The merger of Australian medical cannabis company Zelda Therapeutics Limited (ASX: ZLD) and the USA’s Ilera Therapeutics LLC has been completed.
On Monday, what is now Zelira Therapeutics Ltd announced the acquisition of 100% of the issued capital of Ilera Therapeutics LLC had been finalised following support from Zelira shareholders at the Annual General Meeting held late last month.
With operations in Australia and the USA, Zelira says it will have a strong platform to access global medicinal cannabis markets.
“Ilera Therapeutics and Zelda are an excellent and natural fit, given our respective clinical development strategies and operational expertise,” said Zelira Founder and Chairman Osagie Imasogie. “Both companies have successful track records of creating substantial value for shareholders and, together, we will retain and further build on this focus.”
… and hopefully, patients will benefit from the merger too.
In other recent news from the company – when it was still Zelda Therapeutics – on November 21 it announced the inking of a deal with cannabis distribution company, Health House Holdings Limited, to distribute Zelda-branded medicinal cannabis products in Australasia and the United Kingdom.
The agreement also covers “HOPE”; proprietary medicinal cannabis formulations Zelda/Zelira acquired as part of the merger with Ilera Therapeutics. HOPE is a formulation containing THC, CBD and various terpenes – pinene, valencine and eucalyptol in the case of HOPE 1 and caryophyllene, myrcene and bisabolol in HOPE 2. Ilera also had a wide range of other formulations, THC distillate, flower, and strain-specific extract oils in its product lineup.
As for what was previously Zelda, it was involved in the study and use of medicinal cannabis to treat a variety of ailments including insomnia, autism, opioid reduction and cancer; activities that will continue under the new company.
Zelda stated it planned to launch HOPE and its insomnia product in global markets from early next year.
Regarding Zelda’s Phase II Insomnia Clinical Trial, it was fully enrolled by November 7 and no adverse events had been reported by that date. The trial involves evaluation of the safety and efficacy of a cannabinoid extract containing tetrahydrocannabinol and cannabidiol in patients with symptoms of clinically diagnosed chronic insomnia.
Earlier last month, Zelda said it was to supply a cannabis medicine formulation for the CARE NSW Clinical Trial involving up to 600 patients with advanced cancer.
