TORONTO, May 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aleafia Health Inc. (TSX: ALEF, OTC: ALEAF) (“Aleafia Health” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that two new independent directors, Rhonda Lawson and Glenn Washer, will