x min read

OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp (OTCMKTS:OWCP) Has Enough Catalysts To Hold Onto Its Gains And More

OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp (OTCMKTS:OWCP) Has Enough Catalysts To Hold Onto Its Gains And More
Written by
Chris Sandburg
Published on
October 28, 2016
Copy URL
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Reddit
Share on Twitter/X
Share on Facebook
InsidrFinancial

OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp (OTCMKTS:OWCP) has been on an incredible run as late. The company kicked off the month trading for around $0.015 share. Early this week, OWC went for $0.15 share – a 900% gain across the period. The last couple of sessions has seen the company give back a portion of these gains, and we think this might be a nice opportunity to prick up an exposure on the pullback.Here's what we're looking at.First, and for those not familiar with the company, let's kick things off with a brief introduction. OWC is the parent company of wholly owned subsidiary, One World Cannabis Ltd. The entity reports through OWC, but operates under the One World sub. As a quick note, this One World brand is mistakenly listed on a number of the major financial sites as One Word – overlook the error, it's the same brand.The company's goal is to enter the cannabis pharmaceutical space, through the application of the standard pharmaceutical development framework (rigorous testing, application for approval etc.) to various incarnations of the cannabis plant and its active compounds.Through a few collaboration agreements, all of which are rooted in a primary collaboration with the leading Israeli medical center and research hospital, Sheba, it is targeting three initial indications: psoriasis, fibromyalgia and multiple myeloma. There are a couple of secondary target indications lower down the pipeline – PTSD and migraines – but for the purposes of this discussion (i.e. what's going to drive near term value) we can overlook these for now.So, what's behind the recent gains?Well, we've mentioned this on numerous occasions this week – the cannabis sector is on fire. The upcoming legalization vote out of California has had investors scrambling for an exposure to the growth, and companies across the board are picking up strength. This is the primary driver behind the action we've seen this month, and it's turned OWC in to a top momentum pick as late.We're not subscribing to the hysteria, however. We're looking for companies that are likely to hold on to gains after the excitement dies down. Whatever happens in California, a large portion of the companies gaining strength right now are going to crash (of course, this crash is going to be more severe if Californian's vote against the ballot). As such, we want companies with near term catalysts that can help provide a floor to the correction, and going forward, serve as a platform from which to build post-hysteria momentum.OWC's three pronged pipeline meets these criteria.The first catalyst on our watch list is the initiation of a clinical program in the company's psoriasis topical treatment. In vitro studies are complete, and OWC expects to kick off a healthy volunteer study at the above mentioned Sheba at some point early November. With this sort of treatment, the path to market is very short. As long as the company can prove the medication safe, it can start commercialization in the US and Israel concurrently. Safety is based on the just mentioned trial, so managements expects sales to start rolling in as soon as the second quarter of next year.Looking at myeloma (which OWC bills as its most advanced program) there's not a whole lot of detail available as to progress, but we know the following. First, pre-clinically, the company demonstrated that some combinations of THC and CBD led to the eradication of 100% of myeloma cells in 60% of tested cultured cells within 24 to 48 hours of exposure to the cannabinoid formulation.In the latest 10Q, OWC stated it would kick off a clinical study in first quarter 2016, but an update in May detailed the completion of some mouse studies, and the following quote is essentially all we’ve got to go on:

"We hope that the efficacy and safety will give us the comfort we need to continue on to the human stage of testing." Dr. Yehuda Baruch, OWC's Director of Research.

We are looking at the next update on this program before the close of the year, and we expect some upside momentum if the company can present a protocol and – in turn – a potential pathway to the clinic.Finally, we're looking at progress in a sublingual tablet to provide what we might refer to as bread and butter upside. It's not going to be a game changer, but the program should provide a nice steady stream of positive press releases. In turn, it should help to support the floor we discussed a little earlier.Subscribe below and we'll keep you updated as these catalysts play out and the marijuana run continues!Disclosure: We have no position in OWCP and have not been compensated for this article.

Discover Hidden Gems

Don't miss the next big opportunity. Subscribe for timely alerts on potential market movers.