VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Dec. 28, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Veritas Pharma Inc. (CSE:VRT) (OTC:VRTHF) (Frankfurt:2VP), (“Veritas” or the “Company”) announces that Health Canada has issued its research and development subsidiary, Cannevert Therapeutics Ltd. (“CTL”) a dealer licence no. 2018/6970 under Health Canada’s Section 9.2 of the Narcotic Control Regulations (“NCR”) that will allow them to possess, produce, analyze, sale, send, transport, and deliver cannabis, hemp and related products.
This is a significant step for CTL in that in conjunction with discovering and developing new therapeutic cannabis strains, it will also be a commercial service provider of chemistry and biological testing services for licensed producers under Health Canada guidelines.
Veritas’ CEO, Dr. Lui Franciosi, stated, “We are excited that Cannevert scientists will now not only be able to obtain a variety of cannabis strains and related products from multiple licensed producers in Canada, but also from around the world with an acquired import permit. They will also be able to produce cannabis liquid extracts and even send them with an export permit to other parts of the world for further laboratory and clinical trial testing.”
Although Cannevert’s primary focus will continue to be the identification of new cannabis strains for the treatment of specific diseases and conditions, in the new year it will seek to expand its analytical chemistry team, purchase additional testing equipment and lease larger laboratory space on the University of British Columbia campus. The aim is to have a full contract service laboratory operating in later half of 2018.
Dr. Franciosi goes onto say, “CTL will have an advantage over other analytical testing service providers in that it will also offer in vivo and in vitro assays to licensed cannabis and hemp producers to determine the therapeutic potential of their strains (e.g., batch-to-batch) under a contract research agreement.”
In the near future Cannevert will also explore the feasibility of securing a license to grow select cannabis strains for research purposes within its laboratories. It is expected to be a more efficient process given that CTL has gone through the dealer licence application process and the legalization of cannabis will occur in July 2018. As of January 1, 2018, Cannevert will be one of the over thirty laboratories licensed in Canada to conduct activities with cannabis and hemp: Health Canada: Laboratories licensed to conduct activities with cannabis
About Veritas Pharma Inc.
Veritas Pharma Inc. is an emerging-stage pharmaceutical and IP development company, who, through its 80% owned Cannevert Therapeutics Ltd. ("CTL"), is advancing the science behind medical cannabis. It is the Company aim, through its investment in CTL, to develop the most effective cannabis strains (cultivars) specific to pain, nausea, epilepsy and PTSD, solving the critical need for clinical data to support medical marijuana claims. CTL’s unique value proposition uses a low-cost research and development model to help drive shareholder value, and speed-to-market. Veritas investment in CTL is led by strong management team, bringing together veteran academic pharmacologists, anesthetists & chemists. The company's commercial mission is to patent protect CTL’s IP (cultivars & strains) and sell or license to cancer clinics, insurance industry and pharma, targeting multi-billion dollar global markets.
Veritas Pharma Inc. is a publicly traded company which trades in three countries including Canada, on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker VRT; in the United States, on the OTC under the ticker VRTHF; and in Germany, on the Frankfurt exchange under the ticker 2VP.
For more information, please visit our website: veritaspharmainc.com
On behalf of the Board of Directors
"Dr. Lui Franciosi"
Dr. Lui Franciosi
President and Chief Executive Officer
Further information about the Company is available on our website at www.veritaspharmainc.com or under our profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on the CSE website at www.thecse.com.
Investor and Public Relations Contact
Veritas Pharma Inc.
Sam Eskandari
Telephone: +1.416.918.6785
Email: ir@veritaspharmainc.com
Website: www.veritaspharmainc.com
The CSE has not reviewed, nor approved or disapproved the content of this press release.