Marina Biotech Inc. (OTCQB: MRNA) filed a 10K with the SEC on April 5, 2017, for its year ended December 31, 2016. The late stage biopharmaceutical company summarized its achievements in 2016 and provided an outlook into its 2017 performance, including its planned clinical trials in 2018. Marina Biotech specializes in creating and commercializing innovative therapies for treatments of cancer, hypertension, and arthritis.

The firm plans to move by the first quarter of 2018 into a phase 3 clinical study of its drug candidate, IT-102, a fixed dose combination (FDC) bi-layer tablet, said Joseph Ramelli, chief executive officer of Marina Biotech. It recently signed an agreement for Windlas Healthcare Limited to manufacture the tablet, positioning Marina Biotech for the Phase 3 study. That India-based firm has facilities that are approved by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) in the U.S., as well as the European Union Good Manufacturing Practices (EU cGMP).

The company also reported:

• Marina Biotech expanded its unsecured credit line from its chairman, Dr. Vuong Trieu, on April 4, 2017, for an additional $500,000. The initial line was for $540,000 secured last November. The company had drawn down $250,000 of that by December 31, 2016. The company also secured another line of credit from Autotelic, Inc., for the commercialization of IT-102 and IT-103.
• The company announced that it has completed its merger with IThena Pharma, enabling it to advance its development of combination tablets for arthritis, pain, cancer and hypertension. The transaction with IThena Pharma has put in motion a new pipeline by Marina Biotech that advances its development of combination therapies.
• Marina Biotech announced the results of new preclinical and clinical data for its drug candidates IT-102 and IT-103. These results support the further development of both for the treatment of hypertension/pain, Ramelli said. Among these results was the indication that IT-102 and IT-103 could serve as unique anticancer agents.
• In February of 2017 the company entered into a licensing agreement with LipoMedics, under which Marina Biotech could receive up to $90 million in milestone payments which are success based. Under that agreement, Marina Biotech gave a license to LipoMedics for its SMARTICLES platform for the delivery of nanoparticles, including small molecules.

For more information, visit www.MarinaBio.com

How does a company in the mining industry successfully move toward becoming a leader in the marijuana sector, specifically cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical therapies that treat a variety of diseases and conditions? In the case of India Globalization Capital, Inc. (NYSE MKT: IGC), the answer is creative management’s ability to identify opportunity, coupled with a relentless drive toward innovation.

IGC made its switch to the marijuana industry after its CEO, Executive Chairman, and President Ram Mukunda was unafraid to recognize and act on a need for the company to make a positive and swift switch to a stronger and more lucrative market. This led IGC to cannabis and, in particular, phytocannabinoids.

The cannabis plant has a number of subspecies, some of which have psychoactive properties and others do not. Cannabis sativa is psychoactive, while other forms, such as Cannabis Sativa L., or hemp, and Cannabis ruderalis, are not. In fact, the latter offer high levels of cannabidiol, which is most commonly used on a medical level.

Legal marijuana is now becoming one of the fastest growing industries in the United States, expected to create just under 300,000 jobs for Americans by 2020 (http://dtn.fm/fEq5E), and an increasing number of states are legalizing the drug both medically and recreationally, with the potential for further legalization on the horizon.

Although the marijuana industry is growing at an exponential rate, federal laws that classify marijuana as a Schedule 1 drug make it hard for businesses to reach their full potential,but IGC has been able to research and take advantage of cannabinoids, since these are not illegal. Part of IGC’s success is due to the fact that the company is not going about its mission to help patients suffering from pain, PTSD, seizures, and many other diseases on its own. The company is creating strategic alliances with doctors, researchers, dispensaries, and practitioners, among other industry experts, in order to develop a product portfolio of much needed phytocannabinoid-based therapies.

IGC has entered into the industry aware that there is a huge amount of information already available at the grassroots level of the marijuana industry. This is why it is seeking IP transfers with producers who know about growing hybrids and strains that are rich in specific phytocannabinoids that can be used in a pharmaceutical environment to help patients who could benefit from cannabinoids.

