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Shares of GW Pharmaceuticals PLC hit a record high on Thursday after the medical marijuana company announced a new position of the Drug Enforcement Administration on its approved drug containing cannabidiol or CBD.
Specifically, the DEA said on Thursday that it was now placing FDA-approved drugs with CBD in "Schedule V," which it defines as having the lowest potential of any kind. abuse, such as drugs used to treat diarrhea and cough suppressants. Marijuana remains an "Schedule I" drug, along with heroin and LSD.
The DEA's decision comes three months after Epidiolex became the first and only cannabis-derived drug to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The DEA action means that GW can sell Epidiolex, a treatment for pediatric epilepsy, but has not gone further to reclassify the CBD as a whole.
Do not miss: The first drug derived from cannabis has been approved in the United States.
Stifel Nicolaus analyst Paul Matteis said he had previously speculated that Epidiolex would be "Schedule IV," which includes prescription drugs such as Valium and Xanax.
"We continue to recommend the title on the basis that we believe that the launch of Epidiolex may exceed expectations in the first year," Matteis wrote in a note to his clients.
GW stock
GWPH, + 7.23%
rose 6.2% in mid-day trading, reducing prior gains by 10% to a record high of $ 179.65 in intraday. The volume climbed to 1.3 million shares, nearly triple the daily average.
Elsewhere in the cannabis sector, shares of Aleafia Health Inc.
LEAF, + 12.60%
ALEF, + 12.90%
rose 12% after Toronto-based medical clinic and cannabis clinic announced Thursday that it has signed a new supply agreement with CannTrust Holdings Inc., in which CannTrust
TRST, -2.96%
has the right to buy up to 15,000 kilograms of cannabis in Aleafia. CannTrust's shares fell 2.9%.
On Wednesday, Aleafia's stock fell 22% to snap a seven-game winning streak in which it climbed 158%.
At the same time, the broader cannabis sector was the weakest, the ETFMG Alternative Life Sciences Index ETFMG
MJ -0.90%
0.6%, with 23 of its 37 equity components declining. The ETF was still up 37% in the last three months, while the Russell 2000 Small Cap Index
RUT, + 0.30%
climbed 3.4% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average
DJIA, + 0.58%
gained 10%.
Ontario is expected to be the largest consumer of recreational marijuana in Canada: According to Statistics Canada, it accounted for more than 40% of cannabis sales in the country last year.
Read also: Canada's largest province unveils the rules governing the retail sale of marijuana.
The biggest winner of the ETF (MJ) was Tilray Inc.
TLRY, + 11.41%
which has climbed 12%, and has now risen 29% due to a series of three consecutive wins. Tilray has received DEA approval to provide marijuana extracts for a recent drug trial, an approval that many US companies have attempted to receive.
Among other more active cannabis titles, Aurora Cannabis Inc.
ACBFF, -3.71%
CBA -3.61%
down 1.6%, Canopy Growth Corp.
GSC -5.26%
CANNABIS, -5.44%
paid 4.6%, Cronos Group Inc.
CRON, -1.30%
CRON, -0.97%
0.1% facility and Supreme Cannabis Co.
SPRWF, -2.08%
FIRE, -3.11%
lost 2.9%.
Shares of India Globalization Capital Inc.
IGC + 28.15%
rose 24%, adding to the 30% rise on Wednesday, after the company said it entered the CBD-infused energy drinks sector.
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