Here's What's Moving Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc (OTCMKTS:CNBX) And What's Next

It has taken a little longer than we initially expected, but we are finally seeing development stage cannabis play Cannabics Pharmaceuticals Inc (OTCMKTS:CNBX) turn around. Having traded for around $1.10 mid-June, the company slowly deteriorated in value throughout the latter half of the month and into the first couple of weeks of July, bottoming out on July 10 at around $0.76 a piece.Subsequent to these lows, however, Cannabics has started to gain some traction and currently trades for $0.98 a share. That is a close to 30% depreciation this week so far and we think that there is plenty of potential for further upside revaluation moving forward into the remainder of the third quarter of this year.Before getting to the next catalyst, let's quickly look at what's driving the action at present.Two things have happened over the last couple of weeks that are contributing to the recent strength. The first came on June 30, 2017, when Cannabics announced that it received positive results from screening necrosis (cell death) of circulating tumor cells, from cancer patients, treated with the cannabinoids CBD and CBDA. For those not familiar with this company, it is working on a couple of different treatments based on various combinations of cannabinoids, most of which are targeting oncology indications as things stand.The idea that underpins this type of treatment is that these cannabinoids can combine to induce cell death in cancer cells (something that, when the disease goes untreated, doesn't happen) and – in turn – can help to inhibit progression of the cancer in question. Early data (which we looked at in a number of previous articles) supported this hypothesis and the latest news derives from a study that was set up as an attempt to build on the early-stage data and reinforce the potential clinical benefit of this type of treatment.Specifically, this data was rooted in what is called circulating tumor cells (CTC) count, with this count metric used as an indication of the severity of the cancer in question. The higher the CTC count, the more severe the cancer is. With the most recent data, Cannabics was able to demonstrate a lower CTC count in patients that had just been treated with its cannabinoid combinations, which serves as a sort of surrogate efficacy endpoint in this indication.So that's the first bit of news.The second bit, and the most recent, came on July 12, when Cannabics announced that it had executed a collaboration agreement with an entity called SIMFO GmbH. SIMFO has already commenced preclinical studies on cannabinoid antitumor activity and drug development utilizing Cannabics's proprietary cannabinoid formulations and the latest collaboration agreement will see the two pair up in an attempt to bring a personalized treatment to market; one underpinned by the cannabinoid combinations created by Cannabics and supported by the diagnostics technology that SIMFO brings to the table.To explain this in a slightly simpler fashion, physicians can use the SIMFO diagnostics technology to try and ascertain which of the cannabinoid combinations might be more effective in a patient's cancer and then use the outcome to prescribe a potentially more effective combination than might otherwise be the case without the diagnostics technology in question.Exactly how this collaboration will play out in practice remains to be seen – the assumption is that the two companies will need to carry the combination (diagnostics and treatment) through a standard clinical development pathway in the US before it can pick up commercialization rights in the region. If this is the case, it should bring with it plenty of near-term catalysts, each of which has the potential to drive market valuation to the upside.As a final note, we also have a very near-term catalyst in the company's releasing of interim data from its ongoing study of its cannabis-based pills in patients with cancer anorexia-cachexia syndrome (CACS). Said data was slated for release at some point during July, meaning it could come any day now, and if it hits press is indicative of efficacy, we're going to see the company run.Cash is, as ever, an issue at this end of the market, so keep in mind that an exposure to any near-term upside on the above-described catalysts will likely also bring with it an exposure to an equity raise at some point between now and the end of the year.Check out our previous coverage of this one here!We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on CNBX, sign up below!Image courtesy of M A N U E L via FlickrDisclosure: We have no position in CNBX and have not been compensated for this article.