire scientific concept, process, and method as they relate to numerous plants. It says it can “produce a THC free hemp that is void of the hallucinogenic properties that has made cannabis illegal in most states.”

Anandia Laboratories Investment

22nd Century had invested in research partner, Anandia Laboratories in Canada, but that cannabis company has agreed to be acquired by Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACBFF) 22nd Century will now receive shares of Aurora Cannabis in return for its approximately 14.8% equity ownership of Anandia. So, in a way 22nd Century Group will have some investment into a real cannabis company by owning shares of Aurora Cannabis.

StaffAugust 7, 2018

It’s time for your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for August 7, 2018.

On The Site:

Aurora Cannabis Inc.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACBFF) today announced that it has entered into a letter of intent to acquire HotHouse Consulting Inc. Founded in 2004, HotHouse provides greenhouse consulting services and specializes in hybrid greenhouse growing techniques. Initially, the company focused primarily on agricultural clients, but in the ensuing years has shifted towards the cannabis industry. Under the agreement, the company has granted 1,940,000 options to buy shares of Aurora to officers of HotHouse, which will vest annually over the next three years and are exercisable at $7.39 per common share.

Navy Capital

New York-based cannabis-focused institutional fund Navy Capital Green International Ltd. invested $3 million of equity into Nevada-based Oasis Cannabis. Oasis is an integrated cannabis producer and retailer in Nevada. It is also a subsidiary of CLS Holdings USA Inc., which operates as Cannabis Life Sciences.

Navy Capital said that it has an extreme interest in the CLS patented extraction and processing technology. According to the company statement, Navy Capital or select others may invest an additional two million with a 15% overallotment for a total of up to $5,750,000 by August 15, 2018.

In Other News

GW Pharmaceuticals plc

GW Pharmaceuticals plc (GWPH) reported its fiscal Q3 results for the quarter ending June 30, 2018, with revenue rising 34.6% to $3.5 million. The net loss fell 31.7% to a loss of $35.7 million. The company will be meeting with FDA in the back half of the year to clarify regulatory pathway for Sativex (nabiximols) in MS spasticity. GW Pharma will also begin to study CBDV in autism this quarter.

“The recent FDA approval of Epidiolex represents a major medical advance for patients with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome and Dravet syndrome. We anticipate rescheduling to be completed within 90 days of FDA approval and for the product launch to take place in the Fall,” stated Justin Gover, GW’s Chief Executive Officer. “In preparation for launch, we have now completed the hiring of our U.S. sales organization and are engaged with patient organizations, physicians and managed care organizations/payors. This approval has been a transformative event for GW, not only opening a new chapter as a commercial-stage company, but also validating and reinforcing our world leadership in cannabinoid science, and the potential of our product pipeline.”

22nd Century Group, Inc.

22nd Century Group, Inc. (XXII), a plant biotechnology company that is focused on tobacco harm reduction, Very Low Nicotine tobacco, and hemp/cannabis research, announced its second quarter 2018 financial results. The company posted net sales revenue of more than $6.9 million and significantly increased spending – to more than $2.7 million this quarter – on the Company’s Modified Risk Tobacco Product (“MRTP”) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) for “BRAND A” Very Low Nicotine cigarettes. As of June 30, 2018, the Company had more than $53 million in cash and short-term investments, which are sufficient reserves to meet regular operating expenses for a number of years.

The company had a net loss for the three months ended June 30, 2018, of $6,739,000, or ($0.05) per share, as compared to a net loss of $3,356,000, or ($0.04) per share, for the three months ended June 30, 2017. The increase in the net loss for the second quarter of 2018 of $3,383,000, or 100.8%, was due primarily to the net increase in the operating loss of $3,758,000.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (ARNA) reported a net loss of 65 cents per share or $31.8 million for the second quarter of 2018 versus last year’s loss of 77 cents per share. It was wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of a loss of 62 cents. Revenues totaled $4.0 million, consisting of $3.1 million in collaboration revenue, and $0.9 million in royalty revenue. At June 30, 2018, Arena’s cash, cash equivalents, and investments balance were $592.4 million and approximately 49.3 million shares of Arena common stock were outstanding.

“We have made significant progress over the past three months across our clinical programs, including the initiation of our ADVANCE Phase 3 program for ralinepag in patients with PAH. We are excited for the opportunity to potentially advance the treatment paradigm for patients suffering from this critical illness,” said Amit D. Munshi, President and CEO of Arena. “Additionally, we are pleased to have submitted our meeting request to the FDA for etrasimod in UC, and look forward to the data readout from our Phase 2 study of olorinab for pain associated with Crohn’s disease in September.”

NUGL Inc.

NUGL Inc. (NUGL) announces its North American Marketing Strategy. NUGL’s platform delivers exclusive profiles and features for brands and listings in the cannabis space leading search app offers every type of cannabis company and professional service the ability to create individual profiles for marketing, connecting and expanding client bases in and out of the NUGL community. NUGL’s platform also gives brands and listings cutting-edge software that helps their business expand their client base and network.

Debra BorchardtJune 13, 2018

It’s time for your Daily Hit of cannabis financial news for June 13, 2018.

On The Site

Green Thumb Industries

Chicago-based cannabis company Green Thumb Industries (GTI) will begin trading on June 13 under the ticker symbol “GTII” on the Canadian Securities Exchange. GTI’s owner VCP23 LLC did a reverse take over (RTO) of Bayswater Uranium Corporation raising C$87 million or $67 million through a private placement.

