D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS).

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), a leader in quantum computing systems, software and services, and Interpublic Group (NYSE: IPG), one of the world's premier global advertising and marketing services companies, today announced a partnership that will see the companies work together on quantum computing applications that fuel innovation in marketing investments and strategy. D-Wave and IPG will collaborate on the research and development of quantum-hybrid applications designed to address optimization in marketing campaigns. Together, the companies will use D-Wave's quantum computers and hybrid solvers, accessible through the Leap™ quantum cloud service, coupled with IPG's own data assets, to create quantum applications geared to building high-value audiences for marketers in a variety of settings. IPG recently launched a pilot program with D-Wave to build marketing optimization equations for one of the company's top 20 clients to optimize campaigns in a retail environment.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS) is a leader in quantum computing systems, software and services focused on delivering customer value via practical quantum applications for problems such as logistics, artificial intelligence, materials sciences, drug discovery, scheduling, fault detection and financial modeling. As the only provider building both annealing and gate-model quantum computers, the company is unlocking commercial use cases in optimization today, while building the technologies that will enable new solutions tomorrow.

D-Wave is a pioneer in quantum computing, with a history of delivering the world’s first commercial quantum computer; the first real-time quantum cloud service; countless hardware and software product and research milestones; and the planned first cross-platform quantum solution which will deliver both annealing and gate-model quantum computers to customers via an integrated platform. Its current commercial product offerings include: Advantage™ (fifth generation quantum computer), Leap™ (quantum cloud service), Launch™ (quantum computing onboarding service) and Ocean™ (full suite of open-source programming tools).

D-Wave’s relentless pursuit of practical quantum computing has resulted in the technology being used today by some of the world’s most advanced enterprises – more than 25 of the Forbes Global 2000 use D-Wave.

D-Wave’s commercial customers include blue-chip industry leaders like Volkswagen, Accenture, BBVA, NEC Corporation, Save-On-Foods, DENSO and Lockheed Martin. The company boasts an extensive IP portfolio featuring more than 200 issued U.S. patents and over 100 peer-reviewed papers published in leading scientific journals.

Founded in 1999, D-Wave is the world’s first commercial supplier of quantum computers. With headquarters and the Quantum Engineering Center of Excellence based near Vancouver, Canada, D-Wave’s U.S. operations are based in Palo Alto, California.

Advantage™ Quantum Computer

 

With the Advantage™ Quantum Computer, D-Wave has incorporated two decades of experience and over 10 years of customer feedback to create the first and only quantum computer designed for business. The platform features a new processor architecture with over 5,000 qubits and 15-way qubit connectivity. This is 2.5x more connections and more than double the number of qubits than the company’s previous generation quantum computer.

D-Wave’s quantum computers, first located in its facilities in British Columbia, have been available to North American users through its Leap™ quantum cloud service since 2018. It has since introduced new Advantage systems in Julich, Germany, and most recently, Marina Del Rey, California, which marked the availability of the first Advantage quantum computer physically located in the United States.

That new deployment is part of the USC-Lockheed Martin Quantum Computing Center (QCC) hosted at USC’s Information Sciences Institute (ISI), a unit of the University of Southern California’s prestigious Viterbi School of Engineering. Additionally, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and D-Wave announced that the U.S.-based system is available for use in Amazon 2racket, expanding the number to three different D-Wave quantum systems available to AWS users.

Leap Quantum Cloud Service

 

D-Wave’s customers interface with its systems through the Leap™ quantum cloud service. Leap delivers immediate, real-time access to the company’s Advantage quantum computer and quantum hybrid solver service, all with enterprise-class performance and scalability.

Leap allows developers proficient in Python to get started building and running quantum applications. Through a seamless and secure cloud-based connection, users can easily start solving complex problems of up to 1 million variables and 100,000 constraints.

Using Leap, D-Wave customers have developed quantum hybrid applications for use cases in manufacturing, logistics, financial services, life sciences, materials science, retail and transportation. By eliminating the need to wait hours, days or weeks to get good answers to a broad array of problems, D-Wave is helping businesses move forward.

D-Wave Launch

D-Wave Launch™ is the company’s onboarding platform aimed at helping businesses easily start their quantum journey. Through this program, D-Wave’s team of experts and partners aid enterprises in identifying best use cases for quantum and work with them to develop a proof of concept and production pilot.

From there, the team coordinates with customers to get their hybrid quantum applications up and running, providing ongoing Leap quantum cloud access to ensure the application is operating smoothly and delivering real business value.

Target Verticals

While the potential applications for quantum computing are effectively limitless, D-Wave has identified a number of industry verticals as key areas of focus for its quantum architecture, providing case studies for each. These include:

• Manufacturing – D-Wave worked with Volkswagen to identify a commercial optimization application, the binary paint shop problem, which was run on D-Wave’s hybrid solver service. The solver outperformed four purely classical methods on problem sizes at commercial scale (N=3,000). In a separate project, similar inputs were tested using a leading ion trap system, which failed to find any commercial solution.
• Life Sciences – Menten AI makes use of D-Wave quantum computing to assist in the design of novel therapeutic peptides—short strings of amino acids that can act as potent drugs. With the rise of COVID-19, D-Wave’s Advantage system made it possible to identify molecules that might be especially well-suited for binding and inhibiting the related spike protein, producing several promising peptide designs.
• Finance – Multiverse Computing, a leader in developing quantum solutions for the financial sector, leveraged D-Wave’s hybrid solver service in a collaboration with BBVA, one of the world’s largest financial institutions. Multiverse demonstrated management strategies that far exceeded the granularity of traditional returns in a fraction of the time, helping BBVA identify a low-risk portfolio for investment.

Market Opportunity

The quantum computing total addressable market is projected to grow between $450 billion and $850 billion over the next 15 to 30 years, with between $5 billion and $10 billion of anticipated TAM growth coming in the next three to five years, according to Boston Consulting Group. Driving factors behind this growth include rising investments in quantum computing tech by governments and an increasing number of commercial use-cases.

Forward-thinking organizations see quantum as an opportunity to move ahead of the competition. From finding efficiencies and reducing waste to decreasing time to solution and solving problems abandoned due to complexity, the business value is real. According to data from 451 Research, 40% of large enterprises are already experimenting with quantum computing.

D-Wave is strategically positioned – in an industry with significant barriers to entry – as evident by a decades-long track record serving a roster of blue-chip customers. The company is singularly focused on helping its customers achieve clear value by leveraging quantum computing in practical business applications. With a full stack of systems, software, developer tools and services, D-Wave is working to enable enterprises, governments, developers and researchers to access the power of quantum computing, thereby providing an intriguing opportunity for prospective investors.

D-Wave’s current investor base includes PSP Investments, Goldman Sachs, BDC Capital, NEC Corporation, Aegis Group Partners and In-Q-Tel.

Leadership Team

Dr. Alan Baratz has served as the CEO of D-Wave since 2020. Previously, as Executive Vice President of R&D and Chief Product Officer, he drove the development, delivery, and support of all of D-Wave’s products, technologies, and applications. Dr. Baratz has over 25 years of experience in product development and bringing new products to market at leading technology companies and software startups. As the first president of JavaSoft at Sun Microsystems, he oversaw the growth and adoption of the Java platform from its infancy to a robust platform supporting mission-critical applications in nearly 80 percent of Fortune 1000 companies. He has also held executive positions at Symphony, Avaya, Cisco, and IBM. Dr. Baratz holds a doctorate in computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

John Markovich is the company’s CFO. He brings to D-Wave over three decades of experience working with rapidly growing private and public technology companies across all stages of development. Mr. Markovich has directed the finance, accounting, tax, treasury, M&A, legal, operations, customer service, IR, HR, and IT functions for companies ranging from privately held pre-revenue startups to an NYSE-listed Fortune 500 multi-national company with over $1.2 billion in annual revenue. During his career, he has negotiated and closed over 150 debt, equity, M&A, and joint venture transactions exceeding $2.5 billion in value; over a dozen private placements; nearly a dozen M&A transactions; and several international joint ventures. Mr. Markovich holds a BS in Business from Miami University and an MBA from the Michigan State Graduate School of Business.

D-Wave Quantum Inc. (NYSE: QBTS), closed Thursday's trading session at $1.51, up 19.8413%, on 16,854,932 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 2.363M and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.3962/$13.23.

Recent News

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Knightscope, Inc. (NASDAQ: KSCP)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Knightscope, Inc. (NASDAQ: KSCP).

Knightscope (NASDAQ: KSCP), a leading developer of autonomous security robots ("ASRs") and blue light emergency communication systems, has fulfilled a $1.2 million contract for K1 Call Boxes. The contract, which will expand emergency communication capabilities for Los Angeles County, was awarded after a unanimous 12-to-0 vote by members of the Los Angeles Metro Board. According to the company, the call boxes will add 210 units to the Kenneth Hahn Call Box System.

The call boxes are available 24/7/365 for motorists in Los Angeles County. A recent report from the Los Angeles County Service Authority for Freeway Emergencies ("LA SAFE") indicated that an estimated 5,500 calls are generated every year from these call boxes. Approximately 4,000 of the calls result in action or aid offered by the Metro Freeway Service Patrol, Auto Club, California Highway Patrol ("CHP") rotation tow, CHP dispatch and other entities.

"I think [the call boxes are] absolutely worth it," said LA Metro board member and Los Angeles County Fourth District Supervisor Janice Hahn. "One of our responsibilities is to make sure our freeways are safe for people. This way, the motorists have a lifeline."

Hahn's father, Kenneth Hahn, was on the Board of Supervisors for four decades, serving from 1952–1992. He created the call box system, which immediately connects users to the CHP and provides the exact location of the device being used, after seeing a mother and her children stranded on the 110 Freeway. The call box system, which was eventually named after Kenneth, allows services to be dispatched quickly.

Knightscope noted that the new order from Los Angeles County came just shortly after it announced a $1.25 million contract with Rutgers University for K1 Blue Light Towers and K1 E-Phones.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/FPUit

Knightscope, Inc. (NASDAQ: KSCP), founded in 2013 and based in Mountain View, California, is a leader in the development of autonomous security capabilities targeting to disrupt the $500 billion security industry. Knightscope’s technology uniquely combines self-driving technology, robotics, artificial intelligence and electric vehicles.

Knightscope designs and builds Autonomous Security Robots (ASRs) that provide 24/7/365 security to the places you live, work, visit and study. The company’s client list covers public institutions and commercial business operations, including multiple Fortune 1000 companies to date. These ASRs have been proven to enhance safety at hospitals, logistics facilities, manufacturing plants, schools and corporations. ASRs act as highly cost-effective complementary systems to traditional security and law enforcement officials, providing an additional advantage by continuing to offer uninterrupted patrolling capabilities across the country.

