James Peters, Author at Small Cap Exclusive

22nd Century Group Inc (NYSEMKT:XXII) Shares Up 12.5%

22nd Century Group Inc (NYSEMKT:XXII) shares rose 12.5% on Thursday to $1.20 and were unchanged in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week trading range of $0.73 to $1.71. The company has a market cap of $107.83 million at 90.70 million shares outstanding.

22nd Century Group Inc is a plant biotechnology company that is focused on technology that allows increasing or decreasing the level of nicotine and other nicotinic alkaloids in tobacco plants, and levels of cannabinoids in cannabis plants through genetic engineering and plant breeding.

It is engaged in various activities, including research and development of less harmful or modified risk tobacco products and tobacco plant varieties; development of X-22, a smoking cessation aid consisting of very low nicotine (VLN) cigarettes; manufacture, marketing and distribution of its RED SUN and MAGIC cigarettes; production of SPECTRUM research cigarettes for the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA); contract manufacturing of third-party branded tobacco products, and research and development of plant varieties of hemp/cannabis, such as plants with low to no amounts of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), plants with high levels of cannabidiol (CBD), and other non-THC cannabinoids.

In a press release, 22nd Century Group Inc announced that representatives of the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Botanical Genetics, have been invited to serve as featured speakers and presenters at the annual Colorado Hemp Expo. This will be held at the Ranch Events Complex, 5260 Arena Circle, Loveland, Colorado on Friday, March 31, 2017, and Saturday, April 1, 2017.

We are developing several exciting new strains of medical marijuana as well as industrial hemp varieties with substantially altered levels of cannabinoids – all of which will be below the legal limit of 0.3% THC,” explained Dr. Paul Rushton, Vice President of Plant Biotechnology. “Following our recently announced success with Zero-THC hemp plants and our major collaboration with the University of Virginia, Botanical Genetics is now aggressively expanding our activities in an effort to make our Company a major source of proprietary plants for both the legal medical marijuana and industrial hemp markets. We look forward to exploring exciting business opportunities with like-minded companies in Colorado.”

Along with Thomas James Esq., Vice President & General Counsel, they will provide conference attendees with business and scientific updates and highlights of 22nd Century Group Inc advances in the rapidly evolving legal medical marijuana and industrial hemp markets. This includes Dr. Rushton’s featured speech on Friday evening regarding the 22nd Century Group Inc proprietary cannabis initiatives like their recently announced development of THC-free industrial hemp plants and the propagation of medical marijuana strains that are selected for increased levels of medically-important cannabinoids.

Dr. Rushton will also speak in a panel discussion on Seeds, Clones, Pesticides and Pollen while James will speak on three panel discussions: Investments in Hemp, Global Hemp Activities, and The Future of Hemp. They will also be available for one-on-one discussions.

DISCLAIMER: There is a substantial risk of loss with any speculative asset, especially small cap stocks. The opinions expressed are those of the author, and do not constitute recommendations to buy or sell a stock. Do your own research before committing capital.

Marijuana Company Of America Inc (OTCMKTS:MCOA) Completes Financial Statement Audit

Marijuana Company Of America Inc (OTCMKTS:MCOA) shares dipped 0.08% on Tuesday to $0.0485 and were unchanged in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week range of $0.00 to $0.20. The company has a market cap of $74.51 million at 1.58 billion shares outstanding.

Marijuana Company of America Inc is a development-stage company. It is a cannabis marketing and distribution company that distributes medical cannabis products, providing product sourcing, branding, payment, distribution and knowledge through an architecture structure to maintain customer loyalty and capture market share.

It is also developing a knowledge base complete with information from subject matter experts, medical articles and opinions, current articles, YouTube and other videos, blogs, and industry news and papers. The company provides information on strains, and other processed products that will be available through its club. It will track industry and consumer information and post to its social media and online knowledge base. It offers collectives and dispensaries in legal medical marijuana states marketing and managed services designed to improve membership and transactions.