In addition to its extensive development pipeline, which includes six products for various disorders in both adults and animals and three expected to go through to preclinical trials this year, IGC is planning on taking equity positions within companies that are directly and indirectly part of the marijuana industry, another way that investors can take advantage of a booming industry.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.IGCinc.us

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The scourge of HIV/AIDS surged to the forefront of American consciousness in 1980 when the first case was reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Initially thought to be transmitted solely through homosexual liaisons, it was soon realized that the disease could be passed through the bodily fluids of any person infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Contrary to early myths, HIV cannot be contracted by shaking hands or hugging, or by touching dishes or toilet seats used by infected people. It doesn’t spread through the air, through insect bites or through sweat, saliva or urine. HIV is only spread through sexual intercourse, sharing needles, or by a mother passing the disease to her child at birth, and it is transmitted through blood, semen, pre-seminal fluid, rectal fluids, vaginal fluids or breast milk.

Urban legend purports that HIV started in the 1980s, but that was only when the public first became aware of HIV and when it was officially recognized as a new health concern. The origin of HIV has been a topic of debate since the virus was first identified. Scientific research now estimates with some certainty that in the early 1900s a simian form of HIV was transmitted to humans in Africa as a result of chimps being killed and eaten, or by chimp blood getting into cuts on people in the course of hunting. The virus morphed within its new human host and became HIV-1, which went on to become the pandemic strain of HIV that has killed over 35 million people worldwide.

The virus attacks the immune system and destroys specific white blood cells (CD4 cells). The virus also makes copies of itself inside these cells, and, as it destroys more CD4 cells and makes more copies of itself, it completely cripples a person’s immune system. In late stage HIV infection, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), there is severe loss of the body’s cellular immunity and a dramatic decrease in resistance to infection and malignancy. Impossible to fight off disease, HIV led to certain death.

Researchers scrambled to understand the disease and find effective treatments. In 1986, the first antiviral drug to inhibit HIV replication was approved by the FDA. Other drugs followed to limit production of the virus in CD4 cells. However, these mono-therapy drug treatments were only partially proficient and curiously exhibited differing degrees of efficacy among different patients. Researchers soon realized that HIV could quickly develop resistance to any single medication and, soon after, they developed combination drug therapies that suffocated mutated forms of HIV before they could rampantly replicate.

This combination of HIV medicines, antiretroviral therapy (ART), prevents HIV from multiplying and reduces the amount of HIV in the body. Less HIV in the body protects the immune system and helps prevent HIV infection from advancing to AIDS. Today, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) is the primary regimen for treating immune deterioration in HIV patients. Weakened but still incurable, the HIV virus remains in the body and requires diligent daily treatment, and, over time, efficacy even diminishes in some patients. While HAART has transformed HIV from a deadly disease to a chronic one, it has several major difficulties, namely, resistance, compliance, side effects, and short- and long-term toxicity. These four problems are the primary reasons why there are currently only about 35% of the HIV patients in the U.S. with a suppressed viral load (which is typically defined as a HIV level of less than 40 copies per milliliter of blood). It is important to note that if a HIV patient has a suppressed viral load the rate of transmission is almost zero.

CytoDyn Inc. (OTCQB: CYDY) is pioneering the development of new weapons in the continued war against HIV. Focused on improving the quality of life for HIV patients, the company is developing new therapies to address the growing number of treatment challenged HIV patients with its clinical development of humanized monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of HIV infection. CytoDyn is at the forefront of developing this category of drugs and has progressed to the late stages of clinical development.

The company’s leading monoclonal antibody drug candidate, PRO 140, is a therapeutic anti-viral agent that is currently being evaluated in two concurrent Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of patients already infected with HIV. With less frequent dosing and minimal side effects and toxicity, PRO 140 is a new class of HIV therapeutic that protects healthy cells from viral infection. Recognizing the potential, CytoDyn recently filed a request with the FDA to assign PRO 140 a Breakthrough Therapy Designation, which would differentiate PRO 140 from all other currently used HIV treatments.