The company’s ASRs have assisted in the arrest of suspects involved in crimes ranging from armed robbery to hit-and-runs. Their machine-embedded thermal scanning capability even aided in preventing the breakout of a major fire. You can learn more about the crime fighting wins at www.knightscope.com/crime

The company has achieved several milestones since its creation in 2013, including:

• Establishing itself in a 15,000-square-foot facility located in Mountain View, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley, where Knightscope designs, engineers and builds its technology (Made in the USA)
• Operating for more than 1 million hours in the field and securing contracts across five time zones, from Hawaii to Rhode Island
• Raising over $100 million since inception to build its technology from scratch and generating over $13 million in lifetime revenue, validating both the market opportunity and the technology

Growth Capital & Proposed Nasdaq Listing

With backing from more than 28,000 investors and four major corporations and over $100 million raised since inception, Knightscope is poised to be an industry leader in the future of public safety and security.

On December 1, 2021, Knightscope announced the commencement of an offering of up to $40 million of its Class A common stock, with shares to be listed immediately following closing on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker symbol ‘KSCP’. The offering is for up to 4 million shares priced at $10 per share. Learn more at www.knightscope.com/investors

Company Mission – Reimagining Public Safety

Knightscope’s long-term vision has an eye on the greater good. The company’s mission is to make the United States of America the safest nation in the world while supporting the 2+ million law enforcement and security professionals across the country.

Crime has an estimated negative economic impact in excess of $2 trillion annually. As crime is reduced, positive impacts will likely be realized across several aspects of society, including housing, financial markets, insurance, municipal budgets, local business and safety in general.

Knightscope CEO William Santana Li was interviewed by Kevin O’Leary, more commonly known as Shark Tank’s Mr. Wonderful. When asked to explain how the benefits provided by the ASRs outrank a human doing the same job, Li said, “First, just the simple presence of a physical deterrent causes criminal behavior to change. Second, the machines are self-driving cars that patrol all around and recharge themselves. They also generate 90 terabytes of data per year. No human would ever be able to process that. The robots are intended to be eyes and ears for the humans, not a one-to-one replacement.”

The Knightscope solution to reduce crime combines the physical presence of ASRs, sometimes referred to as proprietary Autonomous Data Machines, with real-time onsite data collection and analysis. The ASRs are fitted with eye-level 360° cameras, thermal scanning, public address announcements and various other features that work in tandem with humans to provide law enforcement officers and security guards unprecedented situational awareness.

Those 90 terabytes of data are then formatted in a useable way, so law enforcement can leverage that information and execute their responsibilities more effectively.

Public Safety Innovation

The company’s recurring revenue business model is set up to mimic the recurring societal problem of crime, and it takes into consideration the fact that innovation in the security and public safety industry has been stagnant for decades. Because the traditional practices of the sector have remained unchanged for years, automation has potential to drive substantial cost savings – and significant improvement in capabilities.

Human security guards are one of both the largest expenses and the largest liabilities for companies. Knightscope’s robots are offered at an effective price of $3 to $9 per hour, compared with approximately $85 for an armed off-duty law enforcement officer and $15 to $35 for an unarmed security guard.

This innovation has the potential to drive considerable cost savings. Based on these estimates, manufacturing costs can be recovered as soon as the first year of operation.

Product Offerings

The company has nine patents and a framework of unique intellectual property. Knightscope currently offers a K1 stationary machine, a K3 indoor machine and a K5 outdoor machine. A K7 multi-terrain four-wheel version is in development.

The ASRs autonomously patrol client sites without the need for remote control, providing a visible, force multiplying, physical security presence to help protect assets, monitor changes in the area and deter crime. The data is accessible through the Knightscope Security Operations Center (KSOC), an intuitive, browser-based interface that enables security professionals to review events generated by the ASRs providing effectively ‘mobile smart eyes and ears’. Learn more at www.knightscope.com/ksoc

The ASRs and the related technologies were developed ground up by the company and are Made in the USA.

The Robot Roadshow

Knightscope has created the ultimate hybrid physical and virtual event, bringing its Autonomous Security Robot technologies to cities across the country for interactive and in-person demonstrations.

Each roadshow landing is hosted virtually by a Knightscope expert, and visitors can interact directly with each of the company’s ASRs and see the Knightscope Security Operations Center (KSOC) user interface in action. Learn more at www.knightscope.com/roadshow

Management Team

Chief Executive Officer William Santana Li is a veteran entrepreneur, a former executive at Ford Motor Company and the founder of GreenLeaf, a company that grew to be the world’s second-largest automotive recycler and is now part of LKQ Corporation (NASDAQ: LKQ).

Chief Client Officer Stacy Dean Stephens brings his experience as a former Dallas law enforcement officer, as well as his skills as a seasoned entrepreneur, to assist on the client acquisition side.

Chief Intelligence Officer Mercedes Soria is an award-winning technologist and former Deloitte software engineer.

Chief Design Officer Aaron Lehnhardt brings over two decades of two- and three-dimensional product and industrial design in modeling and VR to the table, on top of his experience as a senior designer at Ford Motor Company.

Chief Financial Officer Mallorie Burke is a seasoned financial executive and strategic advisor for both private and publicly traded technology companies with a successful track record of mergers & acquisitions, corporate growth and exit strategies, including public listings.

General Counsel Peter Weinberg leverages 30 years of diverse corporate counsel experience, spanning from startups to well-established companies, private and public. He has significant experience training personnel at all levels in critical areas to improve corporate compliance and productivity.

Knightscope, Inc. (NASDAQ: KSCP), closed Thursday's trading session at $0.425, up 11.4024%, on 2,377,614 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $13.23/$.

Recent News

• Knightscope (NASDAQ: KSCP) - InvestorNewsBreaks - Knightscope, Inc. (NASDAQ: KSCP) Expands LA County Emergency Communication Capabilities
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• InvestorNewsBreaks - Knightscope, Inc. (NASDAQ: KSCP) Deploys K5 to Patrol Napa-Based Facility

IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC).

A provision in the SAFE Banking measure has drawn criticism from several leaders and groups, including Democratic Senator Jack Reed, conservative advocacy associations and senior federal officials. The parties argue that the provision may unintentionally restrict the capacity of regulators to take action against those abusing financial services.

Reed first raised his concerns about Section 10 of the SAFE Banking Act this month in a session held by the Senate Banking Committee to discuss the bill. The senator stated that the provision's wording will make it more challenging for federal authorities to issue a warning regarding any customer relationships that pose major dangers to the bank. Reed further stated that the section will force banks to notify customers when they are being sought after by the federal government for engaging in illegal behavior, which he likened to tipping off a criminal.

The section states that regulators are not permitted to order or request a depository institution to terminate an individual or group account or to in any other way prevent a depository institution from establishing or continuing a banking relationship with a particular customer, including but not restricted to any customer account that belongs to a state-approved cannabis service provider or business. There are a few exceptions, such as when financial regulators issue a formal statement that the institution is participating in risky or unsound behaviors. However, the section is generally viewed as an overly broad policy move that would restrict the ability of authorities to exercise oversight of financial transactions unrelated to the cannabis sector. As more advocates push for change in cannabis banking laws, some companies, such as IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC), are pressing on with their work of medicalizing marijuana since FDA-approved cannabis formulations would fall under the purview of a completely different set of laws from those that are seen as holding back the marijuana industry from reaching its full potential.

IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC), through subsidiary IGC Pharma, develops, patents, and markets advanced THC-based drug formulations for the treatment of symptoms related to various diseases including but not limited to Alzheimer’s disease, Tourette syndrome, chronic pain, and pet seizures.

IGC’s leading drug candidate, IGC-AD1, has completed Phase 1 of a safety and tolerability trial and entered Phase 2 trials for treating agitation in patients with Alzheimer’s dementia, the first study in humans of a natural tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) compound plus another molecule (www.clinicaltrials.gov). As of September 2022, the IGC trial is the only ongoing Phase 2 trial of a natural THC-based formulation on Alzheimer’s patients.

The company’s other drug candidate, TGR-63, is an enzyme inhibitor that has shown in preclinical trials the potential to reduce neurotoxicity in Alzheimer’s cell lines. Both drug candidates have shown their ability to ameliorate beta amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s cell lines and improve memory in Alzheimer’s mouse models. Beta amyloid plaques are a key hallmark of Alzheimer’s and an important target of Alzheimer’s pharmaceutical drug development.

Neuro Psychiatric Symptoms (NPS) are not only debilitating for Alzheimer’s patients; they also place an immense emotional burden on their caregivers. Beyond reducing symptoms, IGC-AD1’s active molecules and TGR-63 have also shown promise in preclinical trials to reduce important hallmarks of Alzheimer’s including plaques and tangles, as well as improving the treatment of memory loss.

Over the past eight years, the IGC team has amassed a deep knowledge of cannabinoid science, including extraction, isolation, purification, and development. The company’s strategy is to leverage its unique end-to-end capabilities, platform, and expertise to develop a class-leading program and bring it to market quickly and cost efficiently to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The company also has a family of cannabidiol (CBD)-based consumer products (www.Holief.com) such as pain relief creams, pain relief gels, purpose gummies, tinctures, and capsules targeting women’s wellness, with a particular focus on premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and dysmenorrhea (period cramps). In addition, the company targets individuals that need sleep-aids with its specially formulated low melatonin cannabinoid gummies.

IGC has also introduced a low-calorie CBD- and caffeine-infused energy beverage brand (www.SundaySeltzer.com) that is currently available for purchase. The company’s brands are founded on the belief that effective natural solutions should be affordable and accessible to everyone. As the demand for natural products targeting women’s wellness and energy drinks continue to grow, these products are seeing strong traction in the market.

The company operates three facilities – a large GMP (Good Manufacturing Production Standards) certified facility that includes extraction, distillation, and manufacturing, in Washington State; a GMP-211 (pharmaceutical) grade facility in Maryland; and a facility licensed for controlled substances including cannabis in Bogota, Colombia, with complete access to legal licensed cannabis where the company conducts its testing.

In addition, the company’s development under Magistral Formulations is approved by INVIMA (Colombia National Food and Drug Surveillance Institute) to treat neurological disorders, non-oncological chronic pain, and mental disorders.

IGC’s intellectual property (IP) portfolio comprises of eight patents that it controls and seven patent applications. The portfolio includes #11,446,276, a patent for extreme low dose THC treatment of Alzheimer’s that was granted in September 2022.

The company is headquartered in Potomac, Maryland.

IGC-AD1

IGC-AD1 is the company’s leading drug candidate for the treatment and relief of Alzheimer’s symptoms. A significant amount of research on Alzheimer’s cell lines has shown that the active agents in IGC-AD1 reduce plaques and neurofibrillary tangles that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s. Further, micro-dosing of THC, as shown in cell lines, could increase the functioning of mitochondria and potentially promote the growth of new neural pathways (neurogenesis). The research shows that micro-dosing of THC affects the brain radically differently from the normal higher dosing of THC.

While there is a significant body of research showing that THC is neuro-toxic at normal levels of dosing, micro-dosing of THC has been shown to be non-toxic to neurons. With the results of these preclinical studies, the company developed an oral formulation, IGC-AD1. The company recently completed a safety and tolerability Phase 1 trial on Alzheimer’s patients and has initiated a Phase 2, multi-site, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of the safety and efficacy of IGC-AD1 on agitation in participants with dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease at sites in the U.S. and Canada. IGC expects the Phase 2 trial to take between 9 and 12 months to complete, barring unknown factors such as, for example, a resurgence of COVID and the enforcement of lockdowns and travel restrictions.

