TM Editors' Note: This article discusses penny stocks and/or microcaps. Such stocks are readily manipulated; do your own careful due diligence.

Currently there is no index that tracks the stock performances of the 13 clinical-stage biopharmaceutical companies involved in the development of drugs using CBD and THC exclusively (i.e. are cannabis-centric companies) to fill out the entirety of their drug-development pipelines. As such, this article introduces our new Pure-Play Cannabis-Centric Biopharma Stocks Index so that, in turn, this category of stocks can be compared to the performance of stocks in the Canadian Licensed Producers category, the American Multi-State Operators category, the Conservative Pot Stocks category and the Ancillary Pot Stocks category to give an accurate overview of the cannabis stock sector.

The new Pure-Play Cannabis-Centric Biopharma Stocks Index (see list of constituents below) identifies the current pure-play clinical stage biopharmaceutical companies, the extent of their volatility (beta) and their areas of research and is presented in descending order of  their market capitalization:

1. Corbus Pharmaceuticals (CRBP): Beta: 1.85; Mkt. Cap: $219M
   • has a drug, lenabasum, that uses the cannabinoid receptor system to bind with the naturally occurring CB2 receptors expressed on immune cells and fibroblasts to resolve systemic sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, dermatomyositis, and systemic lupus erythematosus.
2. Zynerba Pharmaceuticals (ZYNE): Beta: 2.60; Mkt. Cap: $173M
   • has a THC drug patch for the treatment of fibromyalgia and peripheral neuropathic pain and a CBD-based gel for the treatment of epilepsy in adults with focal seizures, osteoarthritis, developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, and Fragile X syndrome.
3. MGC Pharmaceuticals (MGCLF): Beta: 2.30; Mkt. Cap: $114M
   • has several cannabis-based medicinal products currently under development that are intended to treat epilepsy, various forms of cancer, dementia and Alzheimer’s.
4. Revive Therapeutics (RVVTF): Beta: 1.98; Mkt. Cap: $94M
   • it is focused on rare inflammatory diseases and was granted FDA orphan drug status designation for the use of Cannabidiol (CBD) to treat autoimmune hepatitis (liver disease) and to treat ischemia and reperfusion injury from organ transplantation.
5. Zelira Therapeutics (ZLDAF): Beta: 1.40; Mkt. Cap: $62M
   • is developing a range of cannabinoid-based formulations for the treatment of insomnia, autism and eczema and a pre-clinical research program to examine the effect of cannabinoids in breast, brain, and pancreatic cancer.
6. Tetra Bio Pharma Inc. (TBPMF): Beta: 1.87; Mkt. Cap: $51M
   • is developing a pipeline of products containing cannabinoids for treatments related to inflammation, pain, ophthalmology and oncology.
7. Enveric Biosciences (ENVB): Beta: 1.83; Mkt. Cap: $50M
   • is developing cannabinoids to treat the side effects of cancer treatments such as Glioblastoma Multiforme, Radiation Dermatitis and Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy.
8. Skye Bioscience (SKYE): Beta: 0.34; Mkt. Cap $42M
   • has developed a cannabinoid-based molecule with the potential as to lower intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma or elevated intraocular pressure that is superior to the current standard of care.
9. InMed Pharmaceuticals (IMLFF): Beta: 2.2; Mkt. Cap: $33M
   • is developing a cannabinoid-based therapy for the treatment of pain and inflammation, glaucoma, and ocular, CNS, respiratory and metabolic diseases.
10. Cannabics Pharmaceuticals (CNBX): Beta: -0.73; Mkt. Cap: $25M
    • is focused on cancer research and therapies based on cannabinoid compounds and is currently evaluating the efficacy of the company's proprietary drug candidate RCC-33 in prolonging survival rate in mice inoculated with human colorectal cancer cells.
11. Artelo Biosciences (ARTL): Beta: 1.48; Mkt. Cap: $17M
    • is focused on developing and commercializing a diverse portfolio of novel therapeutic candidates targeting the endocannabinoid system and is currently in a Phase 1/2 Cancer Appetite Recovery Study of ART27.13 which they believe has the potential to become a standard of care treatment for cancer anorexia.
12. Vitality Biopharma (VBIO): Beta: 3.7; Mkt. Cap: $9M
    • is developing a new class of cannabinoid prodrugs, known as cannabosides, which, upon ingestion, enable the selective delivery of THC and CBD to the gastrointestinal tract without their unwanted side effects.
13. Nexien Biopharma (NXEN): Beta: 3.0; Mkt. Cap: $7M
    • is focused on research, development and commercialization of cannabinoid pharmaceuticals and related drug delivery systems for the treatment of convulsive disorders, particularly epilepsy and refractory epilepsy. 

GW Pharmaceuticals (GWPH): Beta: 1.67; Mkt. Cap: $46.9B, is not included in the new Index as it already has a product in commercialization and, as such, is not a clinical-stage company.

Highlighting the need for such a family of indices tracking the various cannabis stock categories, as mentioned above, is the major disparity in each category's performance over specific periods of time.

Below is a comparison of how each category performed last week (and so far in the month of April, in brackets), which we think provides the clearest overview of the cannabis stock sector that is available anywhere:

1. the new Cannabis-Centric Bio-Pharma Companies Index (13 constituents): +2.7%; (-14.1%)
2. the Conservative Pot Stocks Index (8 constituents): +0.9%; (+3.0%)
3. the Canadian Pure-Play Licensed Producers Pot Stock Index (9 constituents): +0.03%; (-17.0%)
4. the American Pure-Play Multi-State Operators Pot Stocks Index (21 constituents): -0.6%; (-7.6%) and
5. the Ancillary Pot Stocks Index (16 constituents): -1.8%; (-4.4%)