Drinker Biddle & Reath has been retained as corporate and securities counsel to CannaPharmaRx, an early-stage pharmaceutical firm focused on advancing research and discovery in the cannabinoid industry, according to a press release issued by the company on April 21, missing by one day a key date in marijuana history.

Doug Raymond, a Drinker Biddle corporate partner in Philadelphia and board member for local economic development nonprofit Aeris Insight, was not available for comment about his work for Carneys Point, New Jersey-based CannaPharmaRx.

Drinker Biddle, which has issued client alerts on the legalization of marijuana, is one of several Am Law 200 firms seeking to stake their claim to the growing market—one that the Financial Times reported last week is worth billions of dollars, with 23 U.S. states and the District of Columbia now permitting the substance's use for medicinal purposes.