No highs for Medlab after lacklustre IPO

B I OT EC H N OL OGY c o mpany and cannabis clinical trial applicant Medlab Clinical has made an unspectacular debut on the ASX.

Shares in the nutritional pharmaceutical company hit the boards at 20.5c when they started trading and climbed as high as 21.5c.

But despite the wider market rising nearly 2 per cent, Medlab shares closed flat at 20c, the same price investors paid in the company’s $ 6.17 million initial public offering.

The company is awaiting NSW Government approval to commence cannabis clinical trials and has earmarked around $ 250,000 for cannabis pain management research.

Chief executive Sean Hall said the company had invested 2 ½ years of research into the burgeoning field.

“We’re not yet approved going through to what we hope is the final stages, so while waiting on final licences we’re working on dosages, delivery and what uptake will look like,” he said.

While unable to specify a time frame for final licence approval from the Baird Government, Mr Hall said the company believed it was getting close.

He said the bulk of the company’s research into depression, obesity and chronic kidney disease had advanced to final stages, with Medlab hoping to have its first medicine registered by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in 2016.

Medlab is not the only publicly listed company with an eye on clinical cannabis trials, with Perth- based medical marijuana company Phytotech making its stock market debut earlier this year.