The war against HIV is far from over, but with the development of new drugs like CytoDyn’s PRO 140, each individual battle takes us a step closer to complete victory.

For more information, visit www.CytoDyn.com

A pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, InMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQB: IMLFF) has revealed two additions to its drug development pipeline. An expedited drug development timeline is now in place for INM-750 for epidermolysis bullosa (EB), with a potential market of about $1 billion. The disease is characterized by fragile skin in children. The company has also announced the development of INM-085 for glaucoma, which represents a potential global market of over $5 billion.

Resulting in a defect in the connective tissue between the dermis and epidermis, most often caused by a lack of keratins, EB currently has no medication-based treatments. Multiple cannabinoids are the active ingredients of INM-750, which is now under development as a topical drug. These were selected to manage keratin levels in people with EB, in which fragile skin can blister and tear easily with the slightest friction or trauma. The cannabinoids were also chosen to address inflammation, itching, wound healing, pain, and skin regeneration.

One of the leading causes of blindness, glaucoma is associated with high fluid pressure in the eye, which can damage the optic nerve. The first glaucoma treatment of its kind, INM-085 will be a multi-target, multi-mechanism therapy. It will contain multiple cannabinoids that can reduce elevated intra-ocular pressure and protect retinal ganglion cells and optic nerve tissues. The drug will be designed to be applied directly to the eye as a topical formulation.

The new drugs in development are in addition to the company’s other initiatives, including a number of cannabinoid-based drugs. Dr. Ado Muhammed, MD, DPM, MFPM, chief medical officer of IMLFF, is a leader in developing cannabinoid therapies. Prior to joining InMed, he served as executive on board at GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH), where he was involved in the development and regulatory approval of one of the first prescription cannabis-based drugs on the market. Muhammed has had strategic roles in the research and development, clinical development, and commercialization of specialty drugs.

InMed’s core assets also include a computer-based drug/disease target screening tool and a proprietary cannabinoid manufacturing system. The bioinformatics tool has helped InMed identify novel cannabinoids thanks to algorithms that have allowed the integration of data from various bioinformatics databases. It also uses a database of approved pharmaceutical products and one consisting of over 90 cannabinoid drugs. The company has used the tool to associate approved pharmaceuticals with cannabinoids that have similar structures in order to identify which ones will act on specific genes and proteins.

A biosynthesis system is in development, which is based on similar processes that use bacteria and yeast in industrial applications. It will allow InMed to manufacture naturally occurring cannabinoids in the laboratory at high yields. An alternative to chemical manufacturing methods, it could address production, quality control, purification, and structural integrity. The system is expected to be a revolution in the rapidly emerging cannabinoid pharmaceutical sector.

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

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The U.S. Congress in March introduced legislation to regulate and tax marijuana and to remove it from the federal Controlled Substances Act. The move (http://dtn.fm/w96Hp) would effectively end cannabis prohibition and allow it to be regulated in a way alcohol has been since 1933. This move would be highly beneficial for SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING), a leading mobile technology and payment solutions company that provides ancillary services to the marijuana industry.

Legislation was introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO). It would allow the states to choose to legalize cannabis at their discretion. Also, federal regulations could be imposed on cannabis businesses, even in those states where marijuana is legal. A federal excise tax on cannabis products would be put into effect by a Senate bill (introduced by Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)), and the House is also considering such a measure. These measures reflect the stance that the administration of President Donald Trump has taken on the legalization of marijuana.

Greg Lambrecht, CEO of SinglePoint, recently noted, “The Trump administration has voiced its intention to empower the states in regards to legalizing medical marijuana. President Donald Trump himself has stated that he believes medical marijuana can help people. At this time, we believe the administration will stay true to their position of empowering the states to make the right call. There are many medical shops here in Phoenix. So far, none of them have said they are being negatively impacted by the current administration or the policies it says are in the works.”

