Most investors know that the pharmaceutical industry is a huge and mostly very profitable industry. What they may not know is that it is highly competitive making it hard for new players to break into the sector. One way to do that is to have a specialty focus; another is to bring a new drug to market at the right time. Right now immune support products are a hot sector as coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to ravage the world. A

Valeo Pharma Inc. (CSE: VPH | OTCQB: VPHIF) (‘Valeo’) has a specialty pharmaceuticals focus and their newly launched immune support product HesperCo™ looks like being a possible winner as we all look to boost our immune systems to prevent or fight COVID-19. HesperCo™ is Valeo’s unique hesperidin formulation. Natural product hesperidin is a flavonoid with powerful antioxidant properties that help support the immune system.

In a September 2020 news release Valeo stated: “We have high expectations for HesperCo™, which will be launched nationally in the coming weeks, as the immune support it provides is needed in the current healthcare environment.” Since this press release HesperCo™ has been launched.

Valeo Pharma’s latest product HesperCo™ is an immune support medicine that may potentially prove useful in the fight against COVID-19

Source

Other new Valeo products that have been launched recently – Yondelis, Ametop Gel, Ethacrynate Sodium and soon Amikacin & Redesca

• Yondelis – An anti-neoplastic (anti-cancer) agent that aims to prevent, inhibit or halt the development of a neoplasm (cancerous growth). Clearly this is a hugely needed and important area.
  
• Ametop Gel – A topical analgesic used for local anaesthetic prior to venepuncture.
• Ethacrynate Sodium – A saluretic-diuretic agent that is useful to support Nephrotic Syndrome (a kidney disease that causes patients to pass too much protein in their urine). Commercialization has just begun in the U.S.
• Amikacin – A specialty hospital antibiotic. Valeo has recently received Health Canada approval with commercialization to start in the first half of 2021.
• Redesca and Redesca HP – Valeo has just announced yesterday that they received Health Canada approval for Redesca and Redesca HP (low molecular weight heparin biosimilars). Low molecular weight heparin is increasingly used to prevent serious COVID-19 complications such as thrombosis (blood clots) and pulmonary embolism. Valeo says that commercial launch of Redesca and Redesca HP will impact first half 2021 revenue and is forecast to achieve $30 million annual peak sales.

More about Valeo Pharma

Valeo’s strategy is to focus on specialty areas such as neurodegenerative diseases, oncology, and hospital specialty products. Valeo is focused on those therapeutic fields where a relatively small number of general practitioners or specialist physicians account for the majority of prescriptions written. This can be a more effective strategy to gain success, especially for smaller pharma companies.

Valeo Pharma is driven by the desire to become a leading Canadian focused specialty pharmaceutical company and to be the partner of choice for international companies wishing to enter the Canadian market.

Valeo had a productive Q3, 2020 with 4 new products added to their commercial pipeline. Q3 net revenues were C$1.5 million and YTD 2020 net revenues were C$5.3 million.

Valeo Pharma’s product portfolio and product pipeline

Source

Valeo Pharma’s revenue is forecast to grow very strongly through to 2022

Source: 4-traders

Closing remarks

Specialty pharma in the areas of infectious disease (think COVID-19), oncology (cancer), neuro-degenerative diseases (think nerve diseases), and hospital specialty products all look to be areas of strong future demand.

Valeo Pharma is focusing on these high growth specialty areas in Canada. As a result of past products and several recent new product launches Valeo’s revenue is forecast to increase sharply in the next 2 years. The current market cap is C$74 million.

This week ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) (“ZEN”) and Trebor RX Corp. (“Trebor”) signed a Binding Letter of Intent (LOI) that includes the initial purchase of ZEN’s patent pending graphene based viricidal coating for a minimum of 100 million masks/filters with pricing of these mask/filters being variable based on a number of factors.

