On Monday, the U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King holiday. At that time, biotech firm Willow Biosciences Inc. (TSX: WLLW) (OTCQB: CANSF) told investors it had initiated a formal strategic review process to identify potential strategic alternatives.
Willow said that it hasn’t been unsuccessful in getting any financing that was in the best interest of shareholders. The company said it is now considering selling all or some of its business and assets. It hasn’t ruled out a total sale of the company, a merger, or any other significant transaction.
Canceled private placement
Just two months ago, Willow announced a private placement to raise C$2 million. It planned to use the net proceeds to meet working capital requirements and general corporate purposes and accelerate the development of two high-priority programs in the company’s existing pipeline. On January 2, Willow announced it had canceled the offering and would instead pursue alternative financing and a non-dilutive transaction to support the company’s capital requirements.
At the time, Willow’s President & CEO Dr. Chris Savile said, “We have made the decision to cancel our existing offering to pursue less-dilutive alternative financing and the sale of our commercial rights on one or more later-stage programs. Willow has been approached by multiple third parties to acquire the royalty rights on two development programs and is in late-stage negotiations for one of the programs.”
Willow Biosciences was already struggling with revenues. Green Market Report wrote that the company reported revenue of $1 million for the second quarter, a nearly 600% increase from $135,000 in the same period last year. However, it also posted a net loss of $1.7 million as it continued to invest heavily in research and development.
Cannabis exit?
It exited the cannabinoid business in 2023 not long after losing a patent infringement case with Aurora. At the time, Green Market Report wrote that the case began in July 2021 when Aurora alleged that Willow’s biosynthetic process for synthesizing cannabinoids infringed on Aurora’s exclusive rights to patents co-owned by the University of Saskatchewan and the National Research Council. The company also stopped its work on its cannabigerol (“CBG”) development and commercialization in 2023.
In the company’s most recent MD&A it stated that it “continues to execute its existing patents for cannabinoids as well as file new patents for other programs.”
[[{“value”:”The company said it was exiting the cannabis industry in 2023, but it’s recent MD&A said it still held cannabinoid patents.
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