Additional bills address cannabis legalization on a criminal justice front. Changes to cannabis policy could include a reduction of cannabis penalties and an elimination of many legal repercussions now associated with federal convictions. Rep. Blumenauer has expressed concern that individuals could be trapped between federal and state laws and that changes are needed to ensure fairness.

Public support for legal cannabis has grown from 52% of adults in 2014, to 57% in 2016, according to a General Social Survey. The new numbers are supported by a recent Quinnipiac University poll as well. Still, some states, such as California, fear there may be a federal crackdown. Some have said federal intervention could restore prohibition where cannabis is legal, which could spawn a new era of chaos due to an unregulated underground market and criminal justice issues.

SinglePoint has seen much revenue potential in the realm of legal cannabis, and hopes measures will be taken to streamline federal and state oversight of the market. Its interests go beyond investing. The congressional push should also help boost the value of its SingleSeed (www.SingleSeed.com) payments solutions for businesses in the cannabis industry. “For the near term, the best way the administration can help would be to issue guidelines on how the cannabis business can be successfully banked,” Lambrecht added.

Recently, SinglePoint announced the acquisitions of Convectium, a manufacturer and distributor of cannabis-related equipment and packaging solutions. The projections of $3.5 million in sales for 2017, according to a March press release (http://dtn.fm/A5y0U), are attractive to SinglePoint investors who have seen opportunities to diversify the company’s revenue streams. At the start of 2017, 28 states had legalized marijuana in some capacity.

To stay tuned for more details about new cannabis legislation, and to learn more about SinglePoint and its acquisitions in the industry, go to www.SinglePoint.com.

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China’s growing economy has proven to be beneficial to many across the country. Some of these benefits include higher living standards, better health and nutrition, and longer life expectancy. Unfortunately, China’s longer-lived population has resulted in a significant increase in the number of people having to care for seniors with various mental dysfunctions, most notably dementia and, in particular, Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s is a neurodegenerative type of dementia that is most prominent in elderly people. The disease is a disorder that involves the death of brain cells leading to various cases of memory loss and cognitive decline. The disease starts mildly but eventually progresses to the point that patients affected often cannot recognize familiar surroundings and eventually lose almost all of their short term memory capabilities.

Recent statistics show that over 1,300 people aged 60 or over get lost or go missing every day in China (http://dtn.fm/zd6uW). Dementia of various forms was said to be the main cause of these disappearances. More than 70% of the elderly people who go missing have memory problems, with 25% of these having Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s cases now makes up more than 60% of all dementia patients in China, and, because people are living longer, the number of people affected by the disease is growing rapidly. ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. (OTCQB: CIIX), a company focused on sharing real-time market analysis to Chinese-speaking investors and which also has the aim of becoming the premier producer of cannabidiol (CBD) oil to mainland China, is hoping to help manage this growing problem.

Recent studies show that Alzheimer’s is a disease that affects the whole nervous system (http://dtn.fm/3uyJX), not just the brain. This means that strengthening the endocannabinoid system is extremely important to managing symptoms of Alzheimer’s, something of which CIIX is very aware. From various research, the company has found that CBD oil can be effective in restoring memory, and it plans to further study the efficacy of CBD oil for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to the launch of ChineseCBDoil.com, the world’s first online CBD health products store in Chinese, and its cannabis mobile application, ChineseInvestors.com will be investing in CBD drug R&D enterprises with the aim of developing a range of CBD-based drugs that can help mitigate the suffering of patients with Alzheimer’s, among other diseases.

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

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In its recent presentation at the MicroCap Conference in New York, eXp World Holdings, Inc. (OTCQB: EXPI) projected that its count of agents/brokers would be in the range of 5,500-6,500 by the end of this year, according to Glenn Sanford, CEO and company founder. eXp World Holdings is the holding company for eXp Realty LLC and eXp Realty of Canada, Inc. Through these subsidiaries, EXPI operates as a unique 24/7 cloud-based brokerage company that enables agents to earn company stock through production and offers them a percentage of gross commissions earned by other agents they attract into the company. eXp World Holdings finished its year ended December 31, 2016, with 2,401 agents/brokers, and, by March 15, 2017, that number had grown to more than 3,000. The company operates in 43 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and Alberta, Canada.