This news follows the highly successful testing of ZEN’s graphene based silver colloidal coating announced on September 22, 2020. Some of the announcement highlights are shown below:

• ZEN’s Virucidal ink is 99% effective against the COVID-19 virus.
• ZEN’s Virucidal ink was still 99% effective a minimum of 35 days after application to N95 mask material.
• ZEN is now developing plans to expedite commercialization of this product, pending regulatory approval.
• ZEN has filed a provisional patent for this graphene-based virucidal product……
• Very significant virucidal activity was recorded and reported, achieving 99% inactivation of the virus for both samples in 3 separate tests each and verified through a second round of testing…”

But back to the latest potentially game changing news for ZEN of the LOI for a minimum of 100 million masks/filters from Trebor. An order of this size for a relatively small company like ZEN is highly significant. Greg Fenton, ZEN’s Chief Strategy Officer, commented (Nov. 9, 2020):

“This is a historic day for ZEN. The signing of this significant commercial agreement is a watershed moment for our organization. Moreover, it is an honour for ZEN to partner with a Canadian company like Trebor and develop a 100% Canadian solution in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The innovation of the Trebor Pro+ Respirator Mask will set a new standard in the mask industry and, combined with our viricidal coating, will bring a new level of safety for our front-line workers…..”

Trebor’s CEO George Irwin agreed stating: “This is truly a game changer in the PPE space…..”

PRO+ Respirator Mask

It looks like the market also agrees with ZEN, up 358% over the past 1 year, and up 293% since I wrote “ZEN Graphene Solutions moves towards commercialization of virus-killing mask” back on September 8, 2020.

ZEN Graphene Solutions stock price is up 358% over the past 1 year, and up 293% since September 8, 2020

Source

What we know so far is that ZEN and Trebor have signed a LOI and that Trebor is a Canadian personal protective equipment mask manufacturer with an initial production facility located in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada. The announcement on the binding LOI includes several key points:

1. Initial first year production is planned to use ZEN’s patent pending graphene based viricidal coating for a minimum of 100 million masks/filters.
2. Pricing of these mask/filters being variable based on a number of factors.
3. This initial minimum order is for the first year and is subject to Health Canada approvals.
4. ZEN’s viricidal coating will be used on Trebor’s patent pending Pro+ Respirator Mask (Pro+) N95 mask and also on their 3-ply surgical mask.

For now, we can only speculate on what the commercial terms would be and what other agreements may follow. What we do know is that the global market demand for face masks is enormous, certainly in the billions. Some have even called the face mask ‘the world’s most valuable commodity’. It is estimated that production of the highly protective N95 face masks in the United States alone will increase to 180 million units per month by the end/winter months of 2020.

Demand for face masks is only increasing as global new COVID-19 cases continue to accelerate higher

Source

Under a Biden presidency it looks highly probable that face masks will be viewed more positively than what happened under Trump. Back in June 2020, CNN quoted: “Biden says he would make wearing face masks mandatory for Americans amid coronavirus pandemic.” This week Biden has announced a new COVID-19 taskforce to begin work immediately and continue after he is sworn in as president on January 20.

Global daily new cases of COVID-19 have been accelerating and are now averaging a staggering 600,000 new cases per day, for a total of over 52 million cases now globally.

All of this should lead to very strong demand for face masks in the year ahead.

Beyond COVID-19 ZEN has many other potential areas and deals to commercialize their graphene. Some recent deals include a collaboration agreement on Carbon Aerogels with German Aerospace Centre and a partnership with the Royal Canadian Navy and Evercloak to test Graphene Oxide Dehumidification Membrane Technology.

To meet all this new demand ZEN has had to double their lab space starting January 1, 2020 and announced this week that ZEN will lease a 25,680 square feet space in Guelph, Ontario to become become ZEN’s new manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters. ZEN stated: “The company expects to begin initial production in Q4 2020 for incorporation into masks, other PPE and for HVAC filters and prefilters.”

A summary of ZEN Graphene Solutions

Source

Closing remarks

ZEN Graphene Solution’s management is doing a tremendous job. Pivoting in 2020 to produce a viricidal graphene coating was a genius move. Of course COVID-19 will come and eventually go, but demand for industry leading graphene products looks set to boom this decade as the world learns more about the wonders of graphene.

ZEN Graphene Solutions has a market cap of C$139M and right now appears to have the world at their feet.

Disclosure: The author is long ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN).

