Zenabis Global Inc. (TSX: ZENA) (“Zenabis” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce that it has assigned its binding term sheet with Farmako GmbH (“Farmako”) to its subsidiary company ZenPharm for the supply of European Union Good Manufacturing Practices (“EU GMP”) certified medicinal cannabis and amended the terms to provide for a minimum volume guarantee. The Company is also pleased to announce the receipt of its sales license amendment for Zenabis Stellarton from Health Canada.
Medicinal Cannabis Supply to Germany
- Zenabis has assigned its term sheet with Farmako, which was announced on April 29, 2019, to its Maltese-based European joint venture, ZenPharm.
- ZenPharm is expected to process EU GMP compliant bulk from Zenabis to supply Farmako with a minimum of 500 kg per year for a term of three years.
- This is subject to ZenPharm itself obtaining EU GMP certification, which is expected to occur in Q3, 2020.
- Shipments to Farmako are expected to commence in Q4, 2020.
- ZenPharm anticipates supplying cannabis oils to Farmako beginning in 2021.
Kevin Coft, Chief Executive Officer of Zenabis, stated, “The assignment of this term sheet, and addition of minimum volumes, reinforces Zenabis’ impetus for its international medicinal cannabis activities, in particular in Europe. Working with key distributors like Farmako is vital in ensuring patient accessibility to medicinal cannabis products in a manner that safeguards quality and consistency of supply. Zenabis anticipates significantly increasing supply to Europe from Q4 2020 onward, where bulk pricing of cannabis is now significantly more attractive than in the Canadian market.”
Katrin Eckmans, Farmako Chief Executive Officer, stated, “Having visited Zenabis’ Canadian facility at the end of 2019, I was very impressed. We have visited many facilities, and Zenabis’ ability to maintain the highest standards of professionalism and quality throughout the organization even while operating on a massive scale is commendable. Zenabis’ professional approach to growing cannabis, combined with Natrix Sciences’ experience with innovative and complex pharmaceutical products in Malta is a perfect interplay to provide a broad portfolio of high quality medical cannabis products for patients in Germany and across Europe.”
Angèle Azzopardi, Chief Executive Officer ZenPharm said, “Our Team is incredibly proud to carry this operation forward. This agreement not only showcases Zenabis’ commitment but also evidences the Zenabis, ZenPharm trans-Atlantic synergy in delivering medicinal cannabis products to Europe. We look forward to developing our relationship with Farmako, especially as more conventional dosage forms of medicinal cannabis products come to the market.”
Updated Timeline and Next Steps
|
Date, or anticipated timing |
Activity |
|
December 21, 2017 |
Zenabis, as Sun Pharm Investments Ltd., received an initial letter of intent from Malta Enterprises for the processing of cannabis in Malta. |
|
November 28, 2018 |
Zenabis entered into a letter of intent to establish a joint venture to convert Natrix’s EU-GMP certified facility in Malta to produce finished medical cannabis products using cannabis supplied from Zenabis’ facilities in Canada. |
|
April 29, 2019 |
Zenabis enters into its initial binding term sheet with Farmako. |
|
October 4, 2019 |
Zenabis receives notification from Malta Enterprise of acceptance of the amendment of its original letter of intent to reflect the joint venture with Natrix. |
|
October 2, 2019 |
ZenPharm incorporated through the execution of a shareholders’ agreement and incorporation documentation approved by Malta Enterprises. Supply agreement executed between Zenabis and ZenPharm. |
|
April 23, 2020 |
First shipment completed from Zenabis to ZenPharm to allow for completion of ZenPharm EU-GMP approval within the original Natrix’ EU-GMP facility. |
|
June 3, 2020 |
Zenabis assigns Farmako term sheet to ZenPharm, with amendments to include minimum annual volumes. |
|
July 2020 |
Anticipated completion of Malta Medicines Authority inspection of ZenPharm facility. |
|
Q4 2020 |
Anticipated first commercial shipments to ZenPharm for processing and shipment to other clients. |
License Amendment for Zenabis Stellarton
- The amendment, received on May 29, 2020, allows Zenabis’ facility in Stellarton, Nova Scotia to sell dried cannabis, fresh cannabis, cannabis edibles, cannabis extracts and cannabis topical products to provincially and territorially authorized retailers.
- It also authorizes the sale of cannabis and cannabis products to holders of a license for sale for medical purposes.
- Stellarton was previously only licensed for the cultivation and processing of cannabis.
- This license will enable implementation of the Company’s strategy to utilize Stellarton as the Company’s center of excellence for Cannabis 2.0 products, including beverages and edibles, pre-rolls production, finished goods packaging, and retail and medical order fulfilment.
Kevin Coft, Chief Executive Officer of Zenabis stated, “We are extremely pleased to receive this license amendment for Zenabis Stellarton. The addition of sales activities to Stellarton’s license, which already included cultivation and processing activities, will enable the Company to now execute its strategy to optimize operations and improve service to our provincial and territorial retail customers by making Zenabis Stellarton our center of excellence for 2.0 products, Namaste and Re-Up pre-rolls and retail and medical order fulfilment.”