Sanford said that EXPI’s count of agents/brokers is mushrooming due to several factors. The firm offers stock incentives to agents/brokers and a share of commissions earned by new agents they attract to the company. It also offers low costs versus traditional brick-and-mortar models and immersive 3D cloud campuses for more effective and available training and communication. It represents a significant change from the traditional real estate office model, he told conference attendees, indicating that a high-tech “perfect storm” helped inspire the inception of this different approach to the realty brokerage based on a cloud platform.

Traditionally, the broker/owner or manager of a real estate office is responsible for the growth of agent count, he explained. In EXPI’s model, all agents are actively involved in recruiting others to join. Attractive features to new agents include lower costs, high technology training, stock options, and a cloud-based campus. Two of the Wall Street Journal’s Top 50 real estate agents have now joined the company, he said.

Sanford told conference attendees that the firm’s agents tend to be younger, closer to 40 years of age, as opposed to the typical agent of about 54. He said its three-year vesting program is attractive to new agents, as are the prospects of earning options on company stock and receiving a percentage of commissions earned by company agents they recruit. The three-year vesting is an important tool to retain agents, he said. It serves as an incentive to stay. He also noted that the average commission earned on a sale is a healthy $9,000.

He added that there remains plenty of room for growth for the company, saying that its largest market is currently Texas, where it has more than 800 agents — almost one third of the company. By comparison, in the New York/Connecticut market, he said, the firm has little presence today and only a handful of agents.

For future growth as the company expands, Sanford noted that EXPI is investing in eight or nine developers who are working on a new back-end platform for the company. Sanford said that, because it is cloud-based, the company can quickly grow into any market without the traditional costs of brick-and-mortar.

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

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Fast-developing consumerism in China is giving us a glimpse as to what is working and what could shape our future commerce habits worldwide. Currently, the mobile and social revolutions are taking over the commerce world, a process that is expected to accelerate.

According to Statista (http://nnw.fm/ottB9), the number of smartphone users is expected to go from 2.1 billion in 2016 to 2.87 billion by the end of 2020, leading to a potentially huge surge in the number of consumers shopping on their phones. Most importantly, this sector is being led by China, which CNBC says accounts for approximately 30% of the global smartphone market and holds mobile commerce far more sophisticated and advanced than that of other countries (http://nnw.fm/7tT9d). Aside from the fact that nearly two-thirds of retail and consumer-to-consumer e-commerce sales in the fourth quarter of 2015 were made on mobile in China (http://nnw.fm/TYV0s), the country is also far more advanced in terms of mobile money transfers; loyalty programs such as vouchers, coupons, and e-ticketing; delivery systems; and content purchasing.

E-commerce is not the only area of marketing that China is influencing. The country is known for integrating its e-commerce with social media. Social commerce has not only allowed for the proliferation of the online-to-offline (O2O) world but has also become a way to facilitate better customer relationship management (CRM) and, of course, commerce. Companies are now able to have personalized, one-on-one interactions with customers, thus making more sales.

In China, sophisticated social marketing platforms such as those designed by Moxian, Inc. (NASDAQ: MOXC) are fueling this constant growth, and the competitive market there is pushing Moxian to continue its innovation. The company’s mobile applications, Moxian+ User and Moxian+ Business, act as one-stop shops for both mobile shoppers and businesses, linking them together seamlessly with a variety of features and technology.

The Moxian+ User application incorporates social networking with gaming, using the company’s virtual currency whereby users can redeem prizes sponsored by Moxian and Moxian merchants. On the other hand, the Moxian+ Business application is a social CRM tool that not only allows business to set up shop on the Moxian platforms but also pushes promotions to users, all while generating reports giving them a 360-degree view of their progress on the Moxian platform.

