• Diversified industrial holding company operating in one of fastest growing markets in the world
• Patented “green technology” allows industrial companies to extract valuable metal byproducts from solid industrial waste.
• Owns two international U.S. patents and five patents issued by PRC
• Company is addressing worldwide challenges in mining and industrial waste
• Provides “clean” alternative to traditional waste disposal
• Reduces solid waste discharge and generates new revenues for end users from extracted metals

TMSR Holding Company Ltd. (NASDAQ: TMSR), together with its subsidiaries, is a recognized leader in the research, development, production and sale of solid waste recycling systems and zero emissions process systems, for the industrial and mining sectors in the People’s Republic of China. The company operates through its wholly owned business divisions: Shengrong Environmental and Wuhan HOST Coating Materials.

TMSR’s Shengrong subsidiary designs, builds, sells and services customized solid waste recycling systems and equipment for some of the largest industries in China. The company provides customers full-service, tailor-made systems from conceptual design to planning, production, modernization, optimization, assembly, start-up, conversions, disassembly, maintenance and servicing of components to complete zero emissions solid waste recycling and process systems.

Utilizing what management believed to be the world’s most advanced technologies of physical magnetic industrial solid waste recovery, Shengrong can process a variety of industrial solid waste materials and is able to extract valuable metal byproducts from the waste without generating any chemical pollution. Shengrong’s patented equipment can process aluminum slag, copper mine tailings, iron mine tailings, red mud manganese tailings, and molybdenum tailings among many others. Unlike traditional chemical-based recovery methods, the company extracts resalable metals from the waste without generating any pollution. The residues are processed to manufacture high-quality construction materials, turning polluted solid waste into valuable industrial materials with zero discharge.

Industrial solid waste recycling and heavy metal removal are significant worldwide technical, financial and environmental issues. Through Shengrong, TMSR is addressing this profound unmet market need by delivering end users a clean alternative to traditional waste disposal. The company intends to leverage these serious unmet needs, expand its patented industrial waste recycling systems to broad international markets, and provide global industrial and mining businesses cost-effective, patented green technology platforms that create newfound revenue streams for end users.

Through Shengrong, TMSR owns two U.S. patents and five patents granted by the Peoples Republic of China, including four invention patents and two utility model patents. The company’s research and development efforts have achieved technological advancements that allow end users to eliminate pollutant discharge as well as generate new revenue streams by selling valuable byproducts extracted from industrial waste.

TMSR subsidiary, Wuhan HOST Coating Materials, is the largest manufacturer of inorganic Zinc-rich resin and one-component epoxy Zinc-rich resin in China. Established in 2010, Wuhan HOST is a leader in the research and development, production and sale of Zinc-rich coating materials throughout the PRC and has a broad customer base that includes some of the foremost enterprises in major industries such as electricity, metallurgy, machinery, chemicals, bridge and shipping. TMSR completed the acquisition of 100% equity interest in Wuhan HOST Coating Materials on May 1, 2018.

Notably, TMSR first went public as JM Global Holding Company, a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) formed to effect a merger, asset acquisition or other business combination that had exceptional growth potential. After reviewing over 50 potential targets and completing due diligence and third party analysis, JM Global identified China Sunlong Environmental Technology Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiaries as the acquisition target. Upon closing the business combination, the company was re-named TMSR Holding Company Ltd.

Demand for TMSR’s products is expected to grow significantly due to Chinese policies that encourage mining and manufacturing companies to adopt “green” technology. Approximately 3 billion tons of industrial solid waste were generated annually in China between 2011 through 2015.  Currently, 95% of industrial solid waste in China is stored in special facilities and sites; however, the cost of storage, disposal and incineration of industrial solid wastes is high. TMSR is focused on exploiting this unmet need, providing end users in the solid waste recycling markets a clean alternative to traditional waste disposal, significantly reducing solid waste discharge into the environment and enabling end users to extract value from industrial waste materials.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.TMSRHolding.com

• ‘Very high accuracy’ platform cuts cryptocurrency/virtual coin transaction time by deploying predictive algorithm
• Product rollout benefitting distribution MOU in Turkey and Cyprus, with Nigeria option
• Market for cryptocurrency-enabled ATMs expected to have CAGR of 45.8 percent through 2025

The growth of blockchain-enabled currencies worldwide as a way to complete financial transactions with fewer regulatory hurdles than those imposed by traditional banking solutions exemplifies a modern-day movement to empower people monetarily, but the fintech industry has its own set of challenges. In response to the transaction time delays inherent in the need to secure a cryptocurrency agreement, Virtual Crypto Technologies Inc. (OTCQB: VRCP) has rolled out a proprietary algorithmic platform that dramatically speeds up the verification process, which in turn allows parties to negotiate trades at real-time rates without concerns that the rate will become much more unfavorable by the time the transaction is concluded.

