Cann Global secures rights to medicinal cannabis formulations used by Olivia Newton-John

Cann Global (ASX: CGB) has secured the IP rights to the medicinal cannabis formulas Olivia Newton-John has used to treat her stage four metastatic breast cancer.

According to Cann, Ms Newton-John has credited the formulations known as XO 27 XP, ONJ 18 XP and ONJ XO for improving her health when used in conjunction with conventional therapies.

Ms Newton-John’s husband of 10 years and renowned plant-derived medical formulations expert John Easterling has worked on the formulas for over six years.

Mr Easterling, who is also a non-executive director of Cann, has more than 30 years’ experience in developing therapeutic products including many years’ experience generating medicinal cannabis treatments.

He has also bred a dozen new genetics from the cannabis plants with a focus on cannabinoid and terpene profiles for therapeutic benefits.

Since using the medicinal cannabis formulas, Ms Newton-John has reported pain relief, increased mobility and higher healthy blood count numbers.

“John’s unique cannabis formulas have been a huge help to me with sleep, stress, mood and, of course, pain,” she explained.

“I was able to wean myself completely off morphine and all pain meds using cannabis which is something I think everyone should know is possible.”

She added that others who had tried the formulas had also reported “real benefits”.

“If you had told me a few years ago I would be talking openly about my experiences with cannabis, I never would’ve believed you, but I feel so strongly about it that I wanted to let be known and made available for anyone who may require it for medical purposes.”

Agreement terms

The cash-free deal between Cann and Mr Easterling’s Australian entities is based on a stock-for-stock exchange and remains subject to shareholder and regulatory approvals.

Under the deal, Cann will issue 50 million shares to Mr Easterling’s research and development trust Botanical Science Pty Ltd.

In return Botanical Science, will give Cann 80% ownership in the entity Plant Matrix Research Pty Ltd, which holds the medicinal cannabis IP.

Moving forward, Cann plans to evaluate the optimum funding arrangements to develop commercial opportunities for the products while continuing to back research and clinical trials.

As part of this, Cann noted it would look at listing Plant Matrix Research on the ASX next year.