Canopy forms cannabis research unit Canopy Health
2016-12-02 10:00 ET - News Release
Mr. Bruce Linton reports
CANOPY HEALTH INNOVATIONS -- CANNABIS, RESEARCH AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CREATION
Canopy Growth Corp. has formed a cannabis research incubator, Canopy Health Innovations Inc. (CHI).
The planning and implementation of the business strategy for CHI began in the summer of 2016, and CHI was formally incorporated as a private company in August 2016. CHI will focus on developing and researching clinically ready whole plant cannabis drug formulations and dose delivery systems, with the ultimate goal of validating diversified treatment options for Canadians and for patients and consumers in other jurisdictions where treatment with cannabis is federally lawful. CHI plans to undertake a combination of exploratory studies and early stage clinical testing to identify, develop and validate products aimed at disrupting the market for a variety of existing pharmaceutical product categories, and then commercializing those products through licensing or other arrangements.
The operations of CHI will be initially funded by a range of North American investors that share a common vision. To that end, CHI has arranged with Dundee Securities Ltd. a private placement of common shares of CHI at a price per share of $1.50, to raise total gross proceeds of $7 million. The closing date of this offering is scheduled to be on or about December 8, 2016 and is subject to certain conditions.
"There is a unique opportunity to develop an unmatched intellectual property portfolio in the medical cannabis industry," said Bruce Linton, Chairman and CEO of Canopy Growth. "We believe that Canada is emerging as a potential global leader in cannabis research, and that the Canadian policy framework will enable CHI to access research products approved for human use. CHI's goal will be to drive the medical transformation of whole plant cannabis options from dried flowers to forms and dose forms more consistent with traditional medical practice."
Canopy Health Innovations will operate as an independent and private collaborator of Canopy Growth and its subsidiaries. CHI will be owned by Canopy Growth and qualified private investors. CHI's business model is to engage simultaneously in a number areas of research, with a strict focus on the creation and enhancement of its own intellectual property. In doing so, it plans to work from genetics and other products sourced from the Company. Canopy Growth and its subsidiaries will then retain an exclusive, first priority right to license and commercialize intellectual property developed and owned by CHI.