OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp (OTCMKTS:OWCP) has been one of the biggest winners for investors in the cannabis space. OWCP was trading as low as $.0030 at the end of September before turning into a microcap runner last month and hitting highs of $.2150 on October 24. Now, OWCP has pulled back on profit taking and looks to consolidate before resuming its push higher. In looking at the news coming out of the company, we believe there are a number of upcoming catalysts that will put OWCP back on the trajectory of hitting new daily highs.First up, a little background on the company. OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp., through its wholly-owned Israeli subsidiary, One Word Cannabis Ltd., conducts medical research and clinical trials to develop cannabis-based pharmaceuticals and treatments for conditions including multiple myeloma, psoriasis, fibromyalgia, PTSD, and migraines. OWCP is also developing unique delivery systems for the effective delivery and dosage of medical cannabis. The Company's Research Division is focused on pursuing clinical trials evaluating the effectiveness of cannabinoids for the treatment of various medical conditions, while its Consulting Division is dedicated to helping governments and companies navigate complex international cannabis regulatory frameworks.
The run-up in OWCP has allowed the company to raise money at higher levels and avoid painful dilution. OWCP just signed an investor agreement for a combined JV & Private Placement of $300,000 with Michepro Holding Ltd, a private family investment company. The Investor will be issued with 2,307,692 restricted shares of the Company's common stock (a price of $0.13 per share) with additional warrants to purchase 761,538 restricted shares at an exercise price of $0.25 per share for a period of 24 months, and additional warrants for 761,538 restricted shares at an exercise price of $0.40 per share for a period of 36 months.
In addition to the investment, the parties will establish a joint venture, 75% to OWCP and 25% to Michepro Holding Ltd to promote, sell, market and distribute the Company's potential products in Europe, initially with the psoriasis treatment, to be followed with company's other therapies as they become available. Chairman and CEO Mordechai Bignitz said:
"We are excited to partner with Michepro Holding Ltd. The investment proceeds will be used to accelerate development of several of OWCP's products and support international marketing activities. We believe the European market represents a substantial opportunity. Medical cannabis is already administrated in some countries in Europe, with several markets indicating they are on the brink of approval. Our initial focus will be the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Italy, Germany and the UK."
Last month, OWCP completed the development of a proprietary, cannabinoid-enriched sublingual tablet for the administration of medical cannabis. The technology behind the Tablet is protected and provides for the ingestion of virtually any dosage of medical cannabis with a sublingual delivery mechanism, whereby the compounds are absorbed directly into the patient's blood through oral epithelial tissue. The Tablet also enables physicians to safely and accurately monitor the dosage and treatment of each individual patient, something that is essentially impossible to do for patients who administer cannabis by smoking.
OWCP is working towards having the Tablet approved by the Israeli Medicinal Cannabis Unit under the Ministry of Health office for use within the country's sanctioned medical cannabis program, as well as talking with potential licensees of the technology in the United States. Longer term, management expects to establish clinical tests of the Tablet in protocols for Multiple Myeloma, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), and Fibromyalgia.
Going forward, we expect news coming from the company regarding the final phase for testing the efficacy of its own developed topical crème compound for the treatment of psoriasis and related skin conditions. The Company's recently completed Challenge Testing for the topical crème, successfully demonstrated the product's robustness against microbiological contamination, stability, and provided a preliminary safety assessment. This next phase of Safety testing protocol was designed to corroborate that the cream is safe for application to the skin. This will be demonstrated by giving a highly concentrated topical crème formulation to healthy patients within a hospital controlled environment. The safety phase will start upon receiving the Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval by the national IRB committee which is expected to be assembled in November 2016. Sales and marketing for the product in both Israel and the U.S. is expected by the second quarter of 2017.
Currently trading with a market cap of $16.9 million, there are 135,305,474 outstanding shares and 86,515,750 shares in the float according to the latest data from OTC Markets. While the float is not as tight as it was in September, consider that the 30 day average daily volume has been almost 17 million shares. As of October 15, there were almost 1 million shares short and we think this number has picked up considerably. There's still plenty of shorts left to be squeezed and push OWCP higher. With the news flow coming out of Israel, we believe this will will be happening sooner rather than later.
We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on OWCP, sign up below!
Disclosure: We have no position in OWCP and have not been compensated for this article.
Discover Hidden Gems
Don't miss the next big opportunity. Subscribe for timely alerts on potential market movers.
