Cannabis Industry Expects to Become the Next Biggest Market

The largest recreational usage of cannabis is now the state of California. According to Gallup polls, public support for legalizing cannabis has reached 60%, its highest level in Gallup’s 47-year trend. The market for both recreational and medicinal cannabis is projected to grow to $22 billion by 2020 according to ArcView Market Research.

GrowGeneration Corp.  is focusing on specialty retail hydroponic and organic gardening stores. Currently the company operates 12 locations, which includes 10 locations in Colorado, 1 location in California and 1 location in Nevada. GrowGeneration branded stores in all of the major legalized cannabis states, and it sells wide variety of products, including organic nutrients and soils, advanced lighting technology, hydroponic and aquaponic equipment to be used indoors and outdoors.

Earlier this month, GrowGeneration Corp. reported record financial results for its third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2016. The revenues Supported by Aggressive Geographic Expansion Strategy and Launch of GGEN Distribution Corp. Revenues for the three months ended September 30, 2016 jumped to $2,169,129, a 135% increase over revenues of $921,913 in the same quarter of 2015.Revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2016 was $5,617,726, a 140% increase over revenues of $2,330,773 for the same period last year. The revenue growth was primarily attributable to the Company’s continued sales growth across Colorado and Northern California, as well as modest, but early sales from the launch of GGEN Distribution Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of GrowGen, whose sole mission is to secure exclusive and proprietary products on behalf of GrowGen.

Then on November 21st, GrowGeneration Corp. announced that it has signed a 5-year lease on a 10,000 square foot facility in Las Vegas, Nevada for its 12th store. The Las Vegas location is both a retail and warehouse location, which will be a destination for both commercial and home growers in the Nevada market, which has a lot potential. Nevada is one of the states where voters approved legalization of cannabis for recreational purposes on November 8th. Nevada is also a popular tourism desti-nation, has generous patient reciprocity laws, and allowance for medical cannabis businesses to be formed as for-profit companies. Recreational use sales are expected to begin in 2017.

Darren Lampert, Co-Founder and CEO of GrowGeneration Corp. said in a statement, “The passage of Nevada’s recreational use legalization measure opens up the market for cultivation expansion like we have not seen before in the US. With this additional 10,000 sq. ft. of retail and warehouse space, conveniently located minutes from the Las Vegas strip, we believe we are to be the largest hydroponic store in the Nevada market. To best serve Nevada growers, we’ll stock both commercial and home-grow sizes of all the equipment and growing supplies offered throughout the market today.”

Currently, researchers at Insys Therapeutics Inc.  are studying the effects of a cannabidiol oral solution for the treatment of subjects with Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS). PWS is a complex genetic condition that negatively effects parts of the body. The primary objectives of this clinical trial is to assess the efficacy of Cannabidiol Oral Solution on hyperphagia-related behavior in subjects with PWS, and to assess the efficacy of Cannabidiol Oral Solution on body weight in subjects with PWS.

GW Pharmaceuticals PLC  announces positive results of the second Phase 3 clinical trial of its new cannabidiol medicine, Epidiolex®, for the treatment of seizures associated with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome. During the process of the trial, Epidiolex was added to the patient’s current treatment and achieved the primary endpoint for both dose levels with positive impact. According to the clinical trial, patients taking Epidiolex 20mg/kg/day achieved a median reduction in monthly drop seizures of 42 percent compared with a reduction of 17 percent in patients taking placebo, and patients taking Epidiolex 10mg/kg/day achieved a median reduction in monthly drop seizures of 37 percent compared with a reduction of 17 percent in patients taking placebo.

Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc.  had highlighted data for its product pipeline, the patent-protected synthetic ZYN002 cannabidiol gel, at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society. ZYN002 is an enhanced gel designed for refractory epilepsy, Fragile X syndrome and osteoarthritis that is absorbed through the skin. “We are encouraged to see that data further supporting the safety profile of ZYN002 were chosen for presentation at this year’s Annual Meeting for the American Epilepsy Society,” said Armando Anido, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Zynerba. “These data demonstrate that ZYN002 CDB gel is safe, well-tolerated and show no psychoactive effects across a wide range of doses. Enrollment in our STAR 1 phase 2 clinical trial for adult refractory epilepsy patients with focal seizures is continuing and we remain on track to report top line results of this trial in the first half of 2017.  Earlier this month, we announced the initiation of our STAR 2 open-label extension trial which will support long-term safety and tolerability of ZYN002 CBD gel in this patient population.”

Cara Therapeutics Inc. completes enrollment in I.V. CR845 Phase 2/3 for the treatment of Uremic Pruritus. Uremic Pruritus is an intractable systemic itch condition in patients who have chronic kidney disease. “We’re very pleased to have completed enrollment as planned for Part A of the Phase 2/3 trial in pruritus associated with chronic kidney disease, as these eight-week data will determine the optimal dosing to carry forward into planned registration trials. In our previous Phase 2 trial, I.V. CR845 significantly reduced itch and improved the quality of life for dialysis patients with this condition over a two-week treatment period,” said Derek Chalmers, Ph.D., D.Sc. President and Chief Executive Officer of Cara Therapeutics. “We look forward to reporting top-line data from Part A of this trial in the first quarter of 2017 and, based on the results, initiating the planned registration phase later in the year.”