With further successful trials and FDA approvals, IGC hopes to bring a drug based on natural THC as an effective treatment for agitation in Alzheimer’s to market.

TGR-63

The company’s other molecule, TGR-63, has been shown to reduce the neurotoxicity that impacts memory loss in preclinical trials with mice. On a dose dependent manner, transgenic Alzheimer’s mice treated with TGR-63 showed improvement in memory relative to control.

Both drug candidates, IGC-AD1 and TGR-63, have shown their ability to reduce the brain plaques associated with memory loss in Alzheimer’s in mice.

With further successful trials and FDA approvals, IGC hopes to bring TGR-63 as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease to market.

Market Opportunity

Alzheimer’s disease impacts over 55 million people worldwide and about 5.5 million individuals in the U.S. Over 70% of these patients face debilitating symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and agitation (Mendez, 2021). Agitation in dementia patients can include excessive physical movement and verbal activity, restlessness, pacing, belligerence, aggression, screaming, crying, and wandering.

In 2020, the estimated healthcare costs for Alzheimer’s disease in the U.S. were $305 billion. Medicare and Medicaid covered about 70% of those costs, leaving considerable burden on patients and families. At the current rate of growth of Alzheimer’s and other dementia diagnoses, those costs are estimated to reach over $1 trillion by 2050.

Currently, there are no FDA-approved medications to alleviate the symptoms of dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease, providing a tremendous opportunity for formulations that can have an impact on quality of life and disease progression.

Management Team

Richard Prins has been chairman at IGC since 2012 and served as an independent director since 2007. From March 1996 to 2008, he was the Director of Investment Banking at Ferris, Baker Watts, Incorporated. Prins served in a consulting role to RBC until January 2009. He currently volunteers full time with a non-profit organization, Advancing Native Missions, and is a private investor. Since February 2003, he has been on the board of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Inc. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Colgate University and an MBA from Oral Roberts University.

Ram Mukunda is CEO and President of IGC. He has been the chief inventor and architect of most of the company’s patent filings and is responsible for the company’s strategic positioning. Prior to IGC, he was founder and CEO of Startec Global Communications, which he took public in 1997. He served as Strategic Planning Advisor at Intelsat, a communications satellite services provider. From 2001 to 2003, he was a Council Member at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, Belfer Center of Science and International Affairs. He was named the 1998 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year. He holds bachelor’s degrees in electrical engineering and mathematics, and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Jagadeesh Rao is the company’s Principal Scientist. His career spans two decades in the public sector and product R&D for Johnson & Johnson. He leads IGC’s scientists in the development of pharmaceutical and OTC products. He worked for the federal National Institutes of Health, and for the National Institute on Drug Abuse. His Ph.D. in Neurochemistry is from the National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences in India. He did postdoctoral training at the University of Illinois-Chicago.

Claudia Grimaldi is a Director, Vice President, Principal Financial Officer, and Chief Compliance Officer for IGC. She also serves as a Director/Manager Director for some of the company’s subsidiaries. She graduated with highest honors from Javeriana University in Colombia with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She holds an MBA, graduating with highest honors, from Meredith College in North Carolina. In addition, she has attended the Darden School of Business Financial Management Executives program and the Corporate Governance Program at Columbia Business School. She is currently pursuing her Directorship Certification with the National Association of Corporate Directors. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.

IGC Pharma Inc. (NYSE American: IGC), closed Thursday's trading session at $0.29, even for the day, on 241,207 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.2785/$0.8432.

Recent News

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Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX).

Like several Western countries, the United States has been caught up in a wave of cannabis reform that has seen dozens of states legalize either recreational or medical cannabis use among their residents.  But with millions of Americans now gaining access to legal cannabis, some cannabis reform opponents have argued that cannabis consumption is a dangerous activity that can open users to other substances.

Cannabis has been compared to tobacco cigarettes, which are also smoked and are known to cause a multitude of health issues. However, a recent study by University of California researchers has revealed that marijuana smoking does not present the same risks as tobacco smoking.

In a recent study, the researchers compared current cannabis users, people who have used cannabis in the past, and those who have never used cannabis to determine if they experienced any health issues similar to cigarette smokers. After more than four years of comparison and research, the team found that past and present cannabis consumption "of any lifetime amount" had no association with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) development or progression. The UCLA study goes a long way to dispel the claims by prohibitionists regarding the effects of smoking marijuana. As the truth becomes more clear, the market for marijuana is likely to grow, and its economic benefits could spread to ancillary entities such Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX), whose purpose is to meet the needs of the companies which deal directly with the cannabis plant.

Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) is in the business of selling and distributing self-contained, automated, indoor “micro-farms” called Grow Pods, along with related equipment and supplies. Additionally, the company designs and sells patented proprietary medical-grade plastic containers, known as the Medtainer®, that store and grind pharmaceuticals, herbs, teas and other solids or liquids.

ACTX is the leading distributor of Grow Pods. With a controlled environment, food and herbs can be grown without pesticides, harmful chemicals or risk of pathogen contamination, and with low energy consumption. Restaurants, grocery stores, non-profits, MSOs and entrepreneurs can use Grow Pods to ensure a fresh supply of ultra-clean produce year-round.

The company entered the Grow Pod business in October 2020 with its acquisition of all shares of Advanced Container Technologies Inc., a California corporation. As of February 28, 2022, ACTX is exploring the acquisition of the assets and the assumption of some or all of the liabilities of GP Solutions Inc., the developer and manufacturer of Grow Pods, for which ACTX is currently the sole U.S. distributor.

Because Grow Pods can be located almost anywhere, produce can be grown closer to the point of consumption and harvested at its peak, providing nutritious fruits and vegetables where needed. Indoor micro-farms, utilizing a practice known as vertical farming, have attracted the attention of governments and universities, which are now promoting vertical farming as a way to combat food insecurity and inequities.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has stated that vertical farming “is no longer a futuristic concept.” The department is enthusiastic about vertical farming, particularly those utilizing repurposed shipping containers, such as Grow Pods. Arizona State University reports that vertical farming reduces water use by 90 percent compared to conventional farming but produces 10 times the crop yield.

Products

Grow Pods

One of the company’s main business units is focused on selling advanced, self-contained hydroponic containers called Grow Pods. These unique and innovative automated systems are essentially micro-farms that can be placed virtually anywhere and, with their controlled and specially filtered environment, allow cultivation of a wide variety of crops, 365 days a year. The Grow Pod controlled environment offers major advantages for the production of high-value crops. The ability to grow year-round and the ability to cultivate in a smaller footprint using less water and power are some of the primary advantages of the system. Grow Pods offer constant temperature, humidity and airflow control, as well as automated watering and lighting schedules for optimal growth and minimal labor requirements, regardless of crop.

Containers

ACTX meets the needs of the pharmaceutical and medical markets, including the cannabis and hemp industries, with patented packaging systems. The company designs, customizes, brands and sells proprietary medical grade plastic containers that can store pharmaceuticals, herbs, teas and other solids or liquids, with a special built-in feature that can grind solids and shred herbs. The company’s flagship container product is the patented Medtainer®, a child resistant, medical-grade herb container and grinder that is water-tight, air-tight and smell proof. Packaging in the cannabis industry is critical, with numerous stringent regulations about how cannabis products must be packaged and labeled. ACTX also offers custom-branded, compliant vacuum seal bags and other retail container solutions.

Equipment and Supplies

ACTX markets and sells two principal products: Grow Pods, which are specially modified insulated shipping containers manufactured by GP Solutions Inc., in which plants, herbs and spices may be grown hydroponically in a controlled environment, and Medtainers®, which may be used to store pharmaceuticals, herbs, teas and other solids or liquids and can grind solids and shred herbs. The company also markets and sells various products related to Grow Pods and the Medtainer®, as well as providing private labeling and branding services for purchasers of Medtainers® and certain related products.

GP Solutions manufactures and sells other products, such as humidity controllers and LED lighting systems for vertical farming. The company’s specially designed lighting panels are programmed to emit the exact wavelength of light that each crop requires. The system has a daybreak-to-nightfall feature that gives plants the proper chromatic signals to grow rapidly and fruitfully. High efficiency LED light strips supply the crops with a red and blue light spectrum required for photosynthesis in the spectrum that plants need most.

Market Overview

The global vertical farming market is expected to reach $33.02 billion by 2030, according to a new report by Grand View Research. The market is forecast to expand at a CAGR of 25.5 percent from 2022 to 2030, according to Grand View. Escalating production of biopharmaceutical products, including cannabis, is anticipated to drive the market. The building-based segment of the market is expected to register a significant CAGR of 27.8 percent over the projected period. In addition, the climate control segment is expected to see high growth.

The global cannabis packaging market is expected to reach $14.34 billion by 2028, according to analysis by Reports and Data. The analysis forecasts 1,700 percent growth in cannabis users by the end of 2026, with packaging likely observing a whopping 26.42 percent growth in the forecast period. There are significant barriers to entry in the cannabis packaging market, giving an advantage to companies already established in the sector. These barriers include developing a thorough knowledge of the myriad regulations that govern cannabis packaging (which differ in each state), and child-resistance requirements.

Management Team

Douglas P. Heldoorn is the Founder and Chairman of Advanced Container Technologies Inc. He also holds the positions of President, CEO and COO at the company. Mr. Heldoorn has served on the Board of Directors since its inception in 2013. He has also previously held the position of Executive General Manager at Nissan Motor Corp.

Jeffory A. Carlson is CFO and Treasurer of ACTX. Mr. Carlson has also served as the company’s Corporate Controller since 2014.

Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX), closed Thursday's trading session at $0.285, even for the day, on 695 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.032/$1.00.

Recent News

• Advanced Container Technologies Inc. (OTC: ACTX) - 420 with CNW - Study Says Marijuana Smoking Doesn't Present Same Risks as Tobacco
• 420 with CNW - Nevada Moves to Ease Cannabis Regulations for Police Recruits
• 420 with CNW - The DEA Wants Delta-8 Banned, CBD Severely Restricted

Starco Brands Inc. (OTCQB: STCB)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Starco Brands Inc. (OTCQB: STCB).

Starco Brands launches Lime Whipshots(TM) flavor in collaboration with Cardi B., kickstarts "Whip It, Beaches" campaign with teaser post earning nearly 2 million likes in one day

Whipshots Lime is available now in-store and online on June 14

"Whip It, Beaches" features a 30-second video and series of images showcasing the product's use in a variety of summer cocktails

Whipshots is infused with 10% premium vodka, other flavors include vanilla, caramel, and mocha

Over 2 million cans of Whipshots have been sold since 2021 launch

Other Starco Brands offerings include the Art of Sport athletic body care line co-founded by Kobe Bryant, Skylar hypoallergenic perfumes, Winona popcorn spray, Soylent plant-based food product line

Starco Brands' (OTCQB: STCB) "Summer of Whipshots(TM)" kicked into high gear with the launch of Lime Whipshots - the company's latest addition to its vodka-infused whipped cream product line featuring global icon Cardi B (https://ibn.fm/BOJRg). Currently available in retail stores, Lime Whipshots is scheduled to drop online on June 14 as part of the brand's "Whip It, Beaches" campaign.

