Because the summer time rolls on and the information cycle begins to settle, we’re taking inventory of all the corporate developments which have taken place over the previous couple of weeks, marking one of many busiest intervals within the sector’s current historical past.
On this version of ‘Past the Ticker’, we’ll be diving into the pharmaceutical hashish sector, which seems to be getting into a brand new section of maturity, seeing a flurry of scientific and medical trial progress thus far this yr.
Whereas firms breaking into the house proceed to dwell within the shadow of Jazz Prescription drugs, it’s now abundantly clear that its once-uncontested place in hashish prescription drugs is dealing with significant competitors from a brand new technology of biotech corporations.
Amid rising world scrutiny of the wider medical hashish prescription mannequin, and with markets like France leaning into pharmaceutical-grade regulation, the pharma hashish sector is shaping as much as be probably the most dynamic and carefully watched corners of the business.
Ananda Pharma
UK hashish biotech agency Ananda Pharma is constant to progress by its medical roadmap at a promising tempo.
During the last two weeks, Ananda, which is now concerned in 5 medical trials with three separate companions, efficiently dosed its first human trial participant with its lead drug candidate MRX1.
On July 15, Ananda revealed an replace to traders relating to its Section 1 pharmacokinetic trial for MRX1, an open-label research working in Australia, designed to judge the protection, tolerability, and absorption of the drug in wholesome adults.
This research has been touted as a ‘strategic addition’ to the broader MRX1 programme, working independently from its ongoing Section 2 medical trials with out impacting their timelines or execution.
With outcomes anticipated early subsequent yr, the information might be used to assist streamline future regulatory submissions within the UK, US and EU.
Days after the announcement, Ananda revealed its annual report for the yr to January 31, 2025.
Whereas there was little to report when it comes to incoming money, on condition that Ananda stays largely within the pre-revenue levels of improvement, the corporate managed to considerably cut back its annual working loss, which fell from £6.9m to £3.8m over the yr.
The advance got here largely from one-off value reductions, together with a pointy drop in write-downs tied to beforehand paused operations at its DJT Vegetation subsidiary. The corporate additionally lower its wage invoice by greater than half, to £150K, although it expects staffing prices to rise once more as medical trials scale up.
Conversely, Analysis and improvement (R&D) spending almost tripled to £299K, reflecting a push to advance its three investigational medication, MRX1, MRX2, and MRX2T. The corporate notes this determine doesn’t totally seize inside or advisor contributions, and it’s planning to say £86K in R&D tax credit.
Operationally, Ananda expects each UK Section 2 trials (for endometriosis and CIPN) to start dosing by year-end, whereas persevering with assist for its Section 3 epilepsy trials with UCL and GOSH. The corporate has additionally accomplished GMP manufacturing of MRX1 for ongoing and upcoming research, positioning it for broader medical execution in 2026.
US tariffs goal pharmaceutical imports for the primary time
The erratic US tariff bulletins, this time focused on the pharmaceutical sector, have despatched ripples by world inventory markets over the past week.
Following months of negotiations, the European Union managed to push a commerce take care of President Trump over the road on Sunday, July 27, seeing a blanket 15% import tariff on almost all EU-produced shopper items.
Whereas this was half the speed threatened by the administration, it reverses a historic exemption of pharmaceutical merchandise underneath WTO guidelines, in what analysts are predicting will value the business between $13bn and $19bn.
With the EU accounting for about 60% of all pharmaceutical imports to the US, the added prices are prone to elevate shopper costs except firms work to mitigate the impression.
Jazz Prescription drugs, which manufactures its market-leading cannabis-based drug Epidiolex in Eire, has already seen its inventory worth dip by round 30% for the reason that begin of the yr, largely on tariff fears.
That is significantly worrying information for the Irish economic system, with virtually a 3rd of Irish exports making their technique to the US, accounting for 12% of GDP, 60% of that are prescription drugs.
Because the commerce battle stays fluid, and there may be little certainty whether or not the tariffs might be scrapped or be considerably raised (as Trump has threatened), the final word impression on the broader market and the dominant cannabinoid medication maker Jazz is tough to foretell.