Virtual Crypto Technologies Inc., through wholly owned Israeli subsidiary Virtual Crypto Technologies Ltd., develops products that make cryptocurrencies accessible to the public through payment solutions that benefit businesses and consumers alike.

Virtual Crypto Technologies’ NetoBit product line attracted the attention of Israel-based oil refinery relocater Chiron Refineries Ltd. (TASE: CHR), which this year began to diversify its operations to include the “cryptocurrency accessibility” sector. Chiron inked a binding Memorandum of Understanding with Virtual Crypto in January that granted Chiron exclusive rights to distribute Virtual Crypto’s products in the territories of North Cyprus and Turkey (http://ibn.fm/C5WqD), with an option to expand the distribution business into Nigeria within 12 months.

Chiron intends to market the technology to casino cashiers, ATM operators, currency exchange offices and coffee shops for starters, offering a non-bank means of completing financial transactions using the cryptocurrencies at a rapid completion rate.

“We decided to enter the cryptocurrency sector as we envision a significant increase in market participation and believe that there is a real opportunity to generate substantial revenues by making cryptocurrency accessible and understandable to the mainstream consumer,” Chiron CEO Rony Kuperberg stated in a recent news release (http://ibn.fm/f4ezn).

Virtual Crypto’s combination of Application Programming Interfaces and mobile applications supports its products’ deployment in ATMs, PCs and mobile devices such as tablets and cell phones. The global market for ATMs that allow transactions in cryptocurrencies is forecast to increase from its 2017 valuation of $14 million to surpass $285.1 million by 2025, experiencing a CAGR of 45.8 percent, according to market researcher Coherent News (http://ibn.fm/6K77b), but only about a third of the machines currently allow two-way trades.

Virtual Crypto states that NetoBit Trader’s ability to drastically reduce the transaction time is largely due to a “very high accuracy” predictive algorithm that establishes the likelihood of a successful transaction long before it is actually completed. Whereas a typical transaction may take from 10 minutes to 24 hours to complete and close the blockchain module, NetoBit’s system establishes the probability of validation by multiple miners, even as the miner validation process is taking place (http://ibn.fm/5AMjg). The platform also addresses common liquidity problems by connecting with multiple exchanges, allowing the system to divide a single payment across exchanges and thereby create more of a resource than a single exchange can provide.

As Virtual Crypto has rolled out phases of its product, Chiron has responded with phased payments, announcing the completion of an initial $50,000 payment followed by another $50,000 executed in transferred stock shares thus far.

“Our collaboration with Chiron continues to progress at an accelerated pace, largely driven by their desire to establish an early foothold in the Turkish and Cypriot markets,” Virtual Crypto CEO Alon Dayan stated in one of the news releases. “Preliminary testing of the modified software was extremely successful and we expect to maintain this momentum, providing them with a next version we expect to be released in the following weeks.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Virtual-Crypto.com

• Joint venture project with Global Hemp Group Inc., an industrial hemp company based out of Canada
• New field manager has extensive experience in agriculture, strong ties with the farming community
• Contracts signed initially with four farmers who have already started seeding a 125-acre industrial hemp crop

The industrial hemp project in northeast New Brunswick, Canada, is now underway following the hiring of a fulltime agrologist and field manager and the initial signing of four farmers, innovative hemp and cannabis corporation Marijuana Company of America, Inc. (OTC: MCOA) announced in a recent press release with joint venture partner Global Hemp Group, Inc. (CSE: GHG) (FRANKFURT: GHG) (OTC: GBHPF) (http://ibn.fm/EX8dv). The New Brunswick Hemp Project focuses on the development of an industrial cluster surrounding hemp crops, so as to ensure year-round manufacturing opportunities and a steady market for farmers. This would be part of a wider goal to eventually establish a Hemp Agro-Industrial Zone that is expected to provide a constant revenue stream for both joint venture partners.