In a press release, Marijuana Company of America announced that PCAOB auditors have completed a two year audit of the company’s financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2016. From here, their legal counsel will finalize a Form 10 registration statement for filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Once this registration statement becomes effective and the company’s common stock registered with the commission, Marijuana Company of America will apply to uplist its trading tier with OTC Markets to the OTCQB exchange. These steps are being taken to enhance long-term shareholder value, and attract a broader and more diverse shareholder base, including more institutional investors.

Our goal is to meet the requirements to be a fully reporting company. This is in-line with our business plan to move to a higher level stock exchange. As we continue to grow within our industry, achieving the highest level of transparency for our current and future shareholders is of paramount importance to us. With the audit completed, we are well on our way to becoming fully reporting and offering more transparency to investors and shareholders,” said Marijuana Company of America CEO and President Donald Steinberg.

As mentioned previously, being listed on a higher stock exchange can allow the company to attract not just more number of shareholders but better liquidity. The company is now turning its attention to the auditing process and has reportedly engaged the services of a CPA firm to complete a two-year audit of its financial statements as part of the process of preparing to become a fully reporting public company with the intent of uplisting to a higher reporting exchange.

Earlier this year, the company shared that it has recently commenced generating revenue and started to ship orders for its hempSMART Brain product after its launch in November.

ProText Mobility Inc (OTCMKTS:TXTM) Shares Drop on Latest Acquisition

ProText Mobility Inc (OTCMKTS:TXTM) shares fell 20.83% on Monday to $0.00190 and were unchanged in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week range of $0.00 to $0.01. The company has a market cap of $5.92 million at 1.95 billion shares outstanding.

ProText Mobility Inc is a company that develops, markets and sells software solutions for the mobile communications market primarily for protecting children from dangers derived from mobile communications and mobile device use. Its offerings include solutions with downloadable applications for mobile communications devices, such as SafeText, DriveAlert and Compliant Wireless.

Its SafeText is a service for mobile devices that provides parents a tool to help manage their children’s mobile communication activities. Its DriveAlert is a virtual lock-box, designed to curb mobile device use while driving and to help mitigate the risks of driving while distracted. Its Compliant Wireless is a mobile platform designed for small to large companies. The mobile solutions for the enterprise/corporate compliance are marketed under Compliant Wireless and those with consumer solutions are marketed under FamilyMobileSafety.

In a press release, ProText Mobility Inc shared that it acquired Cannabis Biosciences Inc. from Plandaí Biotechnology Inc. In this transaction, ProText Mobility Inc acquired 100% of the capital stock of Cannabis Biosciences in exchange for 50 million shares of its common stock. According to Plandai, the shares will be distributed to Plandaí shareholders as a stock dividend and operate its two wholly owned subsidiaries as independent operating businesses.

“Where most pharma companies have chosen to focus on the non-psychoactive CBD chemical, we believe that this strategy limits the potential medical benefits. Recent third party studies have demonstrated the synergistic value of retaining the full chemical profile of cannabis. Our objective is to validate Cannabis Biosciences cannabis extracts to be not only full profile but also non-psychoactive, which will give researchers all of the benefits of cannabis without the unwanted side effects. The acquisition of Cannabis Biosciences by Protext properly aligns our pharmaceutical research under one roof, allowing us to further our cannabis studies as we strive to create a cannabis extract that can increase the well-being and potentially improve the lives of so many people,” said Roger Baylis-Duffield, CEO of ProText Mobility Inc.

Cannabis Biosciences was formed and incorporated by Plandaí Biotechnology in 2013 to legally develop non-psychoactive medicines from live cannabis plant using Plandaí’s proprietary processing and extraction technology. It intends to commence investigations in conjunction with independent researchers to develop and validate a full-profile cannabis extract, one that contains both CBD and the precursor acid form of THC found in the live cannabis plant.

In particular, the company’s investigations will be designed to show that the Cannabis Biosciences extraction process, which will use live leaf and low temperatures to extract the phyto-chemicals, should leave the acid forms of THC intact, resulting in a non-psychoactive extract with full medicinal potential.