InvestorIntel’s Tracy Weslosky speaks with Dr. Francis Dube, CEO and Director of ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN), about ZEN’s novel graphene based virucidal ink. “We have come up with a coating that can be applied to masks and filter membranes to deactivate the COVID-19 virus,” Dr. Dube told InvestorIntel. “It has been proven at plus 99% efficacy through Western University’s ImPaKT facility which is a Biosafety Level 3 lab.”

In an InvestorIntel interview that can also be viewed on our InvestorIntel YouTube channel, Dr. Dube went on to say, while the current mask technologies are only meant to filter out particles, masks sprayed with ZEN’s graphene-based virucidal ink remains 99% effective in killing COVID-19 virus even after 35 days.

To watch the full interview, click here

To learn more about ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd., click here

Disclaimer: ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

Nobody likes a COVID-19 nasal swab test that pushes a probe way up into your nose nearly reaching your brain. StageZero Life Sciences Ltd. (TSX: SZLS) (‘StageZero’) has released a COVID-19 saliva PCR test in the USA which is so much more easier and more comfortable to do. It can even be mailed to you and done at your home.

In news just released yesterday, StageZero released their new COVID-19 Saliva PCR test in the USA and Canada. Since May 2020, StageZero has been offering nasopharyngeal swab-based PCR tests and serology tests for COVID-19. The good news is that StageZero has now added a saliva test and will shortly introduce an antigen test and a full viral respiratory panel to its test offering. The test is FDA approved under the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) clearance. All the patient has to do is simply fill a tube with their own saliva, label it, and send it to the StageZero lab for testing.

COVID-19 PCR test – Uncomfortable nasal swab versus simple saliva testing

Source

Chairman and CEO of StageZero, James Howard-Tripp, says: “Every COVID testing lab, and Government, is striving to make testing more accessible and easier to do. Saliva as a specimen, done correctly, is scientifically as accurate as swabs but easier to collect and allows us to reach patients at home.”

Back in May when StageZero first introduced the nasal swab tests I wrote about the massive worldwide demand for COVID-19 testing. I quoted a report by Harvard University stating that the US needs to be able to test 5 million people per day to safely begin to reopen their economy by June 2020. That was when there were only 30,000 new cases per day in the USA.

Fast forward to today and there are now about 45,000 new COVID-19 cases per day in the US, and about 1 million new COVID-19 tests performed every day. But really the need for testing remains much higher.

US daily COVID-19 tests tracker by John Hopkins – About 1 million tests per day

Source

StageZero will continue to offer a selection of COVID-19 testing summarized as:

• Salvia PCR tests to detect the SARS-CoV-2 RNA and then sent to the StageZero Virginia lab for results processing. Ideal for very early stage detection.
• Antigen testing for immediate results. This works by testing if a patient has developed antibodies to COVID-19. It is best for the rapid screening of symptomatic patients.
• A Respiratory Panel PCR-based test for 18 viruses and two respiratory bacteria. It will screen for Influenza A, Influenza B, RSV and SARS-CoV-2 infection.

StageZero now offers a complete range of COVID-19 tests at a time when demand for testing is enormous. My view is that patient’s will be much more willing to undergo a saliva test than the previous nasal swab testing, as well as the possibility of completing a test from home. It is also much more suitable for people in remote areas.

Looking ahead in the very near term, StageZero will commence an offering with their revolutionary Aristotle® screening test for 10 cancers from a single sample of blood. You can read more about that here.

Following the recent share consolidation StageZero will now “prepare for a possible future listing on NASDAQ or other senior US stock exchange“.  Both of these events should be strong catalysts to help the stock price potentially move higher.

StageZero Life Sciences trades with a market cap of just C$41 million. Analyst’s consensus price target is C$4.00, so there is still plenty of potential upside ahead given the current stock price of C$0.84.

Disclaimer: Matt Bohlsen is a shareholder of StageZero Life Sciences Ltd. (TSX: SZLS)

As Americans wake up today they will learn that their President and First Lady have both tested positive for COVID-19 (coronavirus). This follows the other big news from the White House just two days earlier that an Executive Order has been issued declaring “a national emergency” to deal with the threat of a lack of critical minerals supply chain for the US. If we add in the debate earlier this week, it certainly has been a busy and bruising week for the White House.

