University at Buffalo and Charlotte's Web Announce Collaboration to Advance Hemp Cannabinoid Science

BOULDER, Colo. and BUFFALO, N.Y., Nov. 19, 2020 /CNW/ - (TSX: CWEB) (OTCQX:CWBHF) Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc. ("Charlotte's Web" or the "Company"), the market leader in  hemp CBD extract products, announces a collaboration between its CW Labs science division and the University at Buffalo's  Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences to advance hemp cannabinoid science through a research program that provides a better understanding of the therapeutic uses and safety of cannabinoids. 

This new scientific initiative builds on early projects that have been envisioned with Dr. Gene D. Morse, Director of the Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences (CIGBS) at the University at Buffalo and State University of New York (SUNY) Distinguished Professor. The new partnership includes collaboration on a global program to advance cannabinoid sciences implementation research and safety for both supplement and biomedical use of cannabinoids with the coordination center at Buffalo, N.Y. Its purpose is to identify optimal approaches to advance the safe use of cannabinoid-containing products and identify the gaps in current knowledge. The program will include the design and implementation of novel population-based clinical informatics analysis using large databases, pilot projects that facilitate better understanding of pre-clinical and clinical pharmacology, and drug interactions to develop safe approaches to cannabinoid therapy.

"Charlotte's Web's CW Labs has an advanced team of scientists based here on the medical campus.  We are excited to work with the clear leaders in the hemp sector, both in the quality of their hemp genetics and their products," said Dr. Morse.

"We realize the value of partnering our established cannabinoid product business models with an internationally recognized leader in clinical research to address the growing field of cannabinoid health and wellness products," said Tim Orr, CW Labs' Senior Vice President of Innovation. "This collaboration will oversee multidisciplinary teams conducting cutting edge research in new areas of implementation to expand the database of evidence that can guide future therapeutics development in the field. We are pleased to have established this working relationship with UB's Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences and the opportunity that this new alliance creates."

Building of this multi-disciplinary team is underway. It includes UB investigators: Dr. Laszlo Mechtler, a Neurologist and Neuro-oncologist in the department of Neurology, Medical Director of the Dent Neurologic Institute and it's Cannabis Clinic and Research Center, as well as the Chief of Neuro-Oncology at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Dr. Jason Sprowl, a pharmaceutical scientist in the department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at UB,  investigators at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica,   Dr. Marvin Reid, director of the Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Professor Thejani Delgoda, who leads the Natural Products Institute, and Professor Wendel Abel of Community Health and Psychiatry. At the University of Zimbabwe, Professor Charles Maponga, Director of the Clinical Pharmacology Laboratory, is engaged with planning clinical research and related regulatory policies to promote safe cannabinoid use.

The collaboration will pursue implementation research related to the wellness aspects of cannabinoids through the established national and global capacity-building efforts that form the foundation of the UB Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences. This includes programs that have been developed with the Dent Neurologic Institute, home to one of the nation's largest and most comprehensive physician-directed medical cannabis programs with more than 15,000 active patients, the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus in Jamaica, and the University of Zimbabwe Center of Excellence in Pharmaceutical Innovation in the developing Health Galaxy Park site in Harare, Zimbabwe. The goal is to build a global collaboration of partners with an interest in cannabinoid sciences that includes pre-clinical and translational pharmacology, human safety, and community-based health informatics.

"These scientists bring global expertise in areas such as cellular transport mechanisms that influence cannabinoid distribution throughout the body, clinical pharmacology mechanisms that contribute to different responses among individuals and potential interactions between botanical cannabinoids and commonly used medications and will contribute to a global understanding of cannabinoids" said Dr. Morse.

Dr. Morse, and Dr. Jeffrey C. Lombardo, Program Coordinator for Global Cannabinoid Sciences, will lead the collaboration with CW Labs. Dr. Morse, Director of the Translational Pharmacology Research Core and co-Director of the Drug Development Center at UB, has extensive experience with pharmacologic assay development, designing, implementing and analyzing clinical trials with pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. The collaboration with CW Labs Inc. will create a novel partnership with the Global Cannabinoids Research program at the Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences.

About CIGBS
The UB Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences is an international hub for innovation that brings together scientific disciplines in a nontraditional approach to build capacity to address regional as well as global challenges. It uses education, training and research to promote novel discovery, maximize technology and foster translation. It works with international partners in addressing global health challenges and in recognizing the important connections between health and sustainable economic development.

About Charlotte's Web and its CW Labs Division
Charlotte's Web Labs ("CW Labs") is the research and development division of Charlotte's Web, advancing science around hemp-derived phytocannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoid compounds. CW Labs is headquartered at the Hauptmann Woodward Research Institute on the campus of the University at Buffalo's Jacobs School of Medicine and The Center for Integrated Global Biomedical Sciences and is a collaborator with the Global Health Institute of the State University of New York (SUNY) network of national and international biomedical research institutions. 

About Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.
Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc., a Certified B Corporation headquartered in Boulder, Colorado, is the market leader in the production and distribution of innovative hemp-derived cannabidiol ("CBD") wellness products under a family of brands which includes Charlotte's Web™, CBD Medic™, CBD Clinic™, and Harmony Hemp. The Company's premium quality products start with proprietary hemp genetics that are 100-percent American farm grown and manufactured into whole-plant hemp extracts containing a full spectrum of naturally occurring phytocannabinoids including CBD, CBC, CBG, terpenes, flavonoids and other beneficial hemp compounds.  Charlotte's Web product categories include  CBD oil tinctures (liquid products), CBD gummies (sleep, stress, inflammation recovery), CBD capsules, CBD topical creams and lotions, as well as CBD pet products for dogs. Charlotte's Web is the number one CBD brand in the USA and distributed through more than 22,000 retail locations, select distributors and online through the Company's website at www.CharlottesWeb.com. 

Charlotte's Web was founded by the Stanley Brothers with a mission to unleash the healing powers of botanicals through compassion and science, benefiting the planet and all who live upon it.  Charlotte's Web is a socially and environmentally conscious company and is committed to using business as a force for good and a catalyst for innovation. The Company weighs sound business decisions with consideration for how its efforts affect employees, customers, the environment, and diverse communities. The rate the Company pays for agricultural products reflects a fair and sustainable rate driving higher quality yield, encouraging regenerative farming practices, and supporting U.S. farming communities. Management believes that its socially oriented and environmentally responsible actions have a positive impact on its customers, suppliers, employees and stakeholders. Charlotte's Web donates a portion of its pre-tax earnings to charitable organizations.

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Forward-Looking Information
This news release contains forward-looking statements and information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements and information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements or information involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Charlotte's Web 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

Risks, uncertainties and other factors involved with forward-looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including assumptions as to the efficacy and results of research; the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic to the Company's operations; and such risks contained in Charlotte's Web's annual information form dated March 27, 2020 and filed with Canadian securities regulators available on Charlotte's Web's issuer profiles on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive.

Charlotte's Web Holdings, Inc.
THE WORLD'S MOST TRUSTED HEMP EXTRACT™

SOURCE Charlotte''s Web Holdings, Inc.

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