Bullish Pullback on Friendable Inc (OTCMKTS:FDBL) Shares

Friendable Inc (OTCMKTS:FDBL) shares dipped 7.69% on Friday to $0.00120 and an additional 1.50% to $0.00118 in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week range of $0.00 to $0.03. The company has a market cap of $882K at 869 million shares outstanding.

Formerly iHookUp Social, Friendable Inc is engaged in the development and dissemination of a proximity-based mobile social media application that facilitates connections between people, utilizing global positioning system (GPS) and localized recommendations.

It offers Friendable, which is a location specific social platform, as well as a discovery application that facilitates communication between two or more users on a one to one meeting or group style event-based meet ups for concerts, sporting events, coffee, movies and night out, among others. Friendable bridges its mobile community of users with the meeting of new friends, building relationships and connecting them with local venues or events tied to their interests. Its application is available on the Apple iOS platform and in iTunes stores, where Friendable offers a free version and a paid version of the application. Its application is also available on the Android platform and in the Google Play Store.

Last week, Friendable Inc announced that its mobile app, a location and events based social platform, was the number one social media app in Canada for a day in March while reaching the top 50 apps in China. This supports the company’s update last month that the most significant spikes in Friendable App rankings, downloads, and user engagement were realized during concerted marketing initiatives.

We have not implemented any proactive marketing initiatives since completing our strategic investment in Hang W/, Inc. in October 2016 and embarking on a relationship designed to bring new opportunity for Friendable and our product offerings,” remarked Friendable Inc CEO, Robert A. Rositano Jr. “Periodically, we pause all marketing to evaluate the marketplace’s organic trends so we can generate a new baseline against which to measure the ROI on our various marketing programs. We expect our metrics to go flat from time to time, which is typically a function of marketing initiatives or not. We were pleasantly surprised to see our rankings spike in China and Canada — two diverse markets.”

The company also recently filed a Securities Purchase Agreementwith EMA Financial, LLC to issue and sell a 8% Convertible Note in the principal amount of $96,000 with a maturity date of March 15, 2018. This was funded in March 15, 2017. The next day, the company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement, dated March 13, 2017 with Coventry Enterprises, LLC to issue and sell a 8% Convertible Redeemable Note in the principal amount of $32,000 with a maturity date of March 13, 2018.

InterDigital Inc (NASDAQ:IDCC) Shares Dipped Nearly 3%

InterDigital Inc (NASDAQ:IDCC) shares were down 2.84% on Tuesday to $83.75 and were unchanged in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week range of $51.97 to $102.30. The company has a market cap of $2.90 billion at 34.31 million shares outstanding.

InterDigital Inc is a company that designs and develops technologies for wireless communications. It has designed and developed a range of technologies that are used in digital cellular and wireless products and networks, including second generation (2G), third generation (3G), fourth generation (4G) and IEEE 802 related products and networks.

Its subsidiaries hold a portfolio of approximately 20,400 patents and patent applications related to a range of technologies, including the fundamental technologies that enable wireless communications. Products integrating its technologies include mobile devices, such as cellular phones, tablets, notebook computers and wireless personal digital assistants; wireless infrastructure equipment, such as base stations, and components, dongles and modules for wireless devices. The company is focused on approximately two technology areas: cellular wireless technology and Internet of Things (IoT) technology.

In a press release, InterDigital Inc announced that the company has joined the GSMA as well as the GSMA’s Mobile IoT Initiative and GSMA NB-IoT Forum focused on Low Power, Wide Area technology during Mobile World Congress 2017 in Barcelona.

InterDigital is pleased to join the GSMA, the GSMA Mobile IoT Initiative and the GSMA NB-IoT forum alongside industry-leading peers and looks forward to contributing to the massive diffusion of NB-IoT and other mobile IoT technologies,” said Jim Nolan, Executive Vice President, IoT Solutions, InterDigital Inc. “The GSMA’s Connecting Living Programme is also a great opportunity for InterDigital to cooperate with the main industry players and to enter into the ecosystem that will drive the 2020 digital transformation.”