Starco Brands (OTCQB: STCB), a company with an unwavering mission to invent and acquire consumer products and brands with behavior-changing technologies that spark excitement in the everyday, was featured in the latest episode of Bell2Bell Podcast. The podcast is part of IBN's sustained effort to provide specialized content distribution via widespread syndication channels. Ross Sklar, CEO of Starco Brands, joined the program to discuss the company's business model, operating markets and its approach to building an innovative portfolio. "One of our first products that we launched was Winona(R) Popcorn Spray … We developed it because we analyzed the proverbial popcorn bay at retail. In that bay, there's just not a lot of technology," Sklar said. "We've got a lot of capability in cooking sprays, and we thought about how to dig in with the consumer and provide a sensory experience that maybe they haven't had. The thesis of the product was that when someone has a bowl of popcorn, they take their seasoning and shake, shake, shake, then it's all at the bottom of the bowl. Now, you can spray and have tremendous coverage rates with this beautiful smell. You can really almost mimic theater-style popcorn at home. That was a really interesting sensory proposal and disruption in the category… When we went to the buyers and said, ‘Hey, we have innovation,' they were thrilled."

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/VWUfY

Starco Brands Inc. (OTCQB: STCB) is a modern-day invention factory. The company’s unwavering mission is to invent and acquire consumer products and brands with behavior-changing technologies that spark excitement in the everyday.

This consumer product company has grown from a few million dollars in revenue to a current run rate of approximately $67 million in annual revenue in one year.

The company has succeeded by identifying whitespaces in eight core consumer categories and then either: 1) leveraging its internal R&D capabilities and dedicated manufacturing network to invent new technologies and brands or 2) utilizing the management team’s extensive M&A experience to acquire brands that fill the industry void, delighting consumers and retailers alike.

Whether the brand is developed internally or acquired, the company employs a modern marketing playbook to ensure its brands are at the forefront of culture; garnering unprecedented media attention and engagement that supports a robust sales network.

Starco Brands’ core competencies are inventing technologies, acquiring companies, marketing, building trends, pushing awareness, penetrating media (social and otherwise) and executing cutting edge pull-through strategies with a roster of globally recognized celebrities, influencers and media and distribution partners.

A commitment to changing the way people approach everyday activities is innate in the company’s corporate DNA.

The company is based in Santa Monica, California.

Brands

Whereas other consumer products companies are content with evolution, Starco Brands has its mind set on creating a revolution across the industry. From disrupting the spirits industry with Whipshots, the world’s only vodka-infused whipped cream, to Soylent, the original food tech company, Starco Brands is putting the CPG world on notice. Its portfolio of brands includes:

• Whipshots is a first-of-its-kind alcoholic whipped cream launched in 2021 with celebrity partner Cardi B. Consumers have embraced this boozy concoction, putting it on top of cocktails, coffees and desserts, or enjoying it straight from the can. In just over a year, the brand has sold over 2 MILLION cans, making it one of the fastest growing spirits in history.
• Winona Pure gives consumers movie theatre popcorn in the comfort of their own homes. All the flavor and none of the additives is the story behind these all-natural, non-GMO popcorn seasoning sprays. A simple spray is all it takes to add the perfect pop of flavor to the classic theatre treat.
• Art of Sport, co-founded by the great Kobe Bryant, is the number one body care brand for athletes. With a growing line of personal care products tested by the world’s greatest athletes, these daily skin essentials give consumers everything they need to feel fresh, stay protected and confident and perform at their peak every day.
• Skylar is the first and only line of perfumes on the market that are hypoallergenic and safe for sensitive skin. With the strong support of industry titan Sephora, the brand has quickly attracted a loyal following.
• Soylent is a technological feat. Originally funded by Google Ventures and Andreessen Horwitz, Soylent is dubbed as the world’s most perfect food. Made from sustainably grown plant-based ingredients, Soylent’s line of products is scientifically developed to provide all the functional ingredients, vitamins, minerals, fats, carbohydrates and protein that the body needs – all in convenient, delicious and affordable packages. Soylent’s innovative product line-up includes complete nutrition powders, ready-to-drink shakes, 100-calorie snack bars, high protein nutrition shakes and energy boosting nutrition shakes. Soylent was also the recipient of the 2023 Product of the Year Award by Kantar, a global leader in consumer research.

With award-winning marketing talent, Starco Brands develops robust, integrated marketing plans for every brand in its portfolio, ensuring an impactful presence across all verticals.

Market Outlook

Starco Brands’ varied brand portfolio gives it access to the growth of numerous product categories that are ripe for innovation.

Through its February 2023 acquisition of complete nutrition pioneer Soylent, Starco Brands is positioned to capitalize on the projected growth of the plant-based nutrition space. Research firm Statista valued the plant-based nutrition market at $29.4 billion in 2020 and forecasts its value at nearly $162 billion by 2030, representing a CAGR of 18.7% for the period.

Likewise, Starco Brands gained improved access to the global fragrance market through its December 2022 acquisition of Skylar. According to a report by Grand View Research, the global perfume market was valued at $50.85 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow to a value of nearly $80 billion by 2030, achieving a CAGR of 5.9% over the forecast period.

The company is primed to expand its access to other growth verticals as it advances on its path to invent and acquire behavior-changing technologies and brands.

Management Team

Ross Sklar is the CEO of Starco Brands. A chemical formulator by trade, he started his first company while still in college. Since 2004, he has made over a dozen acquisitions with multiple exits and controls an eclectic collection of industrial, household, personal care and food and beverage manufacturers covering many consumer-packaged goods categories.

Darin Brown is the Chief Operating Officer of Starco Brands. With over 20 years of experience in chemical manufacturing, business development, finance and mergers and acquisitions, he has scaled the company from the ground up. He oversees all internal operations for Starco Brands and is an integral liaison between the company and Mr. Sklar’s manufacturing facilities.

David Dreyer is Chief Marketing Officer of Starco Brands. With over 25 years of experience working with blue chip and startup brands, he oversees all marketing initiatives for the company. Mr. Dreyer comes to Starco having worked with such standout brands as Apple, Pepsi, Pizza Hut, Dr Pepper, Snapple, Infiniti, The GRAMMY’s, Honda and Stamps.com. He is also a Professor of Advertising at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication.

Starco Brands Inc. (STCB), closed Thursday's trading session at $0.121, even for the day, on 390 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.0725/$0.265.

Recent News

• Starco Brands Inc. (OTCQB: STCB) - InvestorNewsBreaks - Starco Brands, Inc. (STCB) Featured in Bell2Bell Podcast
• Starco Brands, Inc. (STCB) Launches Lime Flavored Whipshots(TM) in "Whip It, Beaches" Campaign Featuring Cardi B
• Starco Brands, Inc. (STCB) Disrupts CPG Industry with Aggressive M&A Strategy, Achieves Eye-Popping 1,060% YoY Revenue Growth

CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP).

Prior studies have indicated that brain cancer occurs with more frequency in Northern Europe, North America and Australia with Russia, India, the United States, China and Brazil having the highest brain tumor mortality rates.  There has also been a significant increase in global brain and central nervous system cancer rates over the past few decades, with the number of cases surging by 94.35% from 1990 to 2019.

A new study has now revealed that brain tumors are the fifth most common type of cancer in the nation. These tumors often occur as a result of a growth of abnormal cells in the brain. The deadly cancer ranked fifth after female breast cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and melanoma.

This study shows that even though brain tumors are relatively rare and affect less than 1% of the population, they are relatively common among Americans. The researchers behind this study tapped into a Central Brain Tumor Registry of the United States and studied patient data from 2000–2019. They obtained data on the incidence of nonbrain-tumor cancers among American patients from the database; they also gathered additional data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. Companies such as CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) that are engaged in developing treatments for various forms of brain cancer have a huge role to play in identifying formulations which may help the U.S. and other countries fight back against this huge brain cancer burden.

CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) is a clinical stage biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel treatments for primary and metastatic cancers of the brain and central nervous system.

The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Organ Targeted Therapeutics

The company’s lead drug candidate, Berubicin, is proposed for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (“GBM”), an aggressive and incurable form of brain cancer. Berubicin also has potential to treat other central nervous system malignancies. Based on limited clinical data, Berubicin appears to be the first anthracycline to cross the blood brain barrier in the adult brain, and it was the subject of a successful Phase 1 study which found the MDT and produced efficacy data as well.

CNS holds a worldwide exclusive license to the Berubicin chemical compound. The company has acquired all requisite data and know-how from Reata Pharmaceuticals Inc. related to a completed Phase I clinical trial of Berubicin in malignant brain tumors. In this trial, 44% of patients experienced a statistically significant improvement in clinical benefit. In 2017, CNS entered into a collaboration and asset purchase agreement with Reata.

CNS intends to explore the potential of Berubicin to treat other diseases, including pancreatic and ovarian cancers and lymphoma. The company is also examining plans to develop combination therapies that include Berubicin.

CNS estimates that more than $25 million in private capital and grants were invested in Berubicin prior to the company’s $9.8 million IPO in November 2019.

CNS intends to submit an IND for Berubicin during the fourth quarter of 2020 and expects to commence a Phase II clinical trial of Berubicin for the treatment of GBM in the U.S. in Q1 2021. A sub-licensee partner was awarded a $6 million EU/Polish National Center for Research and Development grant to undertake a Phase II trial of Berubicin in adults and a first-ever Phase I trial in pediatric GBM patients in Poland in 2021.

The company’s second drug candidate, WP1244, is a novel DNA binding agent licensed from the MD Anderson Cancer Center. In preclinical studies, WP1244 proved to be 500-times more potent than the chemotherapeutic agent, daunorubicin, in inhibiting tumor cell proliferation. The company has entered into a sponsored research agreement with the MD Anderson Cancer Center to further the development of WP1244.

CNS Pharmaceuticals recently engaged U.S.-based Pharmaceutics International Inc. and Italian BSP Pharmaceuticals SpA for the production of the Berubicin drug product. The company has implemented a dual-track manufacturing strategy to mitigate COVID-19-related risks, diversify its supply chain and provide for localized availability of Berubicin. CNS has already completed synthesis of Berubicin’s active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and has shipped the API to both manufacturers in order to prepare an injectable form of Berubicin for clinical use.

Global Brain Tumor Therapeutics Market

The high recurrence rate of malignant brain tumors is due to reappearance of focal masses, indicating that a sub-population of tumor cells in these cancers may be insensitive to current therapies and may be responsible for reinitiating tumor growth. This necessitates the development of newer drugs in the market that demonstrate greater efficacy in treating such aggressive cancers.

A global increase in neurological disorders has placed increased attention on cancers of the brain over the past decade. Neurological disorders are becoming one of the most prevalent types of disorders, due to longer life expectancy, greater exposure to infection and an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Because few treatments for primary and metastatic cancers of the brain exist, costs are high and have acted as a restraint for the brain tumor therapeutics market.