To oversee field operations and provide crop expertise, the partners have hired Joan Parker-Duivenvoorden, who boasts a bachelor of science in agriculture with a major in plant protection, along with more than 15 years of experience with the Nova Scotia Department of Agriculture and the New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association. Parker-Duivenvoorden has established strong ties with the local farming community, which will prove advantageous once the joint project expands from its initial group of four farmers to more than 50 over the next few years, the press release notes. The new field manager will oversee the local project but also provide advisory services to participating farmers, develop training materials for future participants and run research projects to monitor the behavior of different hemp varieties in varying environments. Parker-Duivenvoorden’s long-term goal at the project is to develop a profitable organic hemp crop rotation, possibly paving the way to the production and processing of cannabidiol (CBD).

The partners have also secured a 4,000 sq. ft. facility to house biomass storage and drying equipment. Dried material will also be stored here before being processed by third party processors. Once the partners obtain licenses needed to import and manufacture finished CBD products, the facility may serve as a distribution hub for Marijuana Company of America’s hempSMART™ and Benihemp product lines. Additionally, contracts have already been signed with an initial group of four farmers, who have already started to seed a 125-acre industrial hemp crop. Located throughout the northeast of New Brunswick, these farmers will provide relevant data on the behavior of crops across the region, which is expected to facilitate the recruitment of more participants in the coming years.

The New Brunswick Hemp Project is one of the two hemp cultivation programs that Marijuana Company of America and Global Hemp Group are running together. The other is a 109-acre property in Scio, Oregon, which has a high level of organic matter in the soil, making it ideal for hemp cultivation. The property, purchased for $1.1 million, already has a history of hemp cultivation in the last two growing seasons.

MCOA’s focus is on the product development, manufacture and distribution of legal hemp-based consumer products that are marketed under its proprietary brand name, hempSMART™. The company produces a range of CBD-based nutritional and botanical supplement products from high-quality hemp extracts, including a pain relief product called hempSMART Pain, which is also available as a cream-based topical, an ayurvedic nootropic product called hempSMART Brain, hempSMART Full Spectrum Drops and hempSMART Pet Drops. The company has also developed an affiliate marketing program for the promotion and sale of its hemp-based, CBD-infused products.

With a focus on hemp cultivation and the manufacturing of related products, especially in light of a recent Congress bill seeking to remove industrial hemp from the list of Schedule 1 drugs, Marijuana Company of America is uniquely positioned to capture a significant share of the market by developing recognizable and high-quality brands, with the goal of offering increased value for its shareholders.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.MarijuanaCompanyofAmerica.com

• First search engine and online directory offering cannabis metasearch with equal and unbiased search results
• Uniquely developed cannabis database platform refuses paid placement listings or preferential outside reviews, delivering organic, honest results that complement cannabis companies, services and users
• NUGL’s Brand-to-Shop connections offer a simple way to verify cannabis brand retailers providing brands, strains, shops and services closest to the consumer
• Serving international markets with no geographic limitations with a cutting-edge technology that features first-to-market technology

NUGL Inc. (OTC: NUGL) is a search engine and online directory for the marijuana industry. NUGL’s database includes listings for dispensaries, strains, doctors, lawyers, service professionals, vape shops, hydro stores and brands. The company focuses on leading the evolution in business relations, development and organic data in the cannabis industry with metasearch technology.

Headquartered in Chino Hills, California, which is home to a projected $5 billion legal marijuana marketplace, NUGL is on track to become a major asset for the global cannabis industry and related services sectors. The company recently established a strategic partnership with Thinklogic and appointed CEO Chris Adams to NUGL’s growing board of directors. Thinklogic is a top-level software development company specializing in projects for start-ups to Fortune 500 companies.

“This strategic partnership puts NUGL in a distinguished class, adding a first-rate technical software expert like Chris gives NUGL a unique technological advantage,” said Brandon Vargas CEO of NUGL. “With the addition of Chris’s knowledge and expertise combined with Thinklogics’ experienced and skilled staff, NUGL will have the ability to evolve and build a strong infrastructure unmatched in the 420 industry.”

