MGC Pharma (ASX:MXC) - Co Founder and Managing Director, Roby Zomer
Co Founder and Managing Director, Roby Zomer
Source: FinFeed
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  • Bio-pharma company MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC) has signed a binding five-year manufacturing and distribution agreement with Micelle Technology
  • Under the agreement, MGC will be responsible for the manufacture, packaging and wholesale of the novel anti-viral product, as well as all future clinical trials
  • The product will incorporate Micelle’s all-natural Artemisinin anti-infective formula delivered via its proprietary MyCell system
  • While the product has been shown to be effective against malaria, MGC has had to retract statements about its intended use against COVID-19, pending future clinical trials
  • MGC Pharmaceutical has had a huge 58.8 per cent boost today, with shares jumping to 2.7 cents each just before market close

Bio-pharma company MGC Pharmaceuticals (MXC) has signed a binding manufacturing and distribution agreement with Micelle Technology for a novel anti-viral therapy.

We sell MyCell

MGC is best known for producing phytocannabinoid-based medicines. Under the terms of the agreement, MGC will be the pharmaceutical partner, responsible for the manufacture, packaging and wholesale of the product, as well as all future clinical trials. The product will employ Micelle’s natural Artemisinin anti-infective formula delivered via its proprietary MyCell system.

The product is currently designated as a food supplement, but a recent study completed under World Health Organisation guidelines showed the product to be effective in malaria patients. A total of 127 subjects took a single dose and testing revealed all patients had no trace of malarial parasites in their systems after one week, and no relapses up to 60 days later.

The product has been designed to target viral infections with inflammatory complications. MGC and Micelle aim to conduct further clinical trials to exploit the product’s anti-infective, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities, which could be used to treat a range of maladies.

The fine print

Firstly, an important statement from MGC:

“MGC advises that there is presently no reasonable basis established for the product to treat or cure COVID-19 symptoms or that the product kills the COVID-19 virus. This would require clinical testing to be conducted to establish such clinical basis. Therefore, MGC retracts the reference to COVID-19 in its recent Trading Halt and Suspension Notices, and investors should not rely on those references.”

Given the company had explicitly stated it was entering into a “material agreement regarding a strategic joint venture with a Swiss company in relation to COVID-19,” this is quite some adjustment.

While the efficacy of the product against malaria seems robustly proven, any hopes of a pandemic panacea are beyond the realm of what MGC and Micelle could fairly claim at this point.

Regardless of that rather large hiccup, one imagines the future clinical testing will undoubtedly include a trial in COVID-19 patients. Even a proven reduction in symptoms would have huge ramifications for both companies, and the world more generally. Time will tell.

Given many experts predict the pandemic could keep bouncing around for months and possibly years to come, the MGC-Micelle collaboration could prove fruitful yet.

The agreement is for the term of five years, with a further automatic one-year renewal should neither party object. While the contract may be terminated at any time in the case of a breach of terms, it seems the new partners are very much on the same page and looking to make the most of the present arrangements on a global scale.

MGC Pharmaceutical has had a huge 58.8 per cent boost today, with shares jumping to 2.7 cents each just before market close.

MXC by the numbers
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