Canadian global cannabis leader, Aurora Cannabis Inc. (NASDAQ:ACB), has reached a confidential settlement in its patent litigation against Willow Biosciences Inc. (TSX:WLLW). The dispute originated in July 2021 when Aurora alleged that Willow's cannabinoid synthesis process infringed on its exclusive patents.
These patents, co-owned with the University of Saskatchewan and the National Research Council (NRC), pertain to a biosynthetic process for synthesizing cannabinoids. The technology was developed by Jonathan Page, co-founder of Anandia and former Chief Science Officer at Aurora.
Aurora continues to maintain its leadership position in cannabis genomic research and innovation, even with Willow Biosciences relocating its Research and Development operations from Canada to Mountain View, California in December 2022. This is noteworthy considering the InvestingPro Tips reveal that Aurora is quickly burning through cash and has been trading near its 52-week low.
Miguel Martin, CEO of Aurora, expressed satisfaction with the settlement. He emphasized the company's firm stance on intellectual property rights protection and commitment to maintaining its leadership position in genomic research. This commitment comes in light of the InvestingPro Tip that the company's stock price movements are quite volatile and analysts do not anticipate the company will be profitable this year.
Aurora Cannabis serves both medical and consumer markets with a diverse portfolio of brands including Aurora Drift and San Rafael ’71. In contrast, Willow Biosciences focuses on developing precision fermented functional ingredients for sectors such as health and wellness, food and beverage, and personal care.
Aurora also controls Bevo Farms Ltd., a leading supplier of propagated agricultural plants in North America. As of the last trading session, shares of Aurora and Willow were traded at $0.58 and $0.09 per share respectively. According to InvestingPro data, Aurora's market cap stands at 208M USD with a revenue of 166.61M USD. However, the company has suffered a significant price fall over the past year, with a 1-year price total return of -59.24%.
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