NUGL is nearing completion of its initial launch timeline, with plans to launch the app on both Android and iOS platforms within the next few weeks. NUGL’s live testing of its software includes enhanced reviews that detail up to 10 category ratings. Each of the category rankings allow users to leave comments and choose among a 5-star rating among all categories or as few as they wish. The software’s rating platform allows for customization and transparency for users while providing invaluable feedback to shops and professional services.

“This is a major feature that is critical to our community,” said Jeff Odle, NUGL’s CTO. “Enhanced ratings will be a definitive difference validating our organic listings and raising the standard for the industry. We want the users to know what they are getting before they step into a store or sign up for a service.”

Leadership Team

NUGL is growing its team of developers and launching new features on an ongoing basis. The company is ahead of an impressive timeline, which includes building blocks for scalability and massive growth.

“Everything we do is focused on user experience. Our philosophy is simple – make it fun and easy to use, with the purest and most unbiased results,” said Ryan Bartlette, NUGL CMO. “As the industry evolves and becomes more sophisticated, NUGL will adapt and build the best marketing technology for the cannabis-related companies. We have gotten in on the ground level and know the pulse of the industry.”

NUGL CEO Brandon Vargas is a founding member of G6 Management, a full-service consulting firm advising cannabis professionals in all aspects of business. With over 10 years’ experience in the cannabis space, he has worked on dispensary, cultivation and infusion entity formation, licensing, real estate acquisitions, construction and build out, marketing, policy and procedures, compliance, staffing, and capital raises. Vargas has an extensive background working with various medical marijuana companies on investment and in developing greenhouse and commercial cultivation, distillate for vapes cartridges, CBD oils and infusions.

CMO Ryan Bartlette is co-founder and CMO of 23Forty LLC and Boxy. He has expertly positioned and branded many companies while bringing them to market and is a sought out graphic artist, front-end developer, photographer, and visual artist with experience in the entertainment and technology industry.

Jeff Odle, NUGL CTO, is a successful senior software architect has a long and distinguished career developing some of the most innovative, cutting-edge platforms available. His unique and distinctive approach to creating the blueprint for advanced programming is industry leading and unprecedented. He is a top-level architect responsible for developing some of the most forward-­looking software for various industries.

NUGL’s board of directors includes John R. Armstrong, a founding partner of Horwitz + Armstrong, a full service general business firm handling all aspects of litigation and business strategy and advice. Armstrong and his partner, Lawrence Hortwitz, have more than 10 years of experience in the cannabis space, representing cannabis professionals in all aspects of business including business formation, licensing, compliance with local and state regulations, real estate acquisitions, corporate mergers and acquisitions, financing, inclusive of capital raises and alternative financing, contracts, and all forms of dispute resolution.

Board member Hendrik Klein, founder of Da Vinci Asset Management, a privately-owned investment firm, serves as CEO and executive board member of Fritz Nols AG, a capital marketing consulting firm specializing in trading and asset management. Klein has received several industry awards including the Austrian Hedge Fund Award, the German Hedge Fund Award, and most recently was named the Global Best Performing Systematic Quantitative CTA. Klein and the Da Vinci team employ the latest quantitative data research and analysis in their innovative investment strategy.

For more information, visit the company’s website at http://ibn.fm/NUGL

• ChineseInvestors.com is the foremost financial information website for Chinese-speaking investors
• The company provides premier, real-time market commentary, analysis and educational services in the Chinese language
• ChineseInvestors.com’s wholly owned subsidiary is ChineseHempOil.com, Inc.

California-based ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX) operates the foremost financial information website for Chinese-speaking investors. A fintech company, ChineseInvestors.com provides online financial information in Chinese language character sets. This includes traditional and simplified character sets. This financial information is for the Chinese population in the United States and around the world. The company’s subscriber base includes free as well as paying members, mainly located in the United States and Canada.

The emphasis today is on companies that can provide first-rate information that brings greater transparency to investors. The CFA Institute (http://ibn.fm/DdDTx) states that “the use of data and technology can result in a more effective and efficient overall financial reporting process in which investors… receive more transparent, better-quality information on a timely basis.”

ChineseInvestors.com works to provide better-quality information by focusing on making available premier, real-time market commentary, analysis and educational services in the Chinese language. A premier financial information company, its services are primarily delivered to U.S. public and private companies and U.S. residents and citizens. In addition, the company’s focus is on providing advertising and public relations-related support services, helping companies to better link to the large and growing Chinese community.