Incannex Healthcare
Because the incumbent pharmaceutical hashish top-dog Jazz faces tightening margins and political hurdles on the worldwide stage, additionally it is dealing with down rising competitors from contained in the market.
Australian pre-revenue biotech firm Incannex has caught the attention of many main traders within the house in current weeks, seeing its share worth skyrocket by over 500% in July, earlier than plummeting at a equally fast tempo.
This turbulence comes because the cannabinoid and psychedelics drug firm introduced optimistic trial outcomes for its lead drug, candidate, IHL-42X.
On July 30, 2025, it reported promising Section 2 trial outcomes for its therapy for obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), an oral fixed-dose mixture of dronabinol (artificial THC) and acetazolamide.
The drug candidate demonstrated a discount within the severity of apnoea episodes by as much as 83%, in line with knowledge from the corporate’s RePOSA research. The trial confirmed statistically and clinically vital enhancements throughout a number of sleep high quality measures, together with diminished fatigue and improved oxygenation throughout sleep.
Importantly, no critical unwanted side effects had been reported, and the drug was nicely tolerated at each high and low doses.
The corporate plans to satisfy with the U.S. Meals and Drug Administration to map out a path to Section 3 trials. If profitable, IHL-42X can be the primary accredited oral pharmaceutical therapy for OSA.
Days later, following a spike in curiosity in its inventory, Incannex confirmed it has no instant plans to completely utilise its at-the-market (ATM) share issuance facility, citing a powerful money stability of roughly US$50 million.
The corporate mentioned it issued 9.2 million shares underneath the ATM on 30 July, representing simply 1.97% of every day buying and selling quantity, and had not accessed the power in any respect between 17–29 July.
The corporate can be progressing trials for IHL‑675A, a cannabinoid-hydroxychloroquine mixture for inflammatory situations, and PSX‑001, an artificial psilocybin therapy for generalised nervousness dysfunction.
Argent BioPharma
The previously London Inventory Trade-listed Argent Biopharma has additionally positioned itself as a possible rival to Jazz within the therapy of drug-resistant epilepsy.
In a brand new peer-reviewed case-study revealed within the Worldwide Journal of Scientific Medication & Case Experiences, its proprietary formulation CannEpil was proven to have ‘medical advantages in a pediatric affected person with Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome’.
The research, authored by authored by Argent’s VP of Medical Growth Dr Jonathan Grunfeld and Medical researcher Dr Jasna Jarc, discovered that the affected person skilled diminished seizure clusters and seizure frequency, restoration of speech and positive motor management, alongside reintegration right into a full-time academic atmosphere.
Whereas not a medical trial, the corporate says this research provides to the ‘rising physique of real-world proof’ of CannEpil’s efficacy.
The drug is already being administered to sufferers in Eire as the primary medical hashish product eligible for sufferers by way of the nation’s Medicinal Hashish Entry Programme (MCAP).
Moreover, in an article revealed in The Australian, Argent argues that whereas CannEpil ‘shouldn’t be but positioned to compete with Epidiolex on regulatory validation’, its providing was rising as a possible next-generation therapy for the indication, ‘significantly in sufferers who didn’t reply to a CBD-only formulations’.
This, it says, is because of its use of ‘pharmaceutical-grade isolate combos over full-spectrum botanical preparations, offering extra exact dosing and improved security profiles’.
In the meantime, in July, Argent introduced that it had now commenced the availability of EU-GMP Cannabinoid API for epilepsy therapy at Slovenia’s largest hospital, the College Medical Centre Ljubljana.
The provision rollout follows a profitable pilot programme and was supported by dosing protocols co-developed with hospital clinicians and nationwide regulators. Argent’s EU-GMP associate PHCANN Worldwide is offering the pharmaceutical-grade product underneath Slovenia’s evolving framework for cannabinoid compounding.
This improvement is a part of a broader epilepsy programme platform (EPP) that spans manufacturing, analysis, doctor schooling, and industrial roll-out throughout Europe and past. The corporate is utilizing the Slovenian launch as a proof-of-concept for additional enlargement into different EU and US hospital programs.
