Long time readers have been aware that, for some time, Equity.Guru has been a supporter of Canntab Therapeutics (PILL.C), but have been frustrated watching the company being slow on news over the last year. With exclusive hard-pressed cannabis pill IP, Canntab enjoys the luxury of owning an entire cannabis sub-sector all to its self, but hasn’t been able to do much with it without a sales license.
Late last week, everything changed on that front.
Canntab Therapeutics Ltd. has received its medical sales licence from Health Canada for its Markham, Ont., facility, enabling the sale of all products directly to medical consumers.
The amendment marks the final regulatory step required to launch the company’s direct to consumer website, allowing patients across Canada to order on-line the unique patented exact dosage hard tablets and caplets of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and CBD (cannabidiol) in various strengths. Exact dosing is a key element in the Canntab offering in addressing the needs of the medical community.
Canntab stock immediately jumped from $0.60 to $0.75 before settling in at $0.70 after profit taking.
For Canntab’s executive team, this is the green light they’ve been waiting for.
Larry Latowsky, Canntab’s chief executive officer, stated: “The sales amendment is the most significant milestone to date for our company, and provides Canntab with the legal ability to aggressively move forward with our business plan and full commercialization of our brand and products.”
There’ll be an early e-commerce push from the company, with that being the quickest way to market nationally, but real sales will be drawn in from affiliates such as pharmacy groups, health and wellness practitioners, sleep and pain clinics, and other medical professionals the company has been talking to for some time.
Certainly the bureaucratic delay in getting this license has taken a toll on the company stock price, as one would expect. It’s hard to close deals, build sales networks, market your product, and manufacture your first batches when you’re unsure what day – or even month – the license will be approved. But now the jets are on, the newsflow can reopen, and those buying in at these prices get themselves a 50% discount to what it would have cost 9 months ago, when that license might have been an empty promise, for all anyone knew.
Canntab have had opportunities to cash in on their IP while they waited, which would have got revenues going earlier but taken a toll on revenues over the long haul. But the company was sure of its final destination and held the line when others might have panicked. That decision, now, looks prescient.
Latowsky isn’t doing a victory lap though, rather he’s revving his engine.
“Over the next several weeks, we expect to announce many partnerships that will extend to a large percentage of the Canadian population to provide specific programs from opiate alternative solutions to general health and wellness programs, as well as the Ontario Cannabis Store and other provincial authorities,” he said. “A lot of hard work went into achieving this significant milestone and being approved as the first Canadian hard pill THC and CBD medical provider speaks to the dedication of our team and to the patience of our investors as we now move forward to create value for all stakeholders providing solutions for patients across the country.”
Canntab has always had the promise of a large player that could one day be the ‘Tylenol of Cannabis’, tied up by red tape and the cynicism of the markets. This news blows the doors open and it’s clear there’ll be significant drivers of stock movement coming soon.
First batch of company product is headed to the Ontario Cannabis Stores in January, with a follow-up scheduled for March.
Let slip the dogs of commerce, and I’ll expect my first batch of hard-pressed CBD pills to be on shelves soon enough to enjoy in the spring.
— Chris Parry
FULL DISCLOSURE: Canntab has been an Equity.Guru marketing client previously.