ChineseInvestors.com’s wholly owned subsidiary is ChineseHempOil.com, Inc., which offers CBD (cannabidiol) oil and hemp oil products. This subsidiary has expanded its domestic sales force and has appointed Nina Wang as its vice president of sales for its United States Consumer Retail/E-Commerce Division. This furthers the process to complete the spinoff of all of ChineseInvestors.com’s hemp-related assets. Wang joined ChineseHempOil.com in March of this year. Since then, she has hired a team of sales representatives centered on wholesale and consignment sales in the Los Angeles area.

In a news release, Warren Wang, ChineseInvestors.com’s chief executive officer, said, “With over 15 years sales and management experience, we look forward to the increased sales that will be generated through Mrs. Wang’s leadership as we are laying the groundwork to increase revenues in advance of the spin-off of all of the Company’s hemp related assets.”

Wang has more than 15 years’ sales experience in the financial services industry. She has over 10 years of experience as a merchant services sales manager at USA First Credit Card, Inc. Before that, she worked as a sales manager for Alliance Bank Card Services.

The spin-off of all of ChineseInvestors.com’s hemp-related assets was originally scheduled for May 31, 2018. The spin-off has been temporarily postponed as the company continues to develop its domestic sales channels.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ChineseInvestors.com

• Feisty, competitive sports fan forum building mobile betting app platform
• U.S. High Court okays state-by-state legalization of sports betting
• Mobile gaming surpassed $50 billion mark during 2017, with e-sports comprising a burgeoning element of the industry

A new era of sports fan marketing opened when the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling on May 14 that found decades-old laws prohibiting gambling on athletics to be unconstitutional, and FANDOM SPORTS Media Corp. (CSE: FDM) (OTC: FDMSF) (FRANKFURT: TQ42) sees the decision as an opportunity to drive for the end zone with development of its own trademark wagering app on mobile devices.

FANDOM SPORTS is forming up behind its existing trash-talk-friendly fan platform available on the Google Play store for Android devices, which plays on sports audiences’ competitive passions by encouraging them to engage each other in a distinct social media arena that is uncensored and polarizing. The FANDOM SPORTS App is geared toward rewarding its users based on their ability to draw in other participants either in support of a fan favorite or in derision of their most hated opponents.

In addition to bragging rights based on players’ performance, the app’s FANCOIN virtual currency will allow users to pay for exclusive content, swag and other prizes. As the company works through the development challenges of its new wagering platform, it is creating an economy built on blockchain technology that will manage any operational risks related to the gaming transactions during peer-to-peer micro betting by its users.

Until the Supreme Court’s ruling, sports betting was legal only in Nevada – not that federal law prevented a huge number of sports fans from placing friendly wagers on the outcome of a given event or season. A recent Chicago Tribune report (http://ibn.fm/SMbQI) estimates that close to 60 million people in the United States and Canada are already involved in fantasy sports leagues, many of which involve money bets. Media outlets debate the amount of money that changes hands, but agree that it figures in the billions (http://ibn.fm/ifk9v).

Gambling was once a risqué subject that figured in the province of underworld criminals and closed, smoke-filled rooms, but, in recent decades, acceptable financial risk promotion has come to signify not only stock market investment but lottery tickets, office pools, local fantasy leagues and online gaming with international connections. Casinos now are legal in 40 states, and lotteries are welcome in 44. The Chicago Tribune story reports that about half of all American adults acknowledge having bought lottery tickets during the past year, and some 81 million people patronized casinos last year.

Mobile device users approached a benchmark 50 percent of the total worldwide gaming market’s devotees last year, showing the “anywhere you are” sports following’s clout as smartphones, in particular, become nearly ubiquitous in society (http://ibn.fm/2MwXv).

“Exactly 10 years ago, the launch of the iPhone ignited a revolution in games, creating a new market segment that is this year worth around $50 billion,” a November article in Newzoo states (http://ibn.fm/u3T5u). “The past years have seen the rise of esports, taking the already popular activity of viewing game video content to a professional level.”

While hosts of companies are rushing the field to celebrate the Supreme Court’s ruling and look for ways to monetize it, the fact remains that the ruling simply left states in charge of establishing the legal framework for sports betting within their geography. Companies hoping to set up headquarters for gambling operations will still have to negotiate a patchwork of licensing laws and standards that will likely differ from one state to the next. States, for their part, will have to decide how to regulate mobile betting if it becomes as simple as playing a compulsive phone game courtside or at home during a competition.

