Jazz Pharmaceuticals
Jazz Pharmaceuticals has seen its market capitalisation increase by around $800m this week, after a 10% increase in its stock value.
The pharmaceutical giant produces and owns the rights to Epidiolex, which, according to Prohibition Partners’ Pharmaceutical Cannabis Report, accounted for over three quarters of the entire pharmaceutical cannabis market as of 2023.
Earlier this week, Jazz dismissed a patent claim against Apotex, Canada’s largest generic drug producer, as it reached a settlement with the company, the details of which were undisclosed.
This appears to mark the end of a major legal dispute between Jazz and 13 other drug manufacturers seeking to produce biosimilar versions of Epidiolex.
The multi-year dispute began when several companies sought permission from the US Food and Drug Administration in 2022 to manufacture and market a generic version of Epidiolex.
In 2023, Jazz successfully thwarted these companies from producing Epidiolex by filing a lawsuit asserting that the applications alone infringed on its intellectual property and that the approval of the applications would lead to further infringement.
Since then, the multi-billion dollar company has been facing down each of these rivals individually in court, including an effort by Israel’s Teva Pharmaceuticals to disqualify Jazz from enforcing its patent.
However, with Apotex settling the case, Jazz has ensured that it maintains exclusive marketing rights for Epidiolex for the foreseeable future.
The precise date that Jazz’s exclusivity for the sale of Epidiolex expires in the US is unclear, with some filed patents running into the mid-2030s; however, sources claim that generic versions could be on the US market as early as 2026.
Epidiolex, the first FDA-approved cannabis-derived drug developed, is on track to surpass $1bn in annual revenue – a feat that puts it in the league of blockbuster drugs like Humira and Lipitor.
Hellenic Dynamics
Meanwhile, the LSE-listed Greek cannabis cultivator, Hellenic Dynamics, is continuing to fight for its survival in court.
This week, the company announced that its second ‘winding up petition’ in less than a year had been ‘granted’ in a delayed court hearing.
In November 2024, Business of Cannabis reported that a petition for compulsory liquidation had been filed by a shareholder, claiming the company owed them £32,274.26.
At the time, Hellenic’s directors pushed back on the petition, claiming that as the petitioner is not a creditor of the company, and the petition ‘amounts to an abuse of the process of the High Court’, and made an application for the petition to be dismissed.
In an update following the High Court Hearing, which took place on February 12, the company announced that the court granted the winding-up petition even though the directors provided sworn statements saying that they had no relationship with Mr Dulak, and that his claim was about personal trading losses, not a legitimate debt or obligation the company owed him.
Hellenic’s directors say they have taken ‘immediate action to have the judgement set aside’ and are confident their application will be granted.
“They do not believe that the company is responsible for reimbursing the petitioner for the losses that he is claiming given he is not a trade creditor of the company and is looking to recover, from the company, losses that he suffered by reason of speculative trading of its shares,” they said in a statement.
They went on to confirm that this remains their considered belief based upon the fact that, prior to Mr Dulak threatening to issue proceedings, there had been no communication between him and the company in any form and that the court’s decision was made in error.
Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies—Octavian Therapeutics
Following it’s delisting from the London Stock Exchange in May last year, Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies has announced a strategic rebrand, named Lord Mott as its new Non-Executive Chair, and announced a £10 million fundraising drive to accelerate drug development.
Now renamed Octavian Therapeutics, the company has sharpened its focus on small molecule drug discovery targeting the endocannabinoid system.
Its lead candidate, a patent-protected CB2 agonist, is now being readied for further clinical trials following the successful completion of Phase 1.
In a leadership shift, Lord Mott has been appointed as Non-Executive Chair, transitioning from his previous role as a board director. With a background spanning biotech, AI, and digital communications, Mott is expected to leverage his commercial expertise and global network to support Octavian’s growth. He succeeds Julie Pomeroy, who will remain on the board as a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee.
To bolster its expansion, particularly in North America, Octavian has established a new US subsidiary headquartered in Delaware and engaged investor relations firm Waterseid Partners Inc. The company is also ramping up investor engagement, participating in key industry conferences, including BIO Europe Spring (Milan, March) and BIO International (Boston, June).
Furthermore, in March 2025, Octavian will launch a £10m fundraising campaign to fund critical initiatives, including clinical trials, regulatory filings, and the expansion of its AI-driven drug discovery platform.