For more information, visit www.Moxian.com

With 2.3 million listings and a valuation of more than $30 billion, Airbnb has become the behemoth of the alternative lodging rental (ALR) industry. Concocted 10 years ago to supplement rent, the idea of renting lodging from private home owners has taken off and turned the travel industry on its head. Renting a room or an entire house has gained widespread public acceptance. By providing vacationers with better options and home owners with newfound income, high-margin revenues can be generated by the intermediary. Naturally, this mutually beneficial arrangement for owners and renters has spurred competition in the alternative lodging rental arena. Multiple companies now offer varying forms of online alternative lodging rentals. The ALR market has proven to be so large and lucrative that the owner of one of the world’s largest travel websites, Expedia, acquired HomeAway’s ALR platform for $3.9 billion in 2015.

Even with large valuations for the companies, traditional ALR booking has drawbacks for travelers. Ongoing irritants include the need to employ multiple sites to arrange lodging, airlines, cruises, concierge services, and rental cars. Delayed lodging and travel confirmation is also a continuing source of consternation with travelers trying to book vacation packages. Often taking days or even weeks, travelers can’t even start to arrange for transportation or other services until after confirmation of lodging. In spite of this quandary, most ALR sites require users to fend for themselves when trying to create and book a comprehensive vacation itinerary.

The stand-out strength of Monaker Group (OTCQB: MKGI) is that it has managed to eliminate these irritants and delays. Monaker now offers a first in the ALR market: instant confirmation for ALR booking. Monaker Group’s unique ALR platform offers these services through its innovative, real-time booking platform NextTrip.com. The company then brings this unmatched new tool into the mainstream travel industry, merging it with conventional travel bookings, so that NextTrip.com is the only platform to offer travelers real-time ALR booking plus access to all the other conventional travel and lodging options needed to plan and organize vacations. There’s nothing else like it.

A technology driven, comprehensive travel company, Monaker Group utilizes multiple divisions and brands, leveraging its more than 60 years of operation in leisure travel, to serve the tourism industry. Decades of experience have given Monaker invaluable insights into how to best serve today’s traveler. On the high end, the company provides highly customizable tours, escorted vacations and travel solutions through its Maupintour subsidiary. Monaker’s Extraordinary Vacations Group (EXVG) platform will soon exploit a largely untapped market by providing timeshare owners the ability to market their unused timeshare, fractional, condo-hotel units to travelers, while the company’s Voyage TV division, with thousands of hours of worldwide travel footage, is utilized to enhance and market travel services across all of the company’s brands.

In the large and lucrative ALR market, Monaker’s real-time booking innovations and comprehensive one-stop services have given Monaker a new and unique position in the travel industry.

For more information, visit www.MonakerGroup.com

Digital services have now transformed traditional markets across the world. Businesses and individuals alike expect to be able to use digital services in a variety of contexts, on multiple devices, through various channels. Despite this growing trend, statistics from Progress.com (http://nnw.fm/1DfaT) show that, although many companies are developing their strategies for digital transformation, they do not plan to execute these strategies in the coming year. In addition, 2016 data showed that more than 40% of companies haven’t even started their digital transformation. This lack of adoption can be attributed to these companies’ management teams not knowing how to monetize their digital services and goods, or even a fear of simply being too late.

The first step organizations need to take is to focus their attention on “revenue moments”. Revenue moments can happen whenever customers interact with a company through a digital platform such as a website, social media pages, email campaigns, products, or other business channels. In order to transform these revenue moments into actual revenue, businesses must implement the appropriate payment tools that are most likely to speak to their customers.

Net Element, Inc. (NASDAQ: NETE), a globally recognized payment technology company, specializes in mobile payments and value-added transaction services. Through its subsidiary, Digital Provider, the company offers a large portfolio of customizable payment solutions that enable organizations to monetize their goods and increase conversions.

In addition to the trending mobile payment solutions, Digital Provider offers mobile marketing opportunities and shortcode rentals, a tool used to simplify the pattern of interaction between customers that visit a business’ online store and all other online services. These services are coupled with call center rentals, automated mass payments, and a package solution giving organizations the chance to fundraise for charity.

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