Despite progress in surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapeutic strategies, effective treatments for brain cancer are limited by a lack of specific therapies for the brain and the difficulty in transporting therapeutic compounds across the blood brain barrier. Therefore, there is a significant need for novel and effective therapeutic drugs and strategies that prolong survival and improve quality of life for brain tumor patients.

Several companies are making significant investments into R&D, which is expected to bring more treatment options to the market in the near future. Industry reports consistently project continued growth in the market.

One report estimates that the global brain tumor therapeutics market will reach a valuation of $2.74 billion in 2023, with the market expected to register a CAGR of 11% during the forecast period from 2018 to 2023. Another report projects that the global brain tumor therapeutics market will reach $3.4 billion by 2025, up from $2.25 billion in 2019 (http://nnw.fm/eDUjp).

Management Team

John M. Climaco is the CEO of CNS Pharmaceuticals. For 15 years, Climaco has served in leadership roles for a variety of health care companies. Recently, Climaco served as the Executive Vice President of Perma-Fix Medical S.A, where he managed the development of a novel method to produce Technitium-99. Climaco also served as President and CEO of Axial Biotech Inc., a DNA diagnostics company. In the process of taking Axial from inception to product development to commercialization, Climaco forged strategic partnerships with Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and Smith & Nephew.

Christopher Downs, CPA, is the company’s Chief Financial Officer. Downs previously served as Interim Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of InfuSystem Holdings Inc. (NYSE: INFU), a supplier of infusion services to oncologists in the United States. Downs holds a Bachelor of Science from the United States Military Academy at West Point, an MBA from Columbia Business School and a Master of Science in Accounting from the University of Houston-Clear Lake.

Dr. Donald Picker is the Chief Scientific Officer of CNS. Picker has over 35 years of drug development experience. Prior to joining CNS, Picker worked at Johnson Matthey, where he was responsible for the development of Carboplatin, one of the world’s leading cancer drugs, which was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb with annual sales of over $500 million. In addition, he oversaw the development of Satraplatin and Picoplatin, third-generation platinum drugs currently in late-stage clinical development.

Sandra L. Silberman, M.D., Ph.D., is the Chief Medical Officer of CNS Pharmaceuticals. Silberman is a hematologist/oncologist who earned her B.A., Sc.M. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Arts and Sciences, School of Public Health and School of Medicine, respectively, and her M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. She then completed both a clinical fellowship in hematology/oncology and a research fellowship in tumor immunology at the Brigham & Women’s Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. Silberman has played key roles in the development of many drugs, including Gleevec(TM), for which she led the global clinical development at Novartis. Silberman advanced several original, proprietary compounds into Phases I through III during her work with leading biopharmaceutical companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, AstraZeneca, Imclone and Roche.

CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP), closed Thursday's trading session at $1.81, off by 1.6304%, on 235,160 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.6105/$11.304.

Recent News

• CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) - Study Shows Brain Cancer Among Top Cancer Types in US
• Proton Beam Therapy Could Boost Quality of Life for Cancer Patients
• InvestorNewsBreaks - CNS Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: CNSP) Achieves 50%+ Enrollment in Potentially Pivotal Berubicin Study

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM).

InMed Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: INM), a leader in the pharmaceutical research, development, manufacturing and commercialization of rare cannabinoids, today announced that results from a neurodegenerative disease study were presented in a scientific poster at the Canadian Neuroscience Meeting in Montreal from May 28-31, 2023. The InMed sponsored research demonstrated the ability of a specific rare cannabinoid ("pCBx") in InMed's 900 Series library of potential candidates that reduces amyloid toxicity and tau protein expression while enhancing neuronal cell growth and neuritogenesis markers in vitro. These are all considered to be important targets in the potential treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. The research was conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Ujendra Kumar and Dr. Rishi Somvanshi of the faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia. Studies have shown that cannabinoids, via their endocannabinoid receptors ("CB1R" and "CB2R") that naturally occur in the human body and brain, reduce amyloid-beta ("Aβ") toxicity, decrease p-tau protein expression and provide neurite outgrowth, thus improving neuronal viability and function.

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/LPYtQ

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM) is a global leader in the manufacturing and clinical development of rare cannabinoids. InMed is a clinical stage company developing cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical drug candidates, as well as manufacturing technologies for pharmaceutical-grade rare cannabinoids.

The company is dedicated to delivering new therapeutic alternatives to treat conditions with high unmet medical needs. The company is also developing a proprietary manufacturing technology to produce pharmaceutical-grade rare cannabinoids in the lab and has recently announced an LOI to acquire a leading rare cannabinoid manufacturer.

Research and Technology

There are more than 100 rare cannabinoids found in only trace amounts in the cannabis plant, together making up less than 1% of the plant’s biomass. InMed is initially focused on the therapeutic benefits of cannabinol (CBN) in diseases with high unmet medical need. Preclinical studies of CBN demonstrated an excellent safety profile and showed CBN has potential for therapeutic benefit over other cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD).

Evidence suggests there may be great therapeutic potential in rare cannabinoids. Each has a specific chemical structure, and different cannabinoids have been observed to have distinct physiological properties in humans, including therapeutic potential for specific diseases as well as unique safety profiles. CBN is the active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in InMed’s two lead programs for dermatological and ocular diseases.

InMed’s most advanced compound, INM-755, is a CBN topical cream under clinical development for the treatment of epidermolysis bullosa, a severe genetic skin disorder. To date, INM-755 has been evaluated in two Phase 1 clinical trials in healthy volunteers. InMed has filed Clinical Trial Applications in several countries as part of a global Phase 2 clinical trial of INM-755 (cannabinol) cream in epidermolysis bullosa. Responses from the National Competent Authorities and Ethics Committees are expected throughout the summer of 2021.

InMed is also involved in developing INM-088, an ocular CBN formulation being researched for the treatment of glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness in the developed world. InMed is currently evaluating several formulations to deliver CBN into the eye to address issues of dosing frequency, side effects and treatment penetration. INM-088 is being designed for topical delivery to the eye. This localized delivery results in very little drug being absorbed or migrating into the bloodstream, thus minimizing potential adverse side effects. INM-088 shows promise to reduce intraocular pressure and provide neuroprotection of the eye.

Manufacturing

The limited availability of rare cannabinoids like CBN makes them economically impractical to extract directly from the plant for pharmaceutical use. InMed is developing IntegraSyn, a cannabinoid synthesis manufacturing system to create rare cannabinoids in the lab that are bioidentical to the compounds derived from the cannabis plant. IntegraSyn uses multiple standard pharmaceutical processes and has achieved a cannabinoid yield of 5 grams per liter, surpassing commercial viability and significantly exceeding currently reported industry yields. InMed is now focusing on manufacturing scale-up to larger batch sizes while continuing process optimization, targeting increased cannabinoid yield and further reducing overall cost of goods.

BayMedica Inc. Acquisition

On June 29, 2021, InMed announced it had entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire BayMedica Inc., a private company based in Nevada and California that specializes in the manufacture and commercialization of rare cannabinoids.

As noted in the news release, BayMedica is a revenue-stage biotechnology company leveraging its significant expertise in synthetic biology and pharmaceutical chemistry to develop efficient, scalable and proprietary manufacturing approaches to produce high quality, regulatory-compliant rare cannabinoids for consumer applications. BayMedica is currently commercializing the rare cannabinoid CBC (cannabichromene) as a B2B supplier to distributors and manufacturers marketing products in the health and wellness sector. BayMedica is planning additional rare cannabinoid launches for the coming year.

Pursuant to the indicative terms of the LOI, InMed and BayMedica intend to negotiate and enter into a definitive agreement under which InMed would acquire 100% of BayMedica in exchange for 1.6 million InMed common shares to be issued to BayMedica’s equity and convertible debt holders, with any such issued InMed common shares being subject to a six-month contractual hold period.

Market Outlook

There is a rapidly growing demand for rare cannabinoids. However, their low natural concentration makes traditional harvesting of these compounds cost prohibitive. Biosynthesis allows production of rare cannabinoids in the lab that are bioidentical to compounds found in nature, with significantly higher yields which reduce costs. Biosynthesis can produce pharmaceutical-grade, bioidentical, THC-free compounds at a cost that’s 70 to 90 percent less than wholesale prices of naturally harvested rare cannabinoids.

Cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals are expected to overtake the market as rare cannabinoids become less expensive and more available. According to Statista, the value of the consumer market for cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals in the United States is forecast to grow to $25 billion by 2025 and to $50 billion by 2029, with cannabinoid-based pharmaceuticals used to treat health conditions including pain, respiratory conditions, autoimmune conditions and more.

Management Team

Eric A. Adams has been CEO and president of InMed since June 2016. He has more than 25 years of experience in establishing corporate entities, capital formation, global market development, mergers and acquisitions, licensing and corporate governance. He previously served as CEO at enGene Inc. Prior to enGene, he held senior positions in global market development with QLT Inc. (Vancouver), Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc. (La Jolla, CA), Abbott Laboratories (Chicago, IL) and Fresenius AG (Germany).

Bruce S. Colwill is InMed’s CFO. He has more than 25 years of financial leadership experience in public and private companies. Prior to InMed, he served as CFO of General Fusion Inc., a private clean energy company. He was also CFO at Entrée Resources Inc., a mineral exploration company, from 2011 to 2016. He has held CFO roles at Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Response Biomedical Corp, Forbes Medi-Tech Inc. and Euronet Worldwide Inc.

Alexandra D.J. Mancini is Senior Vice President, Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at InMed. She has more than 30 years of global biopharmaceutical research and development experience. She has been an executive with numerous biotech companies, including senior vice president of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at Sirius Genomics; senior vice president of Clinical and Regulatory Affairs at INEX Pharmaceuticals; and vice president of Regulatory Affairs at QLT Inc.

Eric C. Hsu is Senior Vice President, Pre-Clinical Research and Development at InMed. He joined InMed with more than 18 years of scientific leadership experience in the field of gene therapy. He has held various positions within enGene Inc., including vice president of Research and vice president of Scientific Affairs and Operations. He received his Doctorate from the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto.

Michael Woudenberg is Vice President, Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls at InMed. He has more than 20 years of successful drug development, process engineering, GMP manufacturing and leadership experience. He has held positions with 3M, Cardiome Pharma, Arbutus Biopharma and, most recently, was Managing Director of Phyton Biotech LLC.

InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (INM), closed Thursday's trading session at $1.32, off by 1.4925%, on 148,249 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.9213/$19.50.

Recent News

• InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM) - InvestorNewsBreaks - InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM) Sponsored Research Presented at Canadian Neuroscience Meeting
• InvestorNewsBreaks - InMed Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ: INM) Announces Plans to Participate in Virtual Investor Events Next Week
• InMed to Participate in Upcoming Virtual Investor Events

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF).

