'Grass Is Greener' For Zynerba Pharma: Buy The Stock, Says Canaccord

• In a report issued Monday Canaccord analysts Corey Davis and Lidia Liu initiated coverage on shares of Zynerba Pharmaceuticals Inc ZYNE with a Buy rating
• The experts set a $35.00 price target for the stock
• The company is differentiated by its synthetic manufacturing and transdermal technology

The research note points out that Zynerba is currently developing synthetic cannabinoids (CBD and THC) for transdermal delivery. They highlight two main elements that differentiate the company:

1) Synthetic manufacturing

2) Transdermal technology

“It’s clear the two molecules have medicinal activity, and with transdermal technology, animal studies are quite predictive of success in humans,” the analysts assure. “Hence, we believe Phase1 (mid-2016E) should be a major de-risking event.”

Although this may sound “counterintuitive,” the firm emphasizes that Zynerba “is not nearly as ‘early stage’ as it might seem.” Even though the company currently has only two products, ZYN001 (prodrug of THC in a patch) and ZYN002 (CBD in a gel), the price target established only takes ZYN002 into consideration.

Investment Thesis

Davis and Liu point out four punchlines that are central to their investment thesis:

1)   Differentiation. Unlike oral liquids, which present several limitations, transdermal delivery “avoids first pass metabolism for higher bioavailability and more consistent plasma levels,” the report explains. The mechanism may also be safer, and cheaper, since “synthetic manufacturing (instead of plant derived API) has higher gross margins and an easier CMC regulatory path.”

2)   De-risked science. The medical benefits of both CBD and THC are now widely accepted in the scientific community. Hence, Canaccord expects ZYN002's Phase 1 trial in mid-2016 to prove the product is “very approvable, safe, and de-risked.”

3)   ZYN002 could reach $500 million in sales for refractory epilepsy

4)   “Preclinical data shows good safety and pK”