InterDigital Inc’s contribution will be its expertise and supporting trials, pilots and commercial launches with its IoT portfolio based on open standards and protocols. The GSMA NB-IoT forum aims to accelerate the widespread adoption of 3GPP-based NB-IoT technology, with members from over 60 industry leaders such as Vodafone, Huawei, Ericsson, Intel, Nokia, Telefonica, among others.

Meanwhile, the GSMA Connected Living Programme is an initiative to help operators add value and accelerate the delivery of new connected devices and services in the IoT market. The GSMA also established the Mobile IoT Initiative to support in the development, growth and adoption of LPWA technology in licensed spectrum.

In the space of nine months, the GSMA’s Mobile IoT Initiative has helped to establish market standards for LPWA that will play a fundamental role in securely and cost effectively connecting the billions of new devices making up the IoT,” said Graham Trickey, Head of Connected Living Programme, GSMA. “We look forward to supporting the industry with the numerous pilots and commercial roll-outs that are planned this year.”

Why VBI Vaccines, Inc. – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:VBIV)’s Cold Chain Efforts Could Be A Game Changer In The Vaccination Space

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the first decade of this century was the most productive in the history of vaccine development. The decade saw the introduction of vaccinations for rotavirus diarrhoea, types of meningitis and pneumonia, and for human papillomavirus (HPV) infections that cause cervical cancer. These are life saving vaccines, and there are more on the way. There are more than 80 vaccines in the late stages of global development, with close to 40% of these targeting life threatening diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.

Not surprisingly, in line with this expanded portfolio, revenues generated by the industry have increased dramatically. In 2005, global vaccine market revenues were $10 billion. During 2015, this had risen to $41 billion. UNICEF estimate that just over 80% of the world’s children now have access to immunization. To put this another way, coverage is now a far smaller problem than it was just a decade ago.

There are fresh problems, however, and as coverage has increased, and in line with coverage, demand, the primary issue now is the distribution network that underpins the coverage.

Specifically, a concept called the cold chain.

The majority of commonly recommended vaccines require storage temperatures of 35°F-46°F (2°C-8°C) and must not be exposed to freezing temperatures. Some of the more modern vaccines, namely varicella vaccine live attenuated influenza vaccine (LAIV), need to be stored at a continuously frozen state. These costs of the cold chain extend to both the developing world, and developed economies such as the US and Europe. In the developed world, the infrastructure exists to maintain the cold chain, but it’s expensive. In the developing world, the cold chain necessitates a tiered structure, through which a central unit will distribute to regional healthcare entities, in an attempt to minimize the required stock holding of the vaccines regionally (because it’s expensive to refrigerate things in regional African centers, for example).

Bottom line, the cold chain adds a premium to the price of vaccines, which someone must bear. In many instances, it’s the drug makers. In some, it’s the network operators. Estimates as to the scale of this cost vary, with the high end suggesting an 80% premium and the low end a 20% premium.

If a company can find a way to allow for the breaking of the cold chain, and remove the necessity for the vaccines being stored and transported to do so within a low temperature range, there’s a massive global market for its technology.

One company has spent the last five years doing just that, and it’s put together a batch of data that suggests it has succeeded.

The company is VBI Vaccines, Inc. – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:VBIV).

VBI is a vaccine developer that formed by way of a merger early in 2016 between a company called SciVac, and a company called VBI Vaccines. The two merged, combined operations, and moved forward as VBI under the ticker VBIV. SciVac brought into the merger its hepatitis B vaccine, Sci-B-Vac, which is a standard of care hepatitis vaccine in Israel (where it is administered to almost every child as standard of care) and 14 other countries across Europe, Africa and South America. The vaccine is in the late stages of the development process required for a US approval, and there’s a large market on offer if the FDA follows in the footsteps of the Israeli health authorities and accepts the vaccine for commercialization.

That’s not the focus of this discussion, however.