VCP reported revenue in its filing for the three months ending March 31, 2018, as $10.9 million with a gross profit of $4.8 million and a net loss of $1.5 million. VCP also reported that its total revenue for the year ending December 31, 2017, was $16.5 million with a net loss of $4 million.

Lab Testing

A new report from the Alaska Alcohol and Marijuana Control Office and the Department of Environmental Conservation found that labs testing marijuana for potency were delivering very different results.

Different labs using similar methodology should have reported similar results, instead, the results came back and they weren’t even close. For example, the test took a marijuana muffin, cookie crumbs, capsules and dried flower and brought them to the only two testing labs in the state. The results delivered a large margin of error between the two.

In Other News

Farm Bill Passes

The Farm Bill passed with the attached hemp legalization language. According to CNBC, The Senate Agriculture Committee passed the 2018 farm bill in a 20-1 vote despite an attempt to tighten farmer subsidies. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, cast the sole “no” vote, because his amendment to limit subsidy payments wasn’t added to the proposed bill. The farm bill includes hemp legalization legislation that is backed by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. McConnell made a case during Wednesday’s agriculture panel meeting for supporting the hemp legalization.

22nd Century Group Inc.

22nd Century Group, Inc. (NYSE: XXII) announced that it the Company will be added to the Russell 2000, Russell 3000, and Russell Global Indexes when FTSE Russell (Russell) reconstitutes its U.S. and global equity indexes on June 22, 2018. Russell’s preliminary announcement of its annual reconstitution of these Indexes, which includes 22nd Century Group, was posted on the Russell website on Friday, June 8, 2018, after the U.S. stock market closed.

Aurora Cannabis Inc.

Aurora Cannabis Inc. (TSX: ACB) (OTCQB: ACBFF) announced that it intends to complete a $7 million investment in Choom Holdings Inc. (CSE:CHOO) (OTCQB: CHOOF), whereby Aurora will receive 9,859,155 common shares from Choom’s treasury, priced at $0.71 per share (the “Transaction”), representing an 8% ownership interest. Choom currently operates two late-stage applicants under the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (“ACMPR”). Choom has agreements in place to acquire two additional late-stage applicant craft growers in BC and Saskatchewan, including a facility in Sooke, British Columbia, anticipated to receive its cultivation license from Health Canada in the third quarter of 2018.

The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd.

The Green Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. (TGOD.TO) (TGODF) announced that, effective June 13th, the company has secured DTC Eligibility. The Green Organic Dutchman also wishes to announce that it will begin trading on the OTCQX Best Market June 14th under the symbol “TGODF.”

William SumnerMarch 20, 2018

No one likes a fake, especially in the business world. Sometimes in order to drive sales or investor interest, companies will misrepresent who they are and what industry they’re in. A most recent example is when the company Long Island Iced Tea Corp. changed its name to “Long Blockchain Corp.” and saw its stock prices soar.

Closer to home there are countless companies hoping to capitalize on the crazy amount of buzz that the cannabis industry has generated; even if they’re not really in the cannabis industry. Today Green Market Report will separate fact from fiction and give you a look at some of the most notorious Cannabis Fakes.

Corbus Pharmaceuticals

Corbus Pharmaceuticals is (CRBP) late-stage stage clinical pharmaceutical company that specializes in the development and commercialization of novel therapeutics to treat rare, chronic, and serious inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. Lately, the company has enjoyed a bit of buzz as a “cannabis company” listed on the NASDAQ exchange, but the truth is less exciting. The drug that has led to this company being called a “cannabis company” is JBT-101, which is an oral endocannabinoid-mimetic drug. What that means is that JBT-101 interacts with endocannabinoid receptors by mimicking cannabinoids, no cannabis required. The company may enjoy a Outperform rating from Raymond James, but it is by no means a cannabis company.

Compass Diversified Holdings

Compass Diversified Holdings (CODI) is a company that acquires and manages mid-size businesses. Compass gets its cannabis credentials from its ownership of the hemp-based food company Manitoba Harvest as well as the appropriately named Hemp Oil Canada. Aside from the fact that these two companies are just a small piece of Compass’ greater portfolio, most hemp advocates would be keen to point out that hemp is not cannabis; despite the similarities that these two may share.

22nd Century Group

Perhaps the most egregious use of the term “cannabis company” has to come from 22nd Century Group (XXII). 22nd Century Group is first and foremost a tobacco company. They got the reputation as a cannabis company because of their work with the development of hemp-based cannabinoid related products and through its collaboration with the University of Virginia to cultivate industrial hemp. The company’s lead product, however, is a brand of “non-addictive” cigarettes that contact low doses of nicotine, which is in keeping with the US Food and Drug Administration’s overarching goal of reducing the amount of nicotine in cigarettes. An interesting business venture, perhaps, but 22nd Century Group is definitely not what you would consider a cannabis company.

NCIA Cuts Staff to Six, Cites Revenue Downturn

New Jersey Revokes Cannabis Company’s Licenses Over $700k in Unpaid Fees

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Acreage CEO Resigns As C-Suite Gets Overhauled

New York Regulators Again Promise to Crack Down on Unlicensed Smoke Shops

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