Medical Cannabis sector comes of age with $7.2 billion acquisition of GW Pharmaceuticals PLC
- Medical cannabis sector is still in the early phase of
its growth to becoming a more mainstream Consumer and Healthcare category
-
The Medical Cannabis and Wellness UCITS ETF (CBDX)
has reached $56million assets under management
-
The CBDX medical cannabis ETF has delivered a return of 59.79% over the past three
months and 57.40% over the last 12 months[1]. Past performance is no guarantee of future
performance.
The Medical Cannabis ETF (CBDX) says the decision by the
traditional pharma company JAZZ Pharmaceuticals to purchase GW Pharmaceuticals,
which made history by getting the first FDA approved drug derived from cannabis,
is a notable turning point for the medical and wellness cannabis market. It expects to see further M&A activity in
the market.
CBDX was the first ETF to give access to the
medical cannabis space in Europe and is the first to reach the $50m level of
AUM. It provides access to companies active in the medical cannabis space that
have been screened to ensure their legality for investment across Europe and
the ETF can be bought in a single trade.
It says foresight into the proliferation of
the cannabis industry is becoming clearer, in part due to the recent tide of
change from US elections. It believes the sector is still in the early phase of
its growth to becoming a more mainstream Consumer and Healthcare category, but there
is growing validation of this change as operators re-structure and consolidate
in anticipation of upcoming reform. It believes that where the initial focus
had been on US medical proliferation, the announcement of the $7.2 billion acquisition
of GW Pharma could see attention quickly shift to the pharmaceutical
cannabinoid side of this emerging theme.
Nawan Butt, Portfolio Manager of The Medical Cannabis ETF,
said: “GW Pharma is the global leader in developing and commercializing
a cannabis derived drug platform which has achieved regulatory approval in
multiple jurisdictions in Europe and North America. Their current products,
derived directly from the cannabis plant, address a broad range of diseases
including the treatment of seizures associates with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome
(LGS), Dravet Syndrome and Tuberous Sclerosis Complex (TSC), all of which are
rare diseases characterized by severe early onset epilepsy.
“In
addition to their achievements with regulators, GW Pharma has a deep pipeline
of cannabis-derived drugs as well as highly specialized manufacturing expertise
combined with over two decades of pioneering cannabinoid science experience.
The company’s first two products were rapidly scaled, achieving approximately
US$510 million in annual sales within two years of launch.
“When GW Pharmaceuticals PLC started, most global pharma
companies were hesitant to work with cannabis ignoring centuries of evidence
there were some health benefits. As times are changing and attitudes adjusting,
more and more companies are getting involved with the sector.
We are
very proud to provide European investors with Europe’s first medical cannabis
ETF, CBDX. It provides a legal and efficient way for investors to buy an index
made of a representative group of medical cannabis companies in a single trade.
CBDX is available in Euros, GBP, CHF & USD.”
The European
listed Medical
Cannabis ETF (CBDX), which was the first cannabis ETF to launch in Europe,
has just completed its first-year anniversary listing on Deutsche Boerse and
London Stock Exchange in January 2020. It is also listed on the SIX Swiss
Exchange. Since listing it has gathered
over $56million of assets[2].
14% of the
holdings in the Medical Cannabis and Wellness UCITS ETF was invested in GW
Pharmaceuticals PLC, which contributed to the ETF rising 12.33% on the
day the acquisition was announced[3].
The Medical
Cannabis and Wellness UCITS ETF, tracks the Medical Cannabis and Wellness
Equity Index The CBDX medical
cannabis ETF has delivered a return of 59.79% over the past three
months and 57.40% over the last 12 months[4]. Past performance is no guarantee of future
performance. When you trade ETFs your capital is at risk.
Learn more about The Medical Cannabis and Wellness UCITS ETF here.