“We won’t have a 50-state sports betting market in our lifetime,” Chris Grove, the managing director for research and consulting firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming, predicts (http://ibn.fm/nrzgd).

Still, just as lotteries and casinos spread throughout the nation, a number of states have already enacted laws intended to regulate sports betting within their confines, including New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Connecticut and Mississippi. Massachusetts and Hawaii are studying sports betting legislation, and more than a dozen states from California to Rhode Island have seen bills to legalize sports betting introduced (http://ibn.fm/L6Vlk).

FANDOM SPORTS is betting that there’s an open lane ahead for people who want to celebrate the triumph of their champions, make fun of their rivals’ defeat and, maybe, make a little money in the process.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.FANDOMSPORTS.net

• Online state-of-the-art financial service serving the medical cannabis and banking industries is growing
• Company has now acquired Colorado-licensed SpeedyGrow and organic soil accelerator SpeedyVeg
• REFG has also acquired two marijuana strains from the strains’ creator, with plans for more growth

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG) is a state-of-the-art financial services company serving the medical cannabis and banking industries. The company brought to market the first and only comprehensive card processing operation of its kind. This innovative system tracks sales and tax collection, eliminates the need to deal in cash-only transactions, offers online enrollment and empowers businesses with an advanced client management system. Once focused solely on Green, its comprehensive financial program for state-legalized cannabis markets, the company is now in the process of accelerating its growth.

In May, REFG announced its acquisition of SpeedyGrow, a Wyoming corporation licensed to grow and process hemp in Colorado, and SpeedyVeg, a proprietary formula to grow healthy plants and maximize yield. In a news release, Jeremy Roberts, CEO of REFG, stated, “We weren’t initially anticipating entering this space. But after careful consideration, the opportunity to expand our footprint in the state-sanctioned cannabis space was too good of an opportunity for our shareholders to pass up.” While the company’s energies will remain centered on providing best in class payment processing and banking services, this acquisition provides another revenue stream for REFG investors (http://ibn.fm/6uIfi).

Soon after acquiring SpeedyGrow and SpeedyVeg, REFG announced its acquisition of two marijuana strains, GrapeApe and Birthday Cake, from the strains’ creator. GrapeApe is an indica strain tested at approximately 33 percent THC by volume, while Birthday Cake is a sativa strain tested at approximately 15 percent THC and 15 percent CBD by volume. These two highly successful strains position REFG to grow, market, acquire additional licenses for marijuana cultivation and develop licensing agreements with other state-sanctioned cannabis establishments. Additional cultivation licenses will be sought via the newly acquired SpeedyGrow (http://ibn.fm/vxsOk).

“This is just the beginning,” David Schenk, president of SpeedyGrow, added. “We are making great progress and expanding our reach into the state-sanctioned marijuana space.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Take.Green

• ETST issues new audio press release regarding its audits, Form 10, financing plans and fully reporting status
• ETST has started 2017 fiscal year audit, which is required, along with the approved Form 10, to uplist to the OTCQB Venture Market
• Biotech company is focused on developing medical devices for the pharmaceutical and nutraceutical fields and marketing its high-grade line of hemp cannabidiol (CBD)

Earth Science Tech, Inc. (OTC: ETST) recently released an audio press release discussing its future financial plans and its previously announced completion of audits and Form 10 submission, which could lead to an uplisting to the OTCQB Venture Market (http://ibn.fm/JEWaC).

ETST has completed its audit for FY2015 and FY2016 and submitted its Form 10 to be fully reporting (http://ibn.fm/HDpTq), and it is currently conducting its audit for FY2017. That audit and the approved Form 10 submission, together, are needed for an uplisting to the OTCQB Venture Market.

ETST, a biotech company based in Doral, Florida, has repositioned its line of full-spectrum cannabidiol products. It also conducts R&D for low cost, non-invasive medical devices, as it concentrates on manufacturing, marketing and distributing its cannabinoid products to the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets.

Dr. Michel Aube, CEO and chief science officer of ETST, said that transparency is a key tool in the expansion of the company’s business and maintaining the confidence of investors. In a news release, he added, “Since all of our amazing projects are ongoing with our partners, investor confidence will grow, and we will be able to complete our first big round of financing.”

