Pfizer’s announced purchase of Arena Pharmaceuticals exemplifies a satisfactory acquisition within the CBD medical treatment industry

CS MEDICA A/S (”CS MEDICA” or the ”Company”) see a strategic turnaround and new era for the CBD Medical treatment sector as Pfizer has announced the acquisition of Arena Pharmaceuticals. The acquisition exemplifies Big Pharma moving into the Cannabinoid treatment space and acknowledging Cannabinoids (CBD) in the medical treatment market.  

Pfizer’s announced[1] purchase of the US clinical-trial stage cannabinoids company, Arena Pharmaceuticals, exemplifies a satisfactory acquisition and a game-changer for CS MEDICA and the CBD medical treatment industry in which the Company operates. With this acquisition, Pfizer’s takes a strategic leap upward, highlighting the entire CBD medical industry into a new era in the medical sector. CS MEDICA is positioned at the forefront of the CBD medical industry as an established cannabis medical treatment development company, with all the company’s treatment products under the pharmaceutical legislation (Medical Device).  The medical treatment possibilities within cannabinoids now takes a strategic leap upward in the medical- and the Big pharma industry.

Forbes[2] describes Pfizer’s acquisition of Arena as a ”bet on medical cannabis industry” and it follows that other Big Pharma companies are looking into the fast-evolving cannabis space.  R&D on cannabinoids is currently achieving exciting results in the treatment area and CS MEDICA expects to see a general turnaround in the recognition of the efficacy of cannabinoid treatment, both in general and in society, and among pharmaceutical companies in the following years.

Pfizer Acquire Arena Pharmaceuticals
Pfizer Inc. and Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced on the 13th of December 2021[3], that the companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Pfizer will acquire Arena, a clinical stage company developing innovative potential therapies for the treatment of several immuno-inflammatory diseases. Under the terms of the agreement, Pfizer will acquire all the outstanding shares of Arena for $100 per share in an all-cash transaction for the modest price of $6.7 billion. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the transaction. The deal is now expected to close in the first half of 2022, pending regulatory approvals.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Arena) is an American biopharmaceutical company founded in 1997 with a pipeline dedicated to cannabinoid-type therapeutics. The core of its cannabis operation consists of Olorinab (APD371), an investigational, oral, full agonist of the cannabinoid type 2 receptor (CB2), which aims to treat patients with diseases affecting the stomach and intestine. On Arena's website, it is stated that, Olorinab is an investigational drug and is not currently approved for use by any health authority.  Arena's portfolio also includes other non-cannabinoid drug pipelines focusing on developing innovative potential therapies to treat several immuno-inflammatory diseases. 

Arena has currently one drug on the market, Belviq (lorcaserin), a weight-loss medication. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Lorcaserin on June 27, 2012. The company committed in 2012 to a sales force of 200. In 2015 and 2016, the company downsized and laid off 180 of I total 217 workers and shifted its focus to developing new drugs, currently being tested in clinical trials[4].  According to the 2021 third Quarter report from Arena[5] the revenue is currently 0 US$.

Clinical Trials and Development Status - Arena vs. CS MEDICA
Arena’s clinical trials portfolio includes a diverse development-stage therapeutic cannabis candidate in gastroenterology, dermatology, and cardiology diseases. CS MEDICA’s finalized products and clinical trials portfolio are focused on autoimmune- or stress-related disorders with 4 distinct focus areas: skin-, musculoskeletal- and respiratory disorders and dermaceuticals. To get a full understanding of the clinical trial status of Arena and comprehending those of CS MEDICA; the clinical trials status of both companies, are listed in below attachment. More information of the clinical Trials of CS MEDICA can be found here and of Arena here.

Arena does not have any medicines or products approved for use by any health authority[6].  All CS MEDICA’s products are registered under the pharmaceutical legislation Medical Device Directive (MDD) currently under update to the new Medical Device Regulation (MDR).  To the knowledge of the board of directors, of CS MEDICA, the company is currently the only company in the world with cannabinoids medical treatment products under the pharmaceutical legislation.  While all treatment products from CS MEDICA are IPR secured by patents and trademarks, this is not totally clear for Arena’s products.  Learn more about the IPR rights of CS MEDICA here.

For more information about CS MEDICA, please contact:
Gitte Lund Henriksen, CFO
Phone: + (45) 2774 2280
Email: glh@cs-medica.com
Website: https://www.cs-medica.com/

CS MEDICA A/S is a Danish medico cannabis company founded in 2011. CS MEDICA is committed to developing, manufacturing, and commercializing over-the-counter (OTC) medical device products containing cannabinoids. The Company runs its business through the two fully-owned subsidiaries, Galaxa Pharma A/S (distributor and representative of foreign manufacturers in the Nordic, registered medical device product distributor) and CanNordic A/S (Medical device developer and seller (BtB), registered medical device product manufacturer). CS MEDICA distributes products across the European borders and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark.

The company is listed on Spotlight Stock Market in Stockholm (symbol: “CSMED”). For more information about CS MEDICA cs-medica.com.