Avicanna to Postpone Reporting First Quarter 2020 Results Due to Delays Caused by COVID-19
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TORONTO, May 14, 2020 /CNW/ - Avicanna Inc. ("Avicanna" or the "Company) (TSX: AVCN) (OTCQX: AVCNF) (FSE: 0NN) announces that due to logistics and delays caused by the COVID-19 virus, it is relying on the exemption provided in Ontario Instrument 51-502 - Temporary Exemption from Certain Corporate Finance Requirements (the "Ontario Instrument") of the Ontario Securities Commission (and similar exemptions provided by the securities commissions in British Columbia and Alberta) to postpone the filing of the following continuous disclosure documents (collectively the "Documents"):
- the Company's Interim Financial Statements for the three-month period ended March 31, 2020 as required by section 4.4 of National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102"); and,
- the Company's Management Discussion & Analysis for the three-month period ended March 31, 2020 as required by section 5.1(2) of NI 51-102.
According to the Ontario Instrument, during the period from March 23, 2020, to June 1, 2020, a person or company required to make certain filings as described in the Ontario Instrument has an additional 45 days from the deadline otherwise applicable under Ontario securities laws to make the filing. Until the Company has filed the required financial statements and management's discussion and analysis, members of the Company's management and other insiders are subject to a insider trading black-out policy that reflects the principles in section 9 of National Policy 11-207 - Failure-to-File Cease Trade Orders and Revocations in Multiple Jurisdictions.
The Company expects to file the Documents by no later than June 29, 2020.
Aras Azadian, Chief Executive Officer of the Company, commented: "Despite the impact the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have on global markets, Avicanna continues to raise efficiencies and execute on its business model as demonstrated in recent announcements. We have made history in Colombia as the first approved exporter of hemp seeds and we continue to forge best-in-class partnerships as we progress towards our short- and long-term goals."
Below, the Company has provided an update on material business developments since the date of the Company's latest financial reports, certain of which have already been disclosed in prior press releases:
- On April 20, 2020, the Company completed a private placement financing under which it issued 3,200,000 units at a price of $0.80 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of approximately $2.56 million. Each unit issued under the offering was comprised of one common share and one-quarter of one common share purchase warrant. Each whole warrant is exercisable into one common share at an exercise price of $1.20 per common share until April 20, 2022, subject to acceleration in certain circumstances;
- On May 7, 2020, the Company and the Colombian government each announced the approval of the first ever export of hemp seeds from Colombia;
- On May 14, 2020, the Company announced that it entered into a multi-faceted strategic manufacturing agreement with MediPharm Labs Corp. ("MediPharm Labs") involving licensed production, domestic and international distribution and intellectual property licensing. Pursuant to the agreement, Avicanna will grant MediPharm Labs a license to use proprietary Avicanna formulations to develop additional MediPharm Labs and white label branded products for the domestic and international market, including the production of Avicanna's advanced Rho Phyto™ medical cannabis products and Pura Earth™ topicals under license for commercial sales through Medical Cannabis by Shoppers™.
About Avicanna
Avicanna is an Ontario, Canada based corporation focused on the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of plant-derived cannabinoid-based products through its two main business segments, cultivation and research and development.
Avicanna's two majority-owned subsidiaries, Sativa Nativa S.A.S. and Santa Marta Golden Hemp S.A.S., both located in Santa Marta, Colombia are the base for Avicanna's cultivation activities. These two companies are licensed to cultivate and process cannabis for the production of cannabis extracts and purified cannabinoids including cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).
Avicanna's research and development business is primarily conducted out of Canada at its headquarters in the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centre, JLABS @ Toronto. Avicanna's scientific team develops products, and Avicanna has also engaged the services of researchers at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto for the purpose of optimizing and improving upon its products.
Avicanna's research and development and cultivation activities are focused on the development of its key products, including plant-derived cannabinoid pharmaceuticals, phyto-therapeutics, derma-cosmetics, and Extracts (defined as plant-derived cannabinoid extracts and purified cannabinoids, including distillates and isolates), with a goal of eventually having these products manufactured and distributed through various markets.
Stay Connected
For more information about Avicanna, visit www.avicanna.com, call 1-647-243-5283, or contact Setu Purohit, President by email [email protected].
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements
This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Avicanna's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Avicanna's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained herein includes, but is not limited to, the timing of the filing of the Documents.
By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Avicanna is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Avicanna to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Avicanna has made certain assumptions.
Among others, the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: decreases in the prevailing prices for cannabis and cannabis products in the markets in which the Company operates; adverse changes in applicable laws; adverse changes in the application or enforcement of current laws, including those related to taxation; increasing costs of compliance with extensive government regulation; changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets and in particular in the ability of the Company to raise debt and equity capital in the amounts and at the costs that it expects; risks related to licensing, including the ability to obtain the requisite licenses or renew existing licenses for the Company's proposed operations; dependence upon third party service providers, skilled labor and other key inputs; risks inherent in the agricultural and retail business; intellectual property risks; risks related to litigation; dependence upon senior management; and the other risks disclosed in the Company's annual information form dated April 15. 2020. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.
Although Avicanna believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Key assumptions used herein are that the Company will be able to continue to be capable to export seeds from Colombia, and the Company will be able to distribute products manufactured in Canada internationally.
SOURCE Avicanna Inc.
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