Canada Nickel (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF), a company that is advancing the next generation of nickel-sulphide projects, is sharing assay results from the final 11 drill holes at its Texmont Project. The company notes that the results confirm continued high-grade, near-surface mineralization. According to the announcement, the results are the final assays from the 39-drill-hole program conducted during the winter of 2022–2023. Highlights of the report include include information that seven of eleven holes intersected nickel grades >1% with all 11 holes intersecting nickel grades >0.5%. The company is working to produce a mineral resource estimate on the project and anticipates that will be available later this year; the estimate will use the 28,884 meters of drilling completed during a previous drill program along with 9,726 meters in the current 2022–2023 program. "This latest set of assay results reinforce our thesis of near-surface, high-grade intervals within thick mineralized sections, which support the potential for near-term, smaller scale, open-pit production," said Canada Nickel CEO Mark Selby in the press release. "We look forward to delivering an initial resource and Preliminary Economic Analysis (‘PEA') on Texmont this year as its near-term production potential is highly complementary to our large-scale Crawford and regional nickel sulphide project potential."

To view the full press release, visit https://ibn.fm/K6zYy

In recent weeks, the United States and the world at large have waited with bated breath as American lawmakers have discussed the possibility of raising the country's debt ceiling. With millions of Americans currently experiencing a cost of living crisis, there have been fears that a debt default by the U.S. could have a significant economic impact.

As last week drew to a close, Republicans had not offered President Joseph Biden a deal even as the country hurtled toward a disastrous debt default that threatened every American's future. Because a debt default could cost millions of jobs, cause a 4.6% drop in GDP and eliminate a whopping $10 trillion in household wealth, this uncertainty has resulted significant volatility in the equities and commodities markets.

Gold saw its prices drop to a two-month low toward the end of the week while global equities were bolstered by the talks on America's debt ceiling. After struggling to perform for several months amid high-interest rates and weak economic data from the Fed, the greenback soared to a two-month high. U.S. treasury yields were also up while overseas markets in Europe, due to increased pressure as Germany, the region's most robust economy, slid into a recession and caused the euro to drop by 0.2%. Mining companies such as Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) are likely to follow developments on Capitol Hill closely given the possible adverse ramifications of the failure to secure a deal in time for the United States to avoid defaulting on its sovereign debt.

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) is advancing the next generation of nickel-cobalt sulfide projects to deliver the metals needed to power the electric vehicle (EV) revolution and feed the high growth stainless steel market. The company is one of only a few new sources of potential supply outside Indonesia and China.

Canada Nickel possesses industry leading nickel expertise and is focused on low risk, well established mining jurisdictions. The company has launched wholly owned subsidiary NetZero Metals Inc. to develop zero-carbon production of nickel, cobalt and iron and has applied in multiple jurisdictions to trademark the terms NetZero Nickel, NetZero Cobalt and NetZero Iron. Canada Nickel is also pursuing development of processes to allow net zero carbon production of these elements.

Canada Nickel is currently anchored by its 100% owned flagship Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulfide Project with large-scale potential located in the heart of Ontario’s prolific Timmins-Cochrane mining camp, adjacent to major infrastructure.

The company believes the EV industry and many other consumer sectors have an urgent need for zero-carbon metal this decade, not in 20-25 years as contemplated by some resource companies. Canada Nickel also believes that nickel supplies from Indonesia and other Pacific island nations, typically controlled by Chinese-owned companies, are not the answer for batteries needed by GM, Ford and the European automakers working to develop and manufacture EV models.

The company is headquartered in Toronto.

Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulfide Project

The Crawford Nickel-Cobalt Sulfide Project is the largest sulfide discovery since the early 1970s and contains the fifth-largest nickel sulfide resource in the world, based on Measured & Indicated resources, according to the latest update. The Crawford project is expected to be one of the largest base metal mines in Canada based on results of a Preliminary Economic Assessment. Early projections by Canada Nickel estimate that the project has the potential to produce 50,000 tons of nickel per year. The company is now in the final stages of completing the project’s feasibility study.

The project is projected to produce 2.8 tons of CO2 per ton of nickel equivalent production, which is 89% lower than the industry average of 34 tons of CO2 per ton of nickel equivalent production.

The company is taking significant steps toward developing the Crawford project as a net zero carbon producer. In addition to harnessing the natural ability of the project’s geology to act as a carbon sink through spontaneous reaction of the host rock once exposed to atmospheric conditions called mineral carbonation, Canada Nickel has discovered a new way to enhance carbon capture, termed In Process Tailings (IPT) Carbonation. This act of conditioning the tailings with a concentrated stream of carbon dioxide before deposition has been demonstrated at lab scale to achieve carbon capture at a rate 8-12 times faster than naturally occurring sequestration, achieving more than 60% of the capture that had previously taken six days.

These latest results move the company further toward production of Net Zero Nickel™ and generation of 21 tonnes of CO2 credits per tonne of nickel, which would produce an estimated average of 710,000 tonnes of CO2 credits annually and 18 million total tonnes of CO2 credits over the expected life of mine. IPT Carbonation does not require complex new technologies and major process modifications and could encourage the development of a net zero carbon industrial cluster centered around the Crawford project.

Canada Nickel in January 2023 announced that its latest test work results support the incorporation of carbon capture and storage into the Crawford project. The company believes that utilization of existing process streams should allow IPT to be efficiently engineered and incorporated into the project’s flowsheet, with an integrated feasibility study for the project expected in the second quarter of 2023.

In December 2022, Canada Nickel announced its engagement on Deutsche Bank Securities Inc. (“Deutsche Bank”) and Scotiabank – two of the world’s leading investment banks with a broad base of mining and industrial expertise – as financial advisors for the equity component of the project financing for the Crawford project. In the same release, the company announced the completion of another significant permitting milestone by filing the detailed project description with the Impact Assessment Agency of Canada. Canada Nickel targets receipt of permits by mid-2025, with construction to immediately follow.

Additional Projects

The Reid Nickel Property is located just 16 kilometers southwest of Crawford, or 37 kilometers northwest of Timmins, and contains an ultramafic body with a target geophysical footprint of 3.9 square kilometers. Preliminary assay results from Canada Nickel’s summer/fall drilling program confirm the presence of mineralized dunite, as well as currently undefined higher-grade sections. Partial assay results confirm expected nickel grades. Nickel mineralization in serpentinized dunite was found in all 16 holes drilled to date.

The Sothman Nickel Property is located 70 kilometers south of Timmins. Five drill holes on the eastern half of the target anomaly confirmed the continuation of ultramafic lithologies, primarily peridotite, with moderate to strong serpentinization and variable amounts of mineralization throughout.

The company in December 2022 announced positive drilling results from its ongoing regional exploration campaign at its Reid and Sothman properties. These latest results continue to reinforce the success of Canada Nickel’s geophysical targeting approach and increase the probability of success at the company’s other 20-plus properties within its 42 square kilometers of geophysical targets.

Building on this momentum, Canada Nickel in December 2022 announced its entry into a deal to acquire a 100% interest in the past producing Texmont property situated between the company’s properties south of Timmins. As noted in the news release, the acquisition of the Texmont property provides near-term smaller scale production potential and is highly complementary to the company’s large-scale Crawford and regional nickel sulphide projects.

Market Opportunity

Global demand leaves the market fundamentally short of nickel in the medium- and long-term. Global primary nickel demand will likely reach 3 million tons in 2022, up from 2.4 million tons in 2020, according to the International Nickel Study Group (INSG).

The INSG says primary nickel production is forecast to hit 3.1 million tons in 2022. Indonesia, the world’s largest nickel miner, halted exports of unprocessed nickel ore in January 2020, due to a government-imposed ban. Indonesia has floated the concept of a nickel cartel whose member nations would exert influence over world nickel supply and prices, similar to OPEC’s pricing power over oil.

Benchmark Minerals, a leading EV supply chain research firm, projects that, by 2035, world demand for nickel will double from current levels to 6 million tons annually. That growing demand represents a need for new nickel production equivalent to 70 mines the size of Canada Nickel’s Crawford Project.

Management Team

Mark Selby is Chairman, CEO and Director of Canada Nickel. He was formerly President and CEO of RNC Minerals, where he led a team that successfully raised over $100 million and advanced the Dumont nickel-cobalt project from initial resource to a fully permitted, construction-ready project. He has held senior management roles with Quadra Mining, Inco and Purolator Courier, and was a partner at Mercer Management Consulting. Since 2001, he has been recognized as one of the leading authorities on the nickel market. He graduated from Queen’s University with a Bachelor of Commerce.

Wendy Kaufman is CFO of Canada Nickel. She has 25 years of experience leading publicly listed mining companies in project financing, capital structuring, capital markets, accounting and internal controls, tax, and financial reporting and public disclosure. She was also previously CFO at Khiron Life Sciences Corp. and held CFO and senior finance positions at Pasinex Resources Limited, Primero Mining Corporation and Inmet Mining Corporation. She holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Wilfrid Laurier University and is a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Steve Balch is VP Exploration at Canada Nickel. He is an Ontario registered geoscientist with 32 years of experience in geophysics, specializing in magnetic and electromagnetic methods. He founded Triumph Instruments and developed the AirTEM system, a multi-coil helicopter-borne EM system that is in use worldwide. He has also been active in borehole geophysics and helped develop new technologies including north-seeking gyros, temperature compensated induction conductivity probes, UAV-based magnetometers and high sensitivity magnetic gradiometers.

Christian Brousseau is VP Capital Projects at Canada Nickel. He is a professional engineer (P.Eng) with over 30 years of experience in engineering, design and construction in the Canadian mining industry, including six years as Project Director for the Dumont Project and three years as the Engineering and Construction Manager for Detour Gold. Prior to Detour, he held various construction management positions at Osisko’s Malartic Project and at Goldcorp’s Éléonore Project. He also spent eight years at Falconbridge supervising and managing various capital projects.

Canada Nickel Company Inc. (OTCQX: CNIKF), closed Monday's trading session at $2.05, up 3.0151%, on 73,251 volume with 375 trades. The average volume for the last 3 months is 57,207 and the stock's 52-week low/high is $1.04999995/$5.63000011.

Recent News

• Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) - Equities Up, Gold Down as Debt Ceiling Discussions Register Progress
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) Reports Texmont Project Assay Results from Final Holes
• InvestorNewsBreaks - Canada Nickel Company Inc. (TSX.V: CNC) (OTCQX: CNIKF) Updates Regarding Assay Results, Projects

Laredo Oil Inc. (OTC: LRDC)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Laredo Oil Inc. (LRDC).

Laredo Oil Inc. (OTC: LRDC) is a publicly traded oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) company engaging in the acquisition and development of both undervalued quality conventional oil and gas properties and select mature oil fields that are suitable for the company’s proprietary Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) methods.

Laredo Oil is headquartered in Austin, Texas.

Conventional Acreage

Laredo Oil’s primary focus is on acquiring, developing, and operating undervalued conventional oil and gas properties.

The company leased 23,739 mineral acres in the Western Williston Basin of Montana, at favorable prices during the most recent down cycle and continues to take leases in the area. Before year end, it expects to drill the first development well at one of the first of 10 potential locations it has identified. If that well yields the anticipated results, the company plans to begin drilling additional wells there as soon as practical thereafter. The company believes the leased acreage has the potential to yield at least five years of development opportunities.

The company intends to pursue aggressively the acquisition of quality assets that major, mid-major, and large independent oil and gas companies continue to divest themselves of at a discount in response to ESG (Environmental, Social and Governmental) & sustainability initiatives and other pressures imposed upon them by their activist boards of directors. The company will focus on value, growth potential and free cash flow while complying with common sense ESG policies, often having a lower environmental impact than its competitors through its EOR methods.

