Vitality Biopharma Inc (OTCMKTS:VBIO) is a penny play that has grabbed hold of the attention of traders during the stock’s recent bounce. The question is, why is this move happening? It’s very difficult to know for sure. The last time we covered the name, we noted that it didn’t seem to show great promise but that it was in the hottest market space with likely high short interest. That short interest seems to be getting burned to a crisp at present. All told, since we last covered the name, the stock has moved 89% higher.
Recent action has seen 44% tacked on to share pricing for the stock in the past week. The situation may be worth watching. VBIO is a stock who’s past is littered with sudden rips. Moreover, the name has seen interest climb, with an increase in recent trading volume of greater than 330% over what the stock has registered over the longer term. This should not be overlooked with a float in play that’s limited — not even 14M shares. As savvy traders are well aware, a restricted trading float and a jump in trading volume can crimp supply and push share prices higher.
Vitality Biopharma Inc (OTCMKTS:VBIO) frames itself as a company that focuses on the development of cannabinoids for the treatment of neurological and inflammatory disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis in the United States. VBIO is dedicated to unlocking the power of cannabinoids for the treatment of serious neurological and inflammatory disorders.
Its products in the pipeline include Cannabosides – VITA-100 for gastrointestinal disorders, including inflammatory bowel disease and irritable bowel syndrome; Cannabosides – VITA-210 for muscle spasticity in multiple sclerosis and rare white matter disorders; and Cannabosides for epilepsy, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and Huntington’s disease.
The company was formerly known as Stevia First Corp. and changed its name to Vitality Biopharma, Inc. in July 2016. Vitality Biopharma, Inc. was founded in 2007 and is based Los Angeles, California.
According to company press materials, “Vitality Biopharma is dedicated to unlocking the power of cannabinoids for the treatment of serious neurological and inflammatory disorders.”
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The company just announced that it has received approval from both the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and the State of California Research Advisory Panel which permits the Company to scale up activities at its facilities used for the development of novel cannabinoid pharmaceutical prodrugs. Vitality has been working with the DEA to ensure adequate on-site measures are in place to prevent diversion of Schedule I controlled substances.
As a component of this process, Vitality’s preclinical studies for its proprietary prodrugs of CBD and THC were reviewed and approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).
The California Research Advisory Panel, a part of the California Attorney General’s Office, has also granted Vitality a research permit to conduct cannabinoid pharmaceutical development activities that are designed to enable regulatory approval of first-in-man clinical trials. Despite cannabis attaining legal status within the State of California and in many other states across the U.S. for medical and recreational purposes, pharmaceutical research and development continues to be closely regulated by the DEA and FDA.
Vitality’s work is focused on developing a novel class of THC and CBD prodrugs that reduce or avoid psychoactive side effects through targeted prodrug technology.
“We are excited to scale up our research and to aggressively pursue clinical testing of our compounds, and this approval greenlights that work,” said Dr. Brandon Zipp, Director of R&D, and Scientific Co-founder of Vitality Biopharma. Robert Brooke, the Company’s CEO, further states that, “There are surprisingly few companies in the United States that are properly licensed and developing differentiated cannabinoid pharmaceutical products. We are very proud of our team’s work to enable this milestone, and believe that recent discoveries have provided us with a very unique opportunity.”
Now commanding a market cap of $30.8M, VBIO has very little cash on the books, which is balanced by virtually no total accumulated debt.
VBIO is making real money, with trailing 12-month revenues coming in at $227k. Recent news is encouraging, and there may be some other factors at play that are unknown to us at present. In any case, you can bet we will update this one again as new information comes into view. For continuing coverage on shares of $VBIO stock, as well as our other hot stock picks, sign up for our free newsletter today and get our next hot stock pick!