Zenabis currently anticipates adding or transitioning the following activities to Zenabis Stellarton:
|
Activity |
Anticipated Transition or Establishment |
|
HYTN Beverages |
Installation of HYTN beverage line has taken place, and commissioning is anticipated to be complete by the 15th of June, with commercial production commencing before the end of June, with anticipated first commercial shipments in the first week of July. |
|
Edible Production |
First processing and testing of edible product has taken place. Commercial production is expected to commence by early July. |
|
Concentrate Production |
The production of enhanced concentrate products is expected to commence in late July. |
Expanding our vape production to include 510 thread vape products is also expected to commence in July; however, this will commence at Zenabis Atholville, where the Company’s extraction and PAX vape cartridge filling activities currently take place.
Olen Vanderleeden, the Vice President, Strategic Development for Zenabis stated; “The Zenabis Sales and Business Development team is very excited about the granting of this license amendment, as it will enable us to execute on an aggressive 2.0 product strategy aligned with current and emerging market demand. This sales license also supports our capacity to diversify our portfolio through new product launch, expansion into new domestic markets, and expands our capacity to fulfill current white label and contract manufacturing agreements. With this license, Zenabis Stellarton is well positioned as a Center of Excellence for Cannabis 2.0 products, including beverages and edibles. We look forward to our continued partnerships and opportunities as a result of this additional capacity.”
About Zenabis
Zenabis is a significant Canadian licensed cultivator of medical and recreational cannabis, and a propagator and cultivator of floral and vegetable products. Zenabis employs staff coast-to-coast, across facilities in Atholville, New Brunswick; Delta, Aldergrove, Pitt Meadowsand Langley, British Columbia; and Stellarton, Nova Scotia. Zenabis currently has 111,200 kg of licensed cannabis cultivation space across four licensed facilities. Zenabis has 3.5 million square feet of total facility space dedicated to a mix of cannabis production and cultivation and its propagation and floral business.
Zenabis expects its Zenabis Atholville, Zenabis Stellarton and Zenabis Langley facilities to be in steady state production in 2020. The Zenabis brand name is used in the cannabis medical market, the Namaste, Blazery, and Re-Up brand names are used in the cannabis adult-use recreational market, and the True Büch brand name is used for Zenabis’ kombucha products.
About Farmako GmbH
Farmako GmbH is a pharmaceutical wholesaler based in Frankfurt, Germany. The company focuses on the distribution of medical cannabis to pharmacies with the aim of securing the supply for cannabis patients and closing the gap between supply and demand for medical cannabis. Farmako is planning to expand its business model into other European countries with a corresponding legal basis, scaling towards its goal of being Europe’s leading distributor of medicinal cannabis. The company already distributes medical cannabis to pharmacies in Germany since March 2019 and is fully licensed in the UK to start distribution operations there in 2020. Farmako is a 100% subsidiary of AgraFlora Organics International Inc.
For more information please visit: https://www.farmako-global.com/.
About ZenPharm Ltd.
ZenPharm Ltd., a subsidiary of Zenabis Global Inc and Natrix Sciences Ltd., is a vertically integrated seed to sale European pharmaceutical company specializing in the delivery of cannabis-based treatments that are rooted in the fundamental medicinal standards of safety, quality and efficacy. Located in the Hal Far Industrial Estatein Malta, the premises forms part of a long-standing EU GMP pharmaceutical operation. Close proximity to Malta International Airport ensures consistent, reliable and frequent trade routes throughout Europe.
Forward Looking Information
This news release contains statements that may constitute “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information may include, among others, statements regarding the future plans, costs, objectives or performance of Zenabis, or the assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. In this news release, words such as “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “likely”, “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “estimate” and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate, among other things, to: the Company’s organizational and strategic review and forecast of demand; the Company’s focus on aligning its resources to meet the needs of consumers; the expected timing and completion of current and planned conversion, expansion and optimization of our facilities, including Zenabis Langley; our plans for Zenabis Delta; the expected submissions of license amendment applications and site evidence packages; the licensing of our facilities and projected timing thereof; our expectations for our extraction projects, equipment and capacity; our expectations for processing output; our expectations regarding our packaging equipment; and the expected content of future operational updates. Forward-looking statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results, and will not necessarily be accurate indications of whether, or the times at or by which, such future performance will be achieved. No assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur. Forward-looking information is based on information available at the time and/or management’s good-faith belief with respect to future events and are subject to known or unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other unpredictable factors, many of which are beyond Zenabis’ control. These risks, uncertainties and assumptions include, but are not limited to, those described in the shelf prospectus dated April 9, 2019, a copy of which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements. Furthermore, any forward-looking information with respect to available space for cannabis production is subject to the qualification that management of Zenabis may decide not to use all available space for cannabis production, and the assumptions that any construction or conversion would not be cost prohibitive, required permits will be obtained and the labour, materials and equipment necessary to complete such construction or conversion will be available. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements or information contained in this news release. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this news release. Zenabis does not intend, nor undertake any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking information contained in this news release to reflect subsequent information, events or circumstances or otherwise, except if required by applicable laws.
SOURCE Zenabis Global Inc.
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https://www.zenabis.com; Media Relations: Email: [email protected], Phone: 1-855-936-2247; Investor Relations: E-mail: [email protected], Phone: 1-855-936-2247Copyright CNW Group 2020