EOR

In addition to pursuing conventional acreage and properties, Laredo Oil plans to acquire additional select mature oil fields where it believes that it can profitably use its proprietary Underground Gravity Drainage™ (UGD) model to recover stranded oil reserves (reserves previously considered to be economically incapable of recovery). The UGD method is applicable to mature oil fields that have very specific geological and reservoir characteristics.

Laredo Oil has done extensive research and field level application over the last 10 years and has identified specific oil fields within the United States that it believes are qualified for the UGD recovery method. The company believes the costs of implementing the UGD method are significantly lower than those of other commonly used EOR methods. Laredo Oil believes that it can materially increase the field oil production rate from prior periods and, in some cases, recover amounts of oil equal to or greater than amounts previously recovered from the mature fields selected.

Market Outlook

The company expects U.S. oil prices to climb in the near term as energy demand intensifies with the economy continuing to recover from the COVID-19 slowdown. Also causing upward price pressure is global supply chain dysfunction that slows or prevents shipments, including energy components, from reaching destinations. Domestic oil production is also constrained by years of reduced investment in fossil fuel producers due to green energy mandates. Accordingly, the company believes that the short-term outlook for oil is favorable. Many industries have yet to reach their pre-COVID production levels, which the company believes points to a continuing near-term upward trend in energy demand.

Management Team

Mark See has been the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company since October 16, 2009. He has over 30 years’ experience in heavy civil, natural resources and the E&P industries. He was the founder and founding CEO of Rock Well Petroleum, a private oil & gas company until December 2008 and worked from then until October 2009 forming Laredo Oil. He was employed with Albian Sands as the Manager for the Alberta Oil Sands Projects at Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada, a joint venture between Shell Canada and Chevron. Mr. See was also President of Oil Recovery Enhancement LLC in Bozeman, Montana, a private oil company. He was selected as one of the top 25 Engineers in North America by the Engineering News Record for his innovations in the petroleum industry. He is a graduate of the Mackay School of Mines at the University of Nevada at Reno, with a degree in Mining Engineering. He is a member of the Society of Mining Engineers and the Society of Petroleum Engineers.

Bradley Sparks currently serves as the Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Laredo Oil and has been a director of the company since March 1, 2011. Before joining Laredo Oil in October 2009, he was the Chief Executive Officer, President and a Director of Visualant Inc. Prior to joining Visualant, he was the Chief Financial Officer of WatchGuard Technologies Inc. from 2005-2006. Before joining WatchGuard, he was the founder and managing director of Sunburst Growth Ventures LLC, a private investment firm specializing in emerging-growth companies. Previously, he founded Pointer Communications and served as Chief Financial Officer for several telecommunications and internet companies, including eSpire Communications Inc., Digex Inc., Omnipoint Corporation, and WAM!NET. He also served as Vice President and Treasurer of MCI Communications from 1988-1993 and as Vice President and Controller from 1993-1995. Before his tenure at MCI, Mr. Sparks held various financial management positions at Ryder System Inc. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Comrise. Mr. Sparks graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1969 and is a former Army Captain in the Signal Corps. He has a Master of Science in Management from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is a licensed CPA in Florida.

Donald Beckham has served as a director of the company since March 1, 2011. Since July 2015, he has been a partner with Copestone Energy Partners LLC. In 1993, he founded Beckham Resources Inc. (“BRI”), which, for over 30 years, has been a licensed, bonded and insured operator in good standing with the Railroad Commission of Texas. Through BRI, Mr. Beckham has drilled and operated fields for his own account. His expertise is in the acquisition, exploitation, exploration and production enhancement of mature oil and gas fields through which he has been able to enhance production by compressor optimization, pump design, work-over programs, stimulation techniques and identifying new pay zones. Prior to BRI, Mr. Beckham was the chief operations manager for Houston Oil Fields Corporation (“HOFCO”), where he began his career. There, he was responsible for drilling, production and field operations and managed approximately 100 people, including engineers, geologists, land men, pumpers, and other contract personnel, as well as state and federal environmental and regulatory functions. He managed an annual capital budget of approximately $30 million and operated approximately 100 wells. HOFCO drilled about 20 wells per annum and performed approximately 30 recompletions and work over operations each year. HOFCO owned interests in about 10 key fields principally in Texas, and company-managed production was approximately 1,000 bpd of crude oil and 10 mm cfd of natural gas. Mr. Beckham is a petroleum engineer and 1984 graduate of Mississippi State University.

Michael Price, an independent director of Laredo Oil, has over 40 years of senior financial and petroleum experience in the global oil and gas industry. He has been a principal in Octagon Energy Advisors, a Houston-based energy investment advisory firm, from 2002 to the present. The firm advises financial institutions and institutional investors participating in energy investments. From 2008 through his retirement in 2021, he was a Managing Director at ING Capital, which provides debt financing to domestic exploration and production companies. From 1998 through 2002, Mr. Price was the Chief Financial Officer of Forman Petroleum Corporation. Before that, Mr. Price was Managing Director at Chase Manhattan Bank for 15 years and was in charge of technical support for Chase’s worldwide energy merchant banking activities. In his early career, he worked as a consulting principal on domestic petroleum engineering and landowner matters and gained extensive international experience working with major oil companies in a variety of operating positions. He holds a BS and MS from Illinois Institute of Technology, an MBA from the University of Chicago, a M.Sc. from the London School of Economics, and an MS in Petroleum Engineering from Tulane University.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release and the statements made by Laredo Oil, Inc. in this press release may be forward-looking in nature and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements describe Laredo Oil’s future plans, projections, strategies and expectations, and may be identified by words such as “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “seeks”, “estimates” or the negative versions of those words or other words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions and involve a number of risks, uncertainties, situations and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Laredo Oil or the oil industry to be materially different from any future results, level of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these statements. These factors include changes in interest rates, market competition, changes in the local and national economies, and various other factors detailed from time to time in the reports filed with, or furnished to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Laredo Oil undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date hereof to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Laredo Oil Inc. (LRDC), closed Thursday's trading session at $0.0575, off by 12.8788%, on 56,920 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.0294/$0.239.

Recent News

• Laredo Oil Inc. (OTC: LRDC) - ESGBreaks - Laredo Oil Inc. (LRDC) Ideally Poised as Bullish 2023 Forecast Suggests Pricing Uptrend
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• Laredo Oil Inc. (LRDC) Progressing Toward Drilling as 2023 Oil Demand Projected to Increase

FuelPositive Corp. (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTC: NHHHF)

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight FuelPositive Corp. (NHHHF).

FuelPositive Corp. (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTC: NHHHF) is a growth stage company focused on licensing, partnership and acquisition opportunities building upon various technological achievements. The company is committed to providing commercially viable and sustainable clean energy solutions, including carbon-free ammonia (NH3), for use across a broad spectrum of industries and applications.

FuelPositive is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Hydrogen Economy Problems and FuelPositive’s Carbon-Free Technology

The hydrogen economy is currently facing many challenges. Traditional NH3 manufacturing exists on a massive scale, but centralized facilities result in some of the world’s most concentrated CO2 emissions. In total, an estimated 200 million metric tonnes of NH3 are consumed each year, with greater than 80% utilized by the agricultural sector. NH3 is also being positioned as a viable alternative to fossil fuels.

FuelPositive’s flagship carbon-free ammonia technology provides an innovative solution to these environmental concerns. Developed by Dr. Ibrahim Dincer and his team, the company’s platform allows for the in-situ production of NH3 in an entirely sustainable manner, using only water, air and sustainable electricity.

The production of hydrogen is energy intensive, but it is just one variable hindering the growth of the hydrogen economy. Other hurdles include:

• Storage – The storage of hydrogen by compression or liquification are both cost prohibitive and unsustainable.
• Distribution – The distribution network for effective hydrogen deployment has yet to be developed, as the extreme high-pressure distribution requirements to transport hydrogen would result in enormous infrastructure costs.
• End Use – R&D on the transportation-related end use applications for hydrogen is in its infancy, but almost any vehicle on the road today can be easily converted to run on NH3 at a considerably lower cost per mile traveled when compared to traditional fossil fuels.

A key benefit of FuelPositive’s patent-pending, first-of-its-kind carbon-free NH3 technology is its flexibility. The process allows for small, medium or large-scale production of NH3 on location, minimizing or even eliminating the challenges and volatility associated with storage and transportation to end use. As such, with an appropriately sized FuelPositive system and access to renewable energy, the end use applications for the company’s platform are nearly infinite.

Manufacturing Partnership

On May 19, 2021, FuelPositive announced its selection of National Compressed Air Canada Ltd. (“NCA”) to undertake manufacturing of the company’s Phase 2 hydrogen-ammonia synthesizer commercial prototype systems for carbon-free ammonia production.

In a news release detailing the partnership, FuelPositive CEO Ian Clifford noted, “This critical milestone for FuelPositive will confirm the broad application potential for our technology and is the backbone of our Carbon-Free Hydrogen-NH3 offering. Partnering with the knowledgeable and experienced team at NCA on this commercialization project will bring our development-stage program to life.”

Global Ammonia Market Outlook

The global ammonia market was valued at $52.71 billion in 2017 and is forecast to reach $81.42 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 5.59%, according to data from Fior Markets (https://ibn.fm/1OfOB).

The agricultural industry consumes more than 80% of global NH3. Smaller percentages can be attributed to the waste, water treatment, refrigerants, antiseptic, textile, mining and pharmaceutical industries.

One of the most polluting industries on the planet consists of conventional agribusinesses. These polluters are responsible for more greenhouse emissions per year than transportation. This is where FuelPositive’s technology is expected to be extremely beneficial.

Management Team

Ian Clifford is Director, CEO and Founder of FuelPositive Corp. He has over 25 years of experience in the fields of technology and marketing and has successfully led the company to global brand recognition through its unique energy solutions. Since 2006, Mr. Clifford has raised over $50 million in equity financing for FuelPositive. He also co-founded digIT Interactive, a full-service internet marketing company serving Fortune 500 clients, which he sold at the peak of the market in 2000.

Greg Gooch serves as a Director and President of FuelPositive. His multifaceted career in the electronics and finance industries has positioned him as a key advisor and funding partner to start-ups and new technology companies for over 40 years. Mr. Gooch has been involved with FuelPositive since its early days and has remained a significant supporter and consultant to the company over the years. He has a bachelor’s from McGill University and an MBA from the University of Western Ontario.

Dr. Ibrahim Dincer is a scientific advisor to FuelPositive and is recognized as a pioneer and international leader in the area of sustainable energy technologies. Along with his team, Dr. Dincer invented the modular carbon-free ammonia (NH3) production technology that FuelPositive is commercializing. His area of specialty covers various topics including ammonia, hydrogen energy and fuel cells; renewable energy systems; energy storage systems and applications; carbon capturing technologies, and integrated and hybrid energy systems He is currently managing an exemplary team of researchers in this commercialization project.