VBI brought with it two technologies – one, a platform that develops a third generation of vaccines, which are designed to mimic viruses as closely as possible and, in doing so, have a far higher immunogenicity than the current generation. This platform is called the eVLP platform, and VBI is currently working on a cytomegalovirus vaccine, and a brain cancer vaccine (designed as an immunotherapy tool) under the framework of this technology. Again, however, that’s not the focus of this discussion.

The focus is the second technology brought to the table – a technology called the LPV Thermostability Platform, or LPV TP. The processes that underpin the platform are not public, which isn’t surprising gibing the game changing nature of the technology involved. However, from the available literature, it’s possible to deduce that by using a combination of synthetic lipids (MPG, DCP, and Cholesterol) in proprietary ratios, the platform reduces moisture content during what are called lyophilization cycles. These cycles are a sort of freeze drying process, and normally aren’t that effective with vaccines. Include the proprietary mix of lipids, however, and VBI has proven its able to reduce moisture ingress in the vaccines. A reduced moisture ingress removes the necessity for refrigeration or freezing, and – by proxy – remove the need for a cold chain.

This isn’t just conceptual stuff, either.

VBI has data in hand that proved the commercial MMR vaccine potent at 8 weeks, kept at body temperature. It has the same data for a Herceptin like vaccine. With the common influenza virus, its LPV TP extended potency to 12 months at a little over body temperature. Rabies vaccine, which is essentially useless within hours of being removed from the cold chain, held its potency for 18 months at body temperature once it had been exposed to the LPV TP.

It’s hard to underestimate the importance of these numbers. The company could (using the numbers referenced above) save big pharma anywhere between 20% and 80% on its vaccine costs, some of which will pass to consumer, of course, but a large portion of which could be cost savings for the big pharma entities in question.

These companies are recognizing this, and VBI is drawing some big name partners on the back of the platform’s potential.

In April 2016, the company entered into a research collaboration with Sanofi SA (ADR) (NYSE:SNY), under which Sanofi will use the LPV TP to attempt to produce a version of one of its vaccines. A couple of months earlier, in February 2016, VBI struck the same deal with GlaxoSmithKline plc (ADR) (NYSE:GSK).

If these deals produce what both companies hope they will – a vaccine that can be removed from the cold chain – it’s going to open the floodgates for a host of expanded big names to secure exclusive rights to VBI’s technology in various vaccine applications.

Right now, VBI has a market capitalization of circa $200 million. It won’t take many of these sort of exclusive rights deals to inject a comparable amount of cash into its balance sheet. In this regard alone, the company looks undervalued.

And as mentioned earlier, this is just half of the story, if that. The company has announced numerous developments relating to its vaccine platform during the first quarter of 2017, with steps forward in GBM, CMV and RSV each serving as catalyst year to date. Further, smart money is recognizing the potential, and VBI has picked up a raft of household name biotech funds’ support.

Bottom line, with the cold chain operations potentially set to change the vaccine landscape, and the company’s pipeline advancing treatments in billion dollar indications, supported by some of the biggest funds in the sector, it’s difficult to see this one staying at its current valuation for much longer.

Why Medically Minded Inc (OTCMKTS:MMHC) Share Prices Doubled

Medically Minded Inc (OTCMKTS:MMHC) shares were up 100% on Monday to $0.00100 and unchanged in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week range of $0.00 to $0.00. The company has a market cap of $24,800.00 at 49.52 million shares outstanding.

Medically Minded Inc is a company that engages in the production and retail of medical marijuana through its subsidiary. It is headquartered in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. In a press release, the company announced that it has acquired 66 Oilfield Services, LLC. This is an oil field services company with headquarters in Oklahoma City and is the successor to and third generation of a heavy oil field equipment company founded by J.C. Houck in 1959.

Aside from drill pipe and rig related equipment, 66 currently purchases and refurbishes custom rigs on a regular basis for resale through a joint venture with Oklahoma Rig Fabricators and Five Star Rig & Supply. James Frazier, President, was with Continental Resources and his staff will continue to pursue the purchase of heavy-weight drill pipe, drill collars, custom rigs and other select drilling equipment which are available at distressed prices due to the downturn in the oil industry.