With just one month to go to the US election on November 3, the White House has been thrown into chaos. US futures have reacted negatively and are down. President Trump has been criticized for his poor handling of the COVID-19 crisis that has now infected almost 7.5m Americans and killed 212,694. Now he is one of them. There is no doubt as many Americans still await a long delayed stimulus package many will have mixed feelings about today’s news. For investors they will be watching the fallout as markets open.

But there is a ray of sunshine for investors in critical materials companies. On September 30 The White House announced: “Executive Order on addressing the threat to the domestic supply chain from reliance on critical minerals from foreign adversaries.”

The U.S. List of 35 critical minerals include the following: (1) Aluminum (bauxite); (2) Antimony; (3) Arsenic; (4) Barite; (5) Beryllium; (6) Bismuth; (7) Cesium; (8) Chromium; (9) Cobalt; (10) Fluorspar; (11) Gallium; (12) Germanium; (13) Graphite (natural); (14) Hafnium; (15) Helium; (16) Indium; (17) Lithium; (18) Magnesium; (19) Manganese; (20) Niobium; (21) Platinum Group of Metals; (22) Potash; (23) The Rare Earth Elements Group: (Cerium, Dysprosium, Erbium, Europium, Gadolinium, Holmium, Lanthanum, Lutetium, Neodymium, Praseodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Terbium, Thulium, Ytterbium and Yttrium); (24) Rhenium; (25) Rubidium; (26) Scandium; (27) Strontium; (28) Tantalum; (29) Tellurium; (30) Tin; (31) Titanium; (32) Tungsten; (33) Uranium; (34) Vanadium and (35) Zirconium. The six underlined are those included in the ORE Act, which also seeks to secure US supply or these 6 critical materials.

Major US import sources of non-fuel mineral commodities – China dominates

Source: Courtesy US Geological Survey

The key points of the September 30 President Trump critical minerals Executive Order are:

• The US’s undue reliance on critical minerals, in processed or unprocessed form, from foreign adversaries constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat. “I (President Trump) hereby declare a national emergency to deal with that threat.”
• “By expanding and strengthening domestic mining and processing capacity today, we guard against the possibility of supply chain disruptions and future attempts by our adversaries or strategic competitors to harm our economy and military readiness.”

In response to the threat President Trump proposes several measures to be taken with different time frames ranging from 30 to 60 days from September 30, 2020.

The Executive Order says the US Gov. will look into giving “grants to procure or install production equipment for the production and processing of critical minerals in the United States”, “loan guarantees” and for projects that support domestic supply chains “funding awards and loans pursuant to the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing incentive program.”

For investors in the critical minerals mining sector this is good news and very welcome. The main winners so far have been the US or Canadian based critical minerals companies or those that can help supply the USA with critical minerals. Some examples have been Lithium Americas (lithium), Westwater Resources (graphite), most of the rare earths companies, and most of the electric vehicle (EV) metal miners.

InvestorIntel Rare Earths Watchlist Top 5 from October 1, 2020

Source

The Tesla Battery Day revelations now mean that the EV revolution will rapidly accelerate. Tesla plans to have 3TWh of battery capacity by 2030, which will be enough for Tesla to make 20 million (m) EVs per year plus energy storage products. To get a feel for the demand shock wave to hit EV metal miners, if Tesla produces 20m EVs in 2030 that will require 2.7m tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE), which is 9x total 2019 global supply. Wow!

Investing in the critical materials miners and other parts of the supply chain to support the US this decade, as the world rapidly moves to renewable energy and EVs, just got a HUGE boost.

Now we wait and see what happens next with President and Lady Trump, the US election, and the COVID-19 pandemic. No-one can say that 2020 has been a boring year!

ZEN is collaborating with partners to develop virucidal face masks and PPE

Back in May 2020 InvestorIntel wrote about the very exciting development of masks and other personal protective equipment (PPE) that not only protect the wearer, but actually kill viruses on contact. to help . Since then the development of  a “graphene virucidal ink face mask” and PPE has been progressing nicely in the fight against COVID-19.

