The stock of pharma firm India Globalization Capital (NYSE: IGC) rose in pre-market trading today on news of approval by the Puerto Rican Institutional Review Board for a study of a drug that may prove useful in treating dementia with Alzheimer’s disease, as reported at Street Insider and elsewhere.
Directly after the bell, IGC stands at just over $1.25, up from the previous close of $1.08.
That caps the past month of activity with a value range not seen since late July.
The study in question would be a double-blind, placebo-controlled study based on the acquisition of a patent by IGC from the University of South Florida for cannabis micro-dosing in a formulation with other ingredients.
“With this important approval, our Company can implement a 50-person double-blind placebo-controlled trial that we hope begins to prove the efficacy of micro-doses of cannabis in combination with other natural compounds on the behavior of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s,” said IGC CEO Ram Mukunda in a press statement. “We expect to measure improvements in neuropsychiatric symptoms (“NPI”) such as delusions, agitation/aggression, dysphoria, anxiety, sleep disorder, disinhibition, irritability, apathy and eating abnormalities, among others.”
The current spike stands against a pattern of substantial increases and slow downward burns: IGC was up to two dollars in June, and $2.20 in March, with a 52-week high of $14.58 and a 52-week low of just 25 cents.
A historical chart shows an enormous spike in October 2018, followed by a dramatic increase in February of this year, and another in June.
We’ll see if IGC can rise higher as the drug goes through the pipeline; for now, IGC is looking like an appealing small cap choice in a market where biotech spikes are not uncommon.
