The coronavirus has had dreadful impacts on numerous industries across the globe. While most entities are busy stabilizing themselves after the hit, the cannabis industry is taking steps to continue on its growth trajectory.
Recently, the global pharmaceutical – Pfizer – has penetrated the US cannabis market with an astounding $6.7 billion cash deal. Several pharmaceutical companies across the globe have invested in medical cannabis in the past, but the Pfizer deal tops the charts with the highest-grossing figures.
In this blog, we will highlight the key points of this deal and how it may impact the US medical cannabis industry in the future.
The Acquisition
Pfizer has recently acquired Arena Pharmaceuticals – a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company. The deal was announced in mid-December 2021.
Arena Pharmaceuticals is known for its clinical research and development of critical medicines for patients. It is currently undergoing pioneering research where the company is looking into the potential therapeutic effects of cannabis for gastrointestinal diseases.
Arena Pharmaceuticals is also working on developing a Type-2 cannabinoid receptor antagonist, which may be helpful in treating the pain triggered by gastrointestinal disorders. Now with a giant like Pfizer backing these initiatives (carrying out research to create medications based on cannabis), advocates are hopeful that 2022 will be yet another prolific year for the US cannabis industry.
Pfizer is the largest multinational pharmaceutical in New York City, with a valuation of approximately $167 billion. In addition to being known globally for its array of medications, the company has extended its already widespread name by becoming one of the three manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines in the United States.
Other Pharmaceuticals Are Following the Suit
Experts like David Nathan – the Founder of Doctors for Cannabis Regulation – are closely monitoring the trend Pfizer is setting to see if such companies are able to introduce cannabis-based drugs into the market successfully.
There are several other pharmaceuticals that have already jumped into the medical cannabis industry years before Pfizer did. Some examples include Avicanna joining JLabs business incubator, Novartis AG partnering with Canadian Tilray, and Jazz Pharmaceutical acquiring GW Pharmaceuticals (the company behind the development of the only federally approved medical cannabis-based medicine, Epidiolex).
A Hopeful Future
Pharma giants like Pfizer are opening new doors for the growth of the global cannabis industry. The President and CEO of Arena Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company working on therapeutics – Amit D. Munshi – stated that he and his team are delighted in the fact that Pfizer has shown interest in their company.
Mr. Munshi highlighted that the move highlights the potential of Arena and its contribution towards unravelling ways to address immune-mediated inflammatory diseases. He further added to his statement by saying that becoming part of Pfizer has enabled Arena to expedite its mission of delivering the best medicines to the market.
This move by Pfizer has provided the US cannabis industry with an excellent start for the year 2022. As more MNCs are expected to follow suit, the research around medical cannabis will also take major leaps moving forward.
In fact, some advocates are also hopeful that the expansion in research programs around medical cannabis may even result in federal cannabis legalization in the US.
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