In late July 2020 ZEN Graphene Solutions Ltd. (TSXV: ZEN) (“ZEN”) reported that research teams at a number of personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturers are collaborating with ZEN to incorporate ZEN’s virus-killing graphene ink into commercial products, including masks, gloves, gowns and other clothing. This follows ZEN’s promising testing results from the University of Western Ontario’s ImPaKT Facility, biosafety Level 3 lab.

ZEN has synthesized a ‘silver nanoparticles functionalized graphene oxide ink’ that has been documented by previous researchers to kill earlier versions of coronavirus. Silver is well known to be a potential virucidal agent.

Photo: iStock

In July ZEN reported in a news release that the company “continues to optimize its proprietary formulation for dosage and delivery mechanism for highest antiviral impact. The next phase of testing is currently underway at the ImPaKT Facility and includes a preferred mask fabric, from one of our collaborators, coated in ZEN’s virucidal ink exposed to and tested against the COVID-19 virus.”

Dr. Francis Dubé, CEO of ZEN, commented that “Based on results so far and our discussions with the team at Western, we are quickly moving to integrate our material into commercial products with partners who wish to increase the level of COVID-19 protection their products currently offer.”

Given the world needs at least 3.5b N95 face masks to fight COVID-19, the potential demand for ZEN’s graphene based virucidal ink face mask could be enormous. If the new virucidal mask captured just 10% market share of the 3.5 billion masks needed that would mean manufacturing and selling ~350 million masks. Or even if just made mandatory for health care workers globally, the market would be very large, as there is an estimated 59 million health care workers worldwide. Each health care worker would need a number of masks per year. The revenue opportunities could be enormous if ZEN’s graphene based virucidal ink is licensed on a per unit basis. Added to this would be the potential for use in other PPE. For a small company such as ZEN the potential revenue upside could be highly significant.

Tests are still underway to improve and prove the effectiveness of the virucidal masks, but CEO Dubé’s public comments about integrating ZEN’s material into commercial products with partners indicates a positive outcome is looking increasingly possible.

Last week ZEN announced that it will “report shortly on significant progress being made in multiple programs, one of which has resulted in the preparation of a patent filing that is central to ZEN’s business plan.” Zen also announced receiving significant funding grants: “two NSERC Alliance COVID-19 project grants, a Mitacs Elevate Postdoctoral Fellowship grant, and two Mitacs Accelerate grants for a total of $355,000 to its university collaborators,” which increased ZEN’s total research and development budget for the next 12 months to over $1.4M.

Graphene’s potential

Graphene is a new wonder material with incredible potential to be commercialized in a huge number of products. These are as diverse as graphene coatings that can greatly improve corrosion resistance, increase strength, reduce friction and can be hydrophobic reducing ice formation (aerospace and aircraft industries). As a diesel/jet fuel additive it can improve fuel economy and reduces greenhouse emissions. It is also useful in electromagnetic shielding and electrostatic dissipation, desalinization membranes and low-energy dehumidification, heavy metal scavenging and removing industrial contamination, photovoltaics, displays & biomedical applications using graphene quantum dots, virucidal inks, as a material enhancement (clothes, tire strengthener, concrete additive), hydrogen storage and production, and advanced batteries. Samsung is developing an advanced graphene phone battery. Graphene is super lightweight and also strengthens aluminum, rubber, plastics and other materials, making its list of applications almost endless.

The graphene market is forecast to grow at a 39-45% CAGR this decade

Source: Company presentation

Closing remarks

In addition to its advanced application projects, ZEN owns a graphite mine and has commenced small scale graphene production from their facility in Canada, and has numerous other potential uses to commercialize their graphene product. At the current market cap of just C$31m the stock is not yet pricing in any chance of significant success in the virucidal mask and PPE market, or in the larger graphene market. This is good news for investors looking for underappreciated and early stage stocks. If ZEN is able to successfully commercialize its viricudal mask/PPE or other graphene products, it would be a game-changer.

