Here's Why Axim Biotechnologies Inc (OTCMKTS:AXIM) Is Running And What's Next

Axim Biotechnologies Inc (OTCMKTS:AXIM) is picking up some strength on the back of a recent SeeThruEquity research report, and a related price target of $17 a share. At last close, the company traded for $10.75 a piece – a more than 37% run on the $7.81 logged before the report hit press.Regular readers will know that this is a company we have been drawing attention to for quite a while now. It's one of the more promising cannabis plays on the market right now we have highlighted on a number of occasions a spate of near-term catalysts that – if they hit press as positive – should contribute to reevaluation.With this in mind, and on the assumption that the recent run is the start of a longer-term upside trend, here is a look at what we are focusing on as catalysts going forward.For those new to this company, it is a cannabis focus health and wellness play that has strong ties with another well-known cannabis company – Medical Marijuana Inc (OTCMKTS:MJNA). The latter has a sizable stake in the former, and again, is one that we have highlighted a few times this year so far as being one to watch in the space.Looking specifically at Axim, however, the company has developed a proprietary delivery method that it calls CanChew. It is essentially a cannabis infused chewing gum that, in its current iteration, it is available in all 50 states in the US and 40 countries total. It's basically a combination of hemp oil and some cannabidiol mixed with a mint flavoring.There is value in CanChew as a near-term revenue generating product, but the real value (as far as we're concerned) is rooted in the application of the delivery method to pharmaceutical grade indications. There is a large and growing problem associated with the prescription of cannabis-based therapies in the market right now, and this problem is rooted in administration method. Current options are difficult to dose accurately (smoking, etc.) and have undesirable side effects associated with them. If Axim can demonstrate that its CanChew product can be used to deliver pharmaceutical grade cannabis, and do so in such a way that it combats the underlying cause, or the symptoms of, a particular disease, then it's really going to run.And that is what we are looking at as providing catalysts going forward.The chewing gum product is currently under investigation as part of some phase II clinical trials, having been rebranded in this iteration as MedChewRx, and the outcome of these trials will direct the forward development pathway for MedChew both in the US and internationally. The target indications list is long – basically, anything that cannabis can currently be used to treat (nausea associated with chemotherapy, pain, cancer therapies, anorexia, all these sorts of things) – and when we know if and how well the product works in a clinical setting, we should get some indication from management as to which indication it intends to target initially as a lead. There has been some suggestion from those in charge that the initial development program will target some of those above-mentioned indications, but nothing is concrete right now, so we are waiting for confirmation before we form a bias as to the potential of the pathway.So, what are we looking for specifically?Well, management expects to have data related to the clinical application of the product (under the MedChew moniker) in the hands of markets at some point during the third quarter of this year. This initial data should be a catalyst if it comes out positive. Beyond that, we are looking at any announcement related to target pathways as driving the stock throughout the final quarter of 2017 and – beyond – into 2018.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on AXIM, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in any of the securities mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.