Nickolas Tabraue, director and president of ETST, said, “Thanks to our passionate, likeminded team, the transition should be smooth as we continue growing. I look forward to sharing updates on the full reporting process as it progresses.”

ETST holds four wholly owned subsidiaries. Cannabis Therapeutics is an emerging biotechnology company. KannaBidioiD manufactures and distributes in the recreational sector. Earth Science Foundation, Inc. is becoming a non-profit to accept grants and donations for conducting additional studies. Earth Science Pharmaceutical develops medical diagnostic tools and vaccines.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.EarthScienceTech.com

• Cannabis cultivation plagued by legal peril and price volatility
• Demand for non-psychotropic cannabinoids is growing rapidly
• GHG hemp cultivation projects now underway in the U.S. and Canada

In California, Oregon, and Washington State, cannabis farmers (growing mainly for THC content) are now suffering from the unwelcome truth in economics – prices of almost everything seesaw perennially. In the case of cannabis, wholesale prices have entered a freefall, motivating farmers to cultivate hemp for CBD extraction in place of cannabis. As a result, Global Hemp Group, Inc. (CSE: GHG) (FRANKFURT: GHG) (OTC: GBHPF) and Marijuana Company of America (OTC: MCOA) are teaming up to grow CBD-rich hemp in Oregon. Demand for CBD and other cannabinoids is increasing as their application in health-enhancing products gains steam.

The oversupply problem is particularly acute in Oregon. Three years after the legalization of recreational marijuana, the state is buried under a mountain of weed. In February, Oregon State records showed 1.1 million pounds of cannabis flower had been registered. That’s about three times annual consumption. In 2017, ‘Oregonians smoked, vaped or otherwise consumed just under 340,000 pounds of legal bud’, according to one report (http://ibn.fm/hqiYM).

Despite this surplus, output is expected to climb as more growers are licensed. By April 1, the Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) had issued 963 licenses to recreational cannabis growers, with another 910 applications pending. The OLCC says it cannot legally put a limit on the number of licenses it issues; if an applicant qualifies, withholding a license would constitute a violation of due process. Naturally, the excess supply has resulted in much, much lower revenues for producers, who are switching from growing cannabis for its THC content to hemp for CBD.

CBD is turning out to be not only a best seller in consumer markets but also a bonus crop for farmers, who can earn more than $100,000 an acre growing hemp plants to produce it, according to the Associated Press (http://ibn.fm/1ETSk). A number like that makes the joint venture between Global Hemp Group and Marijuana Company of America look decidedly attractive. In May, the two companies acquired a 109-acre agricultural property in the fertile Willamette Valley approximately 70 miles south of Portland, Oregon, to grow CBD-rich hemp (http://ibn.fm/cT4Hg).

The project includes five greenhouses with a canopy extending to nearly 20,000 square feet. This marks the second collaboration between Global Hemp Group and Marijuana Company of America. The two companies are also working together on an industrial hemp project in New Brunswick, Canada. Results of the 2017 season there were encouraging, and the partners are now planting 125 acres of hemp for 2018. Over the following three years, grow area is planned to rise to 1,000 acres (http://ibn.fm/KYnhM).

Recently, the partners provided an update on the New Brunswick project, announcing that Joan Parker-Duivenvoorden has joined the enterprise as project agrologist and field manager. Parker-Duivenvoorden, a graduate of Guelph University, earned a BSc (Agr) majoring in plant protection in 1981. She has garnered over 15 years’ experience with the Nova Scotia Dept. of Agriculture and with the New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association (NBSCIA).

As legal perils and economic vicissitudes continue to plague the cannabis industry, hemp cultivated to produce CBD is looking good to grow. This is exactly what Global Hemp Group plans to do. The company is executing a multi-phased strategy to build a strong presence in the industrial hemp industry in Canada and the United States. The first phase of this strategy, already underway, is hemp cultivation to extract cannabinoids (CBD, CBG, CBN and CBC). This is expected to create a short-term revenue stream that will allow the company to expand and develop successive phases of the strategy. The second phase of the plan will focus on the development of value-added industrial products utilizing the processing of the whole hemp plant, as envisioned in the company’s Hemp Agro-Industrial Zone (HAIZ) strategy.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.GlobalHempGroup.com

