Aquis listed Love Hemp (LIFE) continued its recent run of solid newsflow which has included a chunky exercise of warrants to raise nearly £350,000, as well as an intention to move to the Official List. Partnerships with UFC, Mental Health Service and Togetherall have also been delivered. The latest from the CBD group is that it has appointed Stephen White as Chief Marketing Officer and Steve Horan as Head of Marketing as part of Love Hemp's strategy to become a globally recognised brand. They both arrive at the company from JD Sports.
Another Aquis listed company was in focus, and one that was living up to its name. Apollon Formularies (APOL) said that joint testing has revealed their combined formulations to be effective in killing HER2+ breast cancer cells grown in 3D cell culture via three separate mechanisms: direct cell cytotoxicity, immune stimulated T-cell cytotoxicity, and macrophage induced phagocytosis. HER2-positive constitutes approximately 20% of all breast cancers. If nothing else this development underlines that the medical cannabis space is not only coming of age, but will start to be take more seriously within the pharmaceutical landscape. Apollon shares rose 6%.
To keep fans of Aquis shares on the front foot, there was finally some very good news from another medical cannabis play, Ananda Developments (ANA). Here, after what has felt like an eternal wait, the man from Del Monte, in the form of the UK Government Home Office, finally said yes to DJT Plants being granted a licence to grow >0.2% THC cannabis for research activities. Ananda’s CEO Melissa Sturgess said that Ananda will now be able to grow and stabilise 65 strains of cannabis and conduct field trials which down the line will allow it to legally produce premium UK grown medicinal cannabis. Not surprisingly, shares of Ananda jumped by two thirds on the news.
Another waiting game was playing out at Union Jack Oil (UJO), where the UK focused onshore hydrocarbon production, development and exploration company is said that all necessary consents have been received by the Operator, Egdon Resources for the commencement of the proppant squeeze operation at the Wressle oil production site. Union Jack holds a 40% economic interest in these licences, and the shares have been trading sideways for some months, presumably looking for this particular green light.
Shares of Sabien Technology (SNT) finally bounced off recent support towards the low 20p’s, as traders once again warmed to the prospects for the energy reduction play to the UK commercial heating sector. In terms of the explanation for the rise in the stock, it the Twitterati were banking on potential contract news, although given the rather wild targets for the size of a potential contract from the US, it may be that most fans of Sabien are flying blind. Perhaps a more solid basis for recovery here is a proposed ban on new gas boilers from 2025.
Although the present situation in the crypto space remains somewhat fluid to say the least, given the ongoing fiasco of Elon Musk’s attitude to digital assets, shares of Bitcoin app Mode Global (MODE) managed to rebound 10%. Given that the stock is still below its IPO price last year, and all things crypto, as well as the story of the group have developed significantly, it seems somewhat harsh that the stock market is rating the fintech group in this way. The latest bounce for Mode comes in the wake of the appointment of Ryan Moore as CEO last week.