Currently, there are a number of rigs and rig equipment which were ordered during the more active drilling periods that have not been accepted for delivery, not used or not fully paid. This excess inventory needs to be quickly sold to free up needed cash for 66s vendors and partners. This creates an opportunity to purchase new equipment on a limited basis well below market prices which 66 can resell at better prices throughout our world-wide network to the benefit of our shareholders. Becoming a publicly traded company will provide us better access to financial markets and capital to best execute our business plan,” stated Frazier. “We are in process of completing a financial audit and plan to file a Form 10 under the Securities Exchange Act as soon as possible.”

To close this transaction, Medically Minded Inc did not issue additional securities but has instead utilized reissue of the an outstanding 3,000,000 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock representing 80% of the company’s equity. The company will also change its name to Sixty Six Oilfield Services, Inc. and a request will be made for a trading symbol to reflect the new name. 66 earned unaudited revenues of $5 million in 2015 with net income of $926,000 and $3.9 million in 2016 with net income of $695,000. Its equipment is considered a commodity and a quality collateral investment which can be held and resold for much higher prices in active periods.

Prior to this, Medically Minded Inc announced a planned acquisition of Skara Restaurants Holdings Inc but Skara’s management has concluded that it is not appropriate for them to be a publicly traded company in reverse merger and has cancelled the transaction.

Affinity Beverage Group Inc (OTCMKTS:ABVG) Announces Village Tea Partnership

Affinity Beverage Group Inc (OTCMKTS:ABVG) shares rose 33.33% on Friday to $0.00040 and were unchanged in after-hours trading. Share prices have been trading in a 52-week range of $0.00 to $0.00. The company has a market cap of $668K at 1.67 billion shares outstanding.

Formerly Strategic Rare Earth Minerals Inc, Affinity Beverage Group Inc is a holding company that focuses on branded consumer product acquisition opportunities in the health and wellness sector. It targets lifestyle brands, company and/or product distribution rights focusing on traditional and non-traditional healthy beverage options. Its brands include Village Tea Company and Pura Organic Agave.

Its subsidiary Village Tea Company Distribution, Inc is an owner of the Village Tea brand of loose leaf tea and accessories. The Village Tea brand is sold in major retailers in North America, including Vitamin Shoppe, Whole Foods Markets, Winners, HomeSense, Akins/Chamberlin Natural Foods Markets, and other independent specialty and grocery store retailers. It will also seek opportunities involving young brands specializing in all natural/organic foods, bio-food, supplements and personal care products for strategic partnerships, distribution agreements and potential acquisition.

In a press release, Affinity Beverage Group Inc announced that Village Tea has agreed to a 50/50 joint venture partnership with Green Roads Wellness, LLC to develop, distribute and market a line of co-branded functional teas and potentially other organic food and beverage products that are infused with Green Roads pharmaceutical grade Hemp Oil. Green Roads Wellness is one of the world’s leading suppliers of organic cannabidiol/hemp derived CBD oil and has over 5,000 wholesale clients and over one million end users.

In this partnership, the two companies plan to leverage their collective experiences to develop a line of products that can be sold through each company’s existing channels of distribution, with an emphasis on specialty grocers/retailers, health and wellness and direct to consumer. They are working on the initial product line which will consist of a functional loose leaf tea assortment in a variety of blends targeting Focus, Sleep/Relaxation and Energy.

Prior to this, Village Tea has been invited by The Florida Panthers and On the Move, Florida’s Convenience Store to participate in a unique sales and promotions partnership opportunity. As a vendor, Village Tea will feature its’ new Single Serve POS display with variety of flavors and potentially other products at select On the Move store locations in South Florida.

“We are excited about the partnership with On the Move and the Florida Panthers and we welcome the opportunity to introduce new customers across South Florida to the Village Tea Company brand of premium loose leaf teas through our newly launched food service and hospitality platform. This is especially important as we are developing additional sales and marketing initiatives in the region and we hope to make this program an integral part of those efforts,” stated Janon Costley, CEO of Village Tea Company Distribution and Affinity Beverage Group, Inc.

Author: James Peters