AI Financial Corp (AIFC)

JanOne Inc., formerly Appliance Recycling Centers of America, Inc., describes itself as a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on identifying, acquiring, licensing, developing, partnering and commercializing novel, non-opioid and non-addictive therapies for pain and addiction. One stated goal is to reduce the need for opioid prescriptions by treating the underlying diseases that cause severe pain. The company was incorporated in Minnesota in 1983, began operating its legacy recycling business through predecessors in 1976, and reincorporated in Nevada in 2018.

The lead candidate is JAN101 (formerly TV1001SR), a patented oral, sustained-release formulation of sodium nitrite aimed at poor blood flow to the extremities, including Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD) and vascular complications of diabetes. It is designed to treat the cause of pain by improving vascular function and to avoid the headaches and dizziness seen with immediate-release sodium nitrite. The company expects to begin Phase IIb/III trials for PAD in 2024. Its pipeline table also lists pain and COVID-19 as therapeutic areas. On December 28, 2022, JanOne acquired Soin Therapeutics and its low-dose naltrexone (LDN) product, now called JAN123, a biphasic-release 2.0 mg formulation meant to avoid the vivid, unpleasant dreams linked to rapid LDN release. Through March 8, 2023, the company also ran a Recycling segment made up of ARCA Recycling, which provides turnkey appliance recycling and replacement services for utilities and sponsors of energy-efficiency programs, and Customer Connexx, which provides call center services for recycling businesses. On March 9, 2023, it agreed to sell ARCA Recycling, Customer Connexx and ARCA Canada to VM7 Corporation, whose principal is Chief Financial Officer Virland A. Johnson.

The company targets chronic pain, which it says affects about 100 million people in the United States and over 1.5 billion worldwide. It initially focuses on pain from PAD, which affects more than 8.5 million people in the U.S. and over 60 million worldwide. It notes that no drugs are specifically indicated for PAD-associated pain and that opioids are sometimes used. The text also describes a broader strategy of digital technologies, educational advocacy and new painkilling drugs to help combat the opioid crisis. Its legacy recycling customers were utilities and other sponsors of energy-efficiency programs in North America.

JanOne has engaged CPC Clinical Research as the contract research organization managing its JAN101 trials. Its strategy relies on licensing, acquiring and developing therapies, including through targeted acquisitions of companies or assets in development. The principal office is at 325 E. Warm Springs Road, Suite 102, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119.