• Biologics offer novel ways of treating degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s
• Biologics are one of the fastest-growing drug categories
• PreEMT™ technology improves quality, reduces cost of biologic manufacture

When we think of drugs, an image of potions in round-bottom flasks conjured up in labs comes to mind, or perhaps pills of one sort or another ingested with a sip of water, for about 90 percent of drugs currently in use have that profile. However, discovering that the human body will act as its own physician by dispensing protective proteins called antibodies to fight the toxins that bring on diseases has spurred efforts, naturally enough, to develop those proteins synthetically. This new class of biotherapeutic protein drugs, or biologics, tends to be more effective at combating pathological conditions with less side effects, since they mimic endogenously produced proteins, which target highly specific parts of the invader (antigens). Unfortunately, the production of biologics is easier said than done; it typically requires hundreds of process steps to assemble one of these complex biotherapeutic proteins. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the PreEMT™ platform recently acquired by Pressure BioSciences Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) is a welcome addition to biologic development.

The company recently announced the signing of an agreement with an international biopharmaceutical company to assess the potential of the PreEMT™ technology as the basis for a unique manufacturing process and as an enhancement to the quality of a key protein-based drug currently under development (http://ibn.fm/X3R0O).

Many currently available drugs are synthesized chemically, with molecular structures that are “well defined and relatively simple” (http://ibn.fm/wL3eC). Their simplicity makes them easy to produce and easy for the human body to assimilate. A good example is acetylsalicylic acid (ASA), the active ingredient in aspirin, which has a molecular weight of about 180 grams per mole. Generally, such drugs are swallowed in pill or liquid form before entering the gastrointestinal system and blood stream by diffusion through the intestinal wall. Once in the blood, they have access to the entire body, their tiny size allowing them to penetrate cell membranes easily.

Biologics, by contrast, are much larger compounds that mimic the complex endogenous proteins produced by the immune system. They are generally composed of hundreds of amino acids and may carry a weight as high as 150,000 grams per mole. Biologics will bind to the specific cell receptors associated with a particular disease. For example, monoclonal antibodies are adept at recognizing very specific structures on the surface of cells. This specificity means that healthy cells are not adversely affected, resulting in less side effects. This is one reason that treatment by biologics can be superior to regimens developed with traditional combinatorial chemistries.

Because of their complexity, the manufacture of biotherapeutic proteins is prone to errors, very often falling prey to aggregation and misfolding. Misfolding occurs when the normal, three-dimensional structure of a protein becomes distorted, which may lead the protein to aggregate, a result that is quite the opposite of the benign outcomes intended in the manufacture of biologics. Many pathological conditions occur naturally by misfolded proteins. The list includes Alzheimer’s disease, which affects about 10 percent of the adult population over 65 years old in North America, as well as Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease. However, PBIO’s PreEMT patented technology could reduce the incidence of misfolding in manufacture.

“PreEMT results in the dissolution of protein aggregates, which may have a significant impact on the quality of protein drugs by improving protein activity, homogeneity, and stability, as well as by reducing undesirable immunogenic properties”, Dr. Alexander Lazarev, PBIO’s vice president of R&D, stated in a news release.

Richard T. Schumacher, president and CEO of PBIO, added “Importantly, should the PreEMT technology result in more efficient production of high quality protein-based therapeutics for any biopharmaceutical company developing new protein-based therapeutics, manufacturing-scale licenses have the potential to generate millions of dollars in annual royalty revenue for PBIO.”

The technology is likely to find application across a wide range of proteins in reducing aggregation levels in bulk or final formulations, thereby improving product safety. PreEMT is scalable, and it is expected to significantly reduce manufacturing costs.

The acquisition of the PreEMT technology gives PBIO a footprint in the very large and growing biologics contract research services sector. The company is also busily developing its recently patented Ultra Shear Technology (UST) platform. The scalable, pressure-based UST technology creates stable nanoemulsions of otherwise immiscible fluids. It can be used to extend the shelf life of homogenized dairy products without refrigeration, for example. All the while, PBIO continues its focus on its core product line that generated $2.2 million in 2017 revenue: the development of pressure cycling technology (PCT)-based products for biomarker and target discovery, drug design and development, biotherapeutics characterization and quality control, soil and plant biology, forensics and counter-bioterror applications.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.PressureBioSciences.com