Marek Warunkiewicz is the company’s Communications & Branding Specialist. He brings more than 40 years of entrepreneurial expertise to the FuelPositive team, having held marketing, branding, advertising, project management and graphic design positions with various companies. Mr. Warunkiewicz has successfully created business-to-business marketing and advertising campaigns for a diverse group of clients ranging from high-tech to agriculture. He co-founded digIT Interactive and ZENN Motor Company alongside Ian Clifford.

Luna Clifford is the Director of Communications for FuelPositive. She has over 10 years of experience as a business owner and advisor, helping build and operate several successful start-up enterprises while managing complex stakeholder relationships. Ms. Clifford excels in strategic planning and team building, and she has completed extensive studies in the fields of communications and health care.

FuelPositive Corp. (NHHHF), closed Thursday's trading session at $0.0726, off by 12.5301%, on 2,311,100 volume. The average volume for the last 3 months is 2.311M and the stock's 52-week low/high is $0.051/$0.17.

Recent News

• FuelPositive Corp. (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTC: NHHHF) - InvestorNewsBreaks - FuelPositive Corporation (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTCQB: NHHHF) Announces $7.5M Private Placement
• FuelPositive Announces $7.5 Million Private Placement
• InvestorNewsBreaks - FuelPositive Corporation (TSX.V: NHHH) (OTCQB: NHHHF) Focuses on Growing Investor Relations through Transcend Collaboration

Prime Harvest Inc.

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Prime Harvest Inc.

Prime Harvest Inc., based in San Diego, California, is a technology-focused, full-service cannabis company with horizontally diversified operations spanning various segments of the cannabis value chain, from licensing acquisition and compliance management to direct-to-consumer operations. The company is leveraging a long-term strategy of investing in the growth and scale of licensed assets anchored by the power of data-driven technology to expand its footprint throughout California.

Sustainability is key to Prime Harvest’s corporate vision. The company aims to ensure that the communities it serves capture their fair share of the fruits of the industry’s growth, including financial profit, employment opportunities, environmental enrichment and impactful innovation through R&D and education.

The company’s mission is to appeal to the ethos of the cannabis consumer by setting a new operational standard emphasizing accountability, sustainability and community. With this commitment, Prime Harvest continues to work toward positively affecting millions of lives through the creation of a world-class platform that caters to strengthening the commercial cannabis pipeline.

Jaxx Cannabis

Jaxx Cannabis is the flagship brand in Prime Harvest’s portfolio. Through Jaxx Cannabis, the company aims to use technology to facilitate a true customer-centric culture while enhancing the overall craft cannabis experience. Jaxx features an expertly curated selection of premium products from some of the most respected brands in the thriving California market.

Key values serving as the foundation of Jaxx Cannabis include:

• Creating and nurturing a welcoming culture for all
• Unlocking the true potential of customer value
• Being innovative in uncovering new ways to grow both the company and the industry
• Meeting the wants and needs of consumers to promote profitability
• Remaining accountable for the results of its operations

It is these values that differentiate Prime Harvest and Jaxx Cannabis in the California cannabis sector.

Brand Partnerships

Prime Harvest works diligently to establish strong alliances with complementary brands that are in alignment with its culture and values. Through a combination of deliberate foresight and strategic action, the company seeks to grow existing cannabis brands and continuously discover new, high-potential performers that are primed for long-term success.

These partnerships enhance Prime Harvest’s efforts to transform the world’s cannabis access and bring its consumers high-quality products that are fair for both people and the planet.

Responsibility

Prime Harvest remains committed to the goal of creating a more sustainable environment, now and in the future. Concern for human beings and the environment can be observed in every facet of its operations, including its ongoing R&D activities dedicated to exploring methods of reducing and repurposing waste into composite materials and exploring the potential of the hemp plant for industrial and wellness contributions.

The company is a proud member of the Community Alliance Program, a foundation that seeks to make a difference in local communities by providing financial assistance for educational programs, housing homeless veterans, creating urban farms, and holding local arts initiatives for children and adults. The program also helps explore the natural healing attributes of medical cannabis through research, development, clinical trials, and advocating for the safe access of cannabis to those in need.

Market Overview

Ongoing changes in U.S. state government policies toward cannabis are expected to cause demand for legal marijuana to surge. In addition, the number of indications for which medical marijuana is prescribed continues to increase. These factors are expected to rapidly boost legal sales of cannabis products.

Legal sales across the U.S. hit a record of $17.5 billion in 2020, marking an increase of 46% over 2019, according to Forbes. This strong growth is expected to continue. According to a Grand View Research report, the global legal marijuana market is forecast to grow at a CAGR of 26.7 percent from 2021 to 2028.

California – Prime Harvest’s home state – has consistently led the pack in terms of U.S. cannabis sales. The Motley Fool pegged cannabis spending in the Golden State at $3.8 billion in 2020, more than doubling the second state on its list.

Leadership Team

The Prime Harvest team is composed of true experts in their respective fields focused on building a world-class organization capable of driving the cannabis industry and movement forward.

E. Duane Alexander is the company’s Founder and CEO. He brings to the team more than 25 years of real-world, hands-on cannabis retail, marketing and commercial operations experience. Mr. Alexander has championed 40+ cannabis license applications throughout the western U.S. to date.

John Wilczak is the COO of Prime Harvest. He has 30+ years of executive management, strategy development & configuration experience with GE, pharmaceutical and agriculture companies. Mr. Wilczak is a Brown & Columbia MBA with vast knowledge of technology driven intellectual properties.

Andrea Jenson is the Chief Financial Officer of Prime Harvest. As CFO, she is responsible for all the company’s financial functions, including accounting, corporate finance and investor relations. Her career spans more than 20 years of varied experience in financial management, business leadership and financial strategy.

John Kazanjian is the VP of Business Development of Prime Harvest. He has worked over 40 years in business operations, brand marketing, sales and investor/lender communications. Mr. Kazanjian earned his B.S. from Rutgers University and his MBA from Harvard University.

Johann Balbuena is the Chief Marketing Officer of Prime Harvest. She has more than six years of experience in California cannabis licensing acquisition and compliance management. Ms. Balbuena has led multimedia production and content marketing efforts for the likes of the Social Club TV app, The Emerald Cup, High Times, Weedmaps and Synergy.

Recent News

• Prime Harvest Inc. - InvestorNewsBreaks – Prime Harvest Inc. Eyes Continued Growth and Expansion with Recently Launched Reg A+ Offering
• InvestorNewsBreaks – Prime Harvest Inc. Eyes Continued Growth and Expansion with Recently Launched Reg A+ Offering
• Prime Harvest Inc. Launches Weed 4 The People Reg A+ Offering to Fund Cannabis Retail and Delivery Expansion Across California

Horizon Fintex | Upstream

The QualityStocks Daily Newsletter would like to spotlight Horizon Fintex | Upstream

Horizon Fintex is a software business specializing in compliant securities solutions. The company aims to facilitate the future of capital markets by leveraging the regulatory experience of Wall Street bankers and the proven track record of technology veterans to bring focus to compliance, efficiency, security and transparency.

Horizon’s flagship product is the revolutionary trading app ‘Upstream’, a MERJ Exchange Market, and the first regulated market powered by a blockchain to offer both digital securities and NFT trading. Upstream traders experience T+0 settlement, best bids and offers displayed on a transparent public orderbook that prevents predatory market practices – all from a user-friendly trading app.

Products

Horizon Fintex offers a full suite of end-to-end blockchain-enhanced software solutions to create a seamless experience for both issuers and investors. Its product suite includes:

• Securitization & Issuance – ETSware is an end-to-end Electronic Trading System streamlining capital raising from primary issuance through compliant secondary trading.
• KYC Compliance Onboarding – KYCware is a white label Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance software solution offering best-in-class cryptographic security to compliantly onboard and verify user identity through a smartphone application.
• AML Screening Software – AMLCop offers advanced Anti-Money Laundering (AML) software to streamline the verification of user details against a proprietary database of global sanctions, politically exposed persons (PEPs) and watchlists.
• Cap. Table Management Tools – CustodyWare equips registered U.S. transfer agents with next-generation cap. table management software to manage securities on behalf of their clients pursuant to an SEC-registered or exempt securities offering.
• Exchange & Trading App Technology – Open Order Book offers Ethereum blockchain securities exchange software to power the next generation of trading venues for digital assets.

Upstream – The Horizon-Powered Trading App

Upstream is a joint venture with MERJ Exchange (merj.exchange), an affiliate of the World Federation of Exchanges.

Upstream aims to be the premiere global trading hub offering issuers around the world exposure to a digital-first investor base that can trade using USDC digital currency along with credit, debit, PayPal, and USD (fiat) to increase liquidity and enhance price discovery; while also offering investors access to dual-listed companies, IPOs, crowdfunded companies, U.S. & Int’l. equities, digital coupons and NFTs directly from a user-friendly trading app.

Upstream aims to unlock liquidity for investors of all levels while offering industry-leading levels of transparency, accessibility and investor protections enforced using Ethereum blockchain technology.

Management Team

Brian Collins is the CEO of Horizon Fintex. He founded the company in 2010. From 1999-2010, Mr. Collins was CEO of Abbey Technology in Switzerland, specializing in the design of trading software for Swiss banks. Prior to this, he worked for Credit Suisse in Zürich, designing and building proprietary equity trading solutions. Mr. Collins graduated in 1990 with a BS in Computer Systems from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Mark Elenowitz is the company’s President. He is a Wall Street veteran with over 29 years of experience. Mr. Elenowitz was the co-founder of a U.S. broker dealer and is Managing Director of two U.S. broker dealers, responsible for advising clients on compliance, capital structure and capital market navigation. He was responsible for leading the first successful Reg A+ IPO of a company to list on the NYSE and others which listed directly onto Nasdaq. He is a noted speaker at Small Cap and Reg A events, including the SEC Small Business Forum, and has been profiled in BusinessWeek and CNBC, as well as several other publications. Mr. Elenowitz is a graduate of the University of Maryland School of Business and Management with a BS in Finance and holds Series 24, 62, 63, 79, 82 and 99 licenses.

Dr. Andrew Le Gear is the CTO of Horizon Fintex. Prior to joining the company in 2013, he worked as a software engineer with Dell Inc. (2012-2013) and Lehman Brothers and Nomura Plc. (2007-2012). Dr. Le Gear was a co-founder of Juneberi Ltd., a research-driven software tech start-up (2004-2007). He graduated in 2006 with a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Limerick, Ireland.

Peter Hall is the company’s CIO. Prior to joining Horizon Fintex in 2011, he worked at Microsoft (2008-2011), Atos Origin (2004-2008) and AIT Group Plc. (1998-2002). Mr. Hall has held CISSP certification since 2010. He graduated from the University of Sheffield, UK in 1995 and earned an MS from the University College London in 2006.

Mike Boswell is the CFO of Horizon Fintex. A Wall Street veteran, he co-founded a U.S. broker dealer and served as Chief Compliance Officer. Mr. Boswell was also Managing Director of TriPoint Capital Advisors, a merchant banking and financial consulting company, and CFO of Mission Solutions Group, a privately held defense sector firm. He earned an MBA from John Hopkins University and a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. Mr. Boswell holds Series 24, 62, 63, 79, 82 and 99 licenses.

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