Today's newsletter focus is much different than most in recent weeks, and for good reason. It appears one of our bigger homeruns in recent years is on the verge of returning to the spotlight today in a big way, so this morning's edition simply couldn't wait.
It goes without saying select cannabis stocks have and likely will continue their tear as both Canada and the U.S. work their way toward legalization. While Canada has already widely adopted its use for medicinal purposes, the U.S. is well on its way with 28 states and the District of Columbia having already approved it in some form - with eight of those states having already fully approved it for recreational use as well.
However, it's not the recreational use that has provided certain stocks within the cannabis sector with their biggest returns. It's been the medicinal use -- and more importantly the FDA's potential approval of certain cannabinoid medicines - that has the investing public all excited.
It's clearly looking like it's not as much a matter of if, as much as it's simply just a matter of when with high flying stocks such as U.K. based GW Pharmaceuticals plc (GWPH), which has several novel cannabinoid drugs in various stages of the approval process. It's most promising to date is Epidiolex(R) (cannabidiol), which is in development to treat rare and catastrophic forms of childhood-onset epilepsy, potentially offering relief to patients for conditions that previously had few treatment options.
More importantly, if GWPH's current valuation is any indication of what the potential growth opportunity is out there for other small cap biotech companies focused on cannabinoid research, then today's resurgence here at SmallCap Network of Vitality Biopharma, Inc. (VBIO) should have every cannabis investor on the planet licking their chops for another potentially monstrous opportunity in the stock. And, if this morning's news is any indication of what may start developing for VBIO again, we should all take notice.
The Company announced the filing of an international patent application in March 2017 that describes compounds discovered to be effective in a drug screening model of neural repair. The underlying patent rights, which were assigned to Vitality Biopharma in March 2016, are based on work performed by the Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF), a non-profit disease research organization that was dedicated to developing regenerative therapies for multiple sclerosis.
The results were also published within the scientific journal BMC Neuroscience, in an article titled, "Development of a central nervous system axonal myelination assay for high throughput screening." Researchers discovered several investigational and FDA-approved drugs that are useful in effecting remyelination, a form of nervous system regeneration.
The discoveries included a compound that is known to have a positive track record of safety in clinical trials and to provide pain relief through modulation of the vanilloid TRPV1 receptor. Cannabidiol (CBD), the well-known cannabinoid that is not intoxicating and that pharmaceutical companies are developing primarily for epilepsy, is also known to relieve pain through modulation of the TRPV1 receptor.
As a result, Vitality Biopharma has made broad patent claims covering use of CBD and other TRPV1 agonists for myelin repair and for treatment of demyelinating disorders.
"Part of our mission is to develop treatments that provide far more than symptomatic relief," said Robert Brooke, Chief Executive Officer of Vitality Biopharma. "We're excited to further explore the ability of CBD and similar compounds to deliver regenerative benefits for patients with MS and other demyelinating conditions."
This is significant news for the Company and patient investors who've continued to stick with the stock. However, since we're not always committed to sticking with every small cap idea forever here it SCN, we asked one of our lead technicians to have a quick look this morning at VBIO since we first put it out there in August of last year, which by the way ended up providing loyal readers here with as much as 500% returns before the stock topped out back in December of last year.
In short, if our technical prowess is correct, VBIO is on the verge of another big move. Provided here are two charts of VBIO, a monthly chart dating all the way back to its inception in 2012, and a daily chart dating back to when we first started covering the stock in August. As you can see on the monthly chart, the stock has had some significant high and some significant lows, but nothing more volatile than the run it made to roughly $4.20 per share (yes you read that right - how apropos!) before it topped out late last year.
VBIO continued its slide and didn't finally settle until just the other when it finally found its way back to its 200 day moving average. Although it has since already tested its 50 day moving average, should the stock break above that, we could be off to the races yet again - especially since the volume associated with its recent bottom suggested a massive amount of buying around that level.
What we're seeing here is a potentially huge move back up the charts - and if the recent move can continue to get some fundamental cooperation from the Company, like what we just saw about thirty minutes ago - we could be looking at another significant run-up very soon. As a matter of fact, that run-up could have well already been started.