Sign Up NowThis Month's Tiny Gems - September 2014

Net Element, Inc. (NETE)
Vaporin, Inc. (VAPOD)
VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (VSTA)

 

 

 

Net Element, Inc. (NETE)

 

Net Element, Inc. (NETE) is a technology-driven group specializing in mobile payments and value-added transactional services that add convenience to mobile phone users’ lives and everyday commerce. The company’s innovations enable consumers to conduct commerce transactions from their mobile device, while online and offline payment capabilities allow merchants to reliably transact business anywhere and anyhow.

 

The company owns and operates TOT Group, Inc., a global mobile payments and transaction processing provider. TOT Group companies include Unified Payments, which was recognized by Inc. Magazine as the No. 1 fastest growing private company in America in 2012; Aptito, a next-gen cloud-based point of sale (“POS”) payments platform; and TOT Money, a mobile billing solutions provider and Russia’s top-ranked SMS content provider, according to Beeline, the country’s second largest telecommunications operator.

 

Net Element has headquarters in Miami, Florida, with international presence in selected emerging markets. Utilizing its global development centers and high-level business relationships, Net Element has positioned itself for continued growth in the mobile commerce and alternative payments environments.

 

 

 

Vaporin, Inc. (VAPOD)

 

Vaporin, Inc. (VAPOD) distributes and markets vaporizers, e-liquids and e-hookah products. Leveraging a multi-pronged revenue model, the company’s growth strategy includes tapping into convenience store sales and online retail continuity programs as well as the acquisition and opening of brick and mortar retail stores.

 

Vaporin's flagship vapor technology offers the look, feel and taste of traditional cigarettes without any tar, tobacco, smoke and odor. Additionally, vaporizers offer a better quality experience with a more satisfying hit compared to e-cigarettes and have the ability to mix and match flavors. Due to these and other advantages, Bonnie Herzog, senior beverage and tobacco analyst at Wells Faro Securities, believes vapor consumption alone will surpass combustible cigarettes in the next decade.

 

The company’s vaporizing products can also be used to consume cannabis in oil, wax and dry herb form. Medical marijuana is now legalized in 23 states and the market is expected to grow by 64% this year to reach $2.34 billion in sales. Through an exclusive distribution agreement with Terra Tech Corp., Vaporin anticipates rapidly increasing the exposure of its brand in this rapidly growing market via an expanding dispensary network in California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon.

 

In just the past year the number of vape shops has increased more than 300% to over 30,000 stores, and the industry is projected to grow to $51 billion in 2030 by industry experts. Along with its other initiatives, Vaporin has plans to ambitiously grow their retail store model by continually acquiring existing stores as well as opening new locations. As a first mover primarily focused on this burgeoning market, the company is ideally positioned with a full line of products and e-liquids.

 

 

 

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (VSTA)

 

VistaGen Therapeutics, Inc. (VSTA) is a biotechnology company applying stem cell technology for drug rescue and cell therapy. Drug rescue combines human stem cell technology with modern medicinal chemistry to generate new chemical variants ("drug rescue variants") of once-promising drug candidates that have been discontinued during late-stage preclinical development due to heart or liver safety concerns. VistaGen also focuses on cell therapy, or regenerative medicine, which includes repairing, replacing or restoring damaged tissues or organs.

 

VistaGen's versatile stem cell technology platform, Human Clinical Trials in a Test Tube™, has been developed to provide clinically relevant predictions of potential heart and liver toxicity of promising new drug candidates long before they are ever tested on humans.

 

By more closely approximating human biology than conventional animal studies and other nonclinical techniques and technologies currently used in drug development, VistaGen's human stem cell-based bioassay systems can improve the predictability of the drug development cycle and lower the cost of new drug research and development by identifying product failures earlier in the cost curve. According to the Food and Drug Administration even only a ten percent improvement in predicting failure before clinical trials could save $100 million in development costs, which savings ultimately could be passed on to patients.

 

Using mature human heart cells produced from stem cells, VistaGen has developed and internally validated CardioSafe 3D™, a novel three-dimensional (3D) bioassay system for predicting the in vivo cardiac effects of new drug candidates before they are tested in humans. VistaGen is now focused on using CardioSafe 3D™ to generate up to two new, safer small molecule drug rescue variants every twelve to eighteen months. VistaGen anticipates that these drug rescue variants will be modified versions of once-promising new drug candidates that have been discontinued by pharmaceutical companies and academic research institutions because of heart toxicity concerns, despite substantial prior investment and positive efficacy data demonstrating their potential therapeutic and commercial benefits. In most cases, VistaGen plans to license or sell its new, safer drug rescue variants in strategic partnering arrangements with global pharmaceutical companies, arrangements providing VistaGen with both near term and downstream milestone payments and economic participation rights but without future development cost obligations.

 

AV-101, VistaGen's lead small molecule prodrug candidate, has successfully completed Phase I clinical development in the U.S. for treatment of neuropathic pain, a serious and chronic condition affecting millions of people worldwide, depression, and other neurological diseases and conditions. To date, the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded VistaGen over $8.75 million for development of AV-101. Management anticipates strategically out-licensing AV-101 to a development and marketing partner in 2013.

 

VistaGen is also developing LiverSafe 3D™, a novel predictive liver toxicity and drug metabolism bioassay system for drug rescue applications. In parallel with drug rescue activities, the Company is funding early-stage nonclinical studies focused on potential cell therapy applications of its Human Clinical Trials in a Test Tube™ platform.