Using artificial intelligence to mass screen for COVID-19

“It’s about the different verticals that we are addressing with Predictmedix,” says Dr. Rahul Kushwah, Co-Founder and COO of Predictmedix Inc. (CSE: PMED | OTCQB: PMEDF). “We are an artificial intelligence company and we are solving real-world problems.”

In an interview with InvestorIntel’s Tracy Weslosky, Dr.  Kushwah explains three of their vertical markets: “COVID-19 pandemic, we are all in the midst of it and we have a technology which is to mass screen for COVID-19. Similarly, impairment is a big issue when it comes to workplace and law enforcement and we have a solution for that. And the third vertical is mental illnesses. $300 billion spent in the US last year and there is so much subjectivity that goes into diagnosis and we are developing a solution to diagnose mental illnesses.”

“We have developed modules which look like metal detectors,” Dr.  Kushwah continued. “You walk through these modules and on the other end you have a green or red light. If someone is identified to be positive for COVID-19 symptoms a red light goes off – if not then you get a green light.” He continued, “it is a tool that you can use for mass screening in airports, transit hubs, malls, office building, government buildings, or anywhere you can imagine where you have big flow of people.” Dr. Kushwah also discusses the pitfalls of current telehealth and telemedicine platforms, and Predictmedix’s innovative solutions.

To access the complete interview, click here

Disclaimer: Predictmedix Inc. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

“You can think about our polymer almost like an antibody inside a body,” says Dr. Jonathan Gluckman, President, CEO and Founder of Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. (CSE: SIXW | OTCQB: ATURF), in an interview with InvestorIntel’s Tracy Weslosky. “A virus has a size and shape and we create an imprint in our polymer for that exact virus. Then we will detect that directly based on our chemistry,” he continued. “We are working to integrate this into masks and breathalyzers and then we can just utilize the breath, as we all know that’s the main transmission method. If you think about putting a mask on, not only will that mask provide protection, it can also, right there, be the test for COVID-19.”

Dr. Gluckman explained that Sixth Wave’s COVID-19 detection technology is currently under development but the company has successfully launched and commercialized other products with similar properties. The company has received a grant from the Canadian government to work with York University and the CTRI (Centre Technologique des Résidus Industriels) to use its virus detection technology to detect COVID-19 virus in wastewater supplies and in air handling systems.

Highlighting the advantages of Sixth Wave’s COVID-19 test over other tests, Dr. Gluckman also said that the test will be cheaper, faster and easy to use.

To access the complete interview, click here.

Disclaimer: Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. is an advertorial member of InvestorIntel Corp.

“I think Energy Fuels is serious about going into the rare earths business. What I was told is that they are going to begin by selecting a rare earths mineral produced in the United States…” States critical materials expert Jack Lifton, in an interview with the Technology Metals Show hostess Tracy Weslosky.

In the interview Tracy and Jack discussed some of the major news in the rare earths space for the month of June. Jack also commented on Lynas and shared his view on Alkane’s plan to demerge their poly-metallic and rare earths holding company Australian Strategic Materials Limited (ASM).

To access the complete interview subscribe to the Technology Metals Show and get exclusive access to member only content through this exclusive site! Or Log-In Here for the latest conversations, debates, updates and interviews with the leaders, thought leaders and investors focused on issues relating to sustainability in the critical materials sector.

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“All producing mines have been at a standstill. Mines are extremely touchy about health and safety. Before anybody goes into a mine, they are drug tested because the mines do not want anybody who is drunk or high on a drug to go underground and endanger lives. When something like COVID occurs, they add that too. I am sure they are testing anybody who is going underground.” States critical materials expert Jack Lifton, in an interview with the Technology Metals Show hostess Tracy Weslosky.

Jack went on to advise on what people should do in the current market situation and where the rare earths market is heading.

To access the complete interview subscribe to the Technology Metals Show and get exclusive access to member only content through this exclusive site! Or Log-In Here for the latest conversations, debates, updates and interviews with the leaders, thought leaders and investors focused on issues relating to sustainability in the critical materials sector.

For more information on the Technology Metals Show email us at [email protected] or reach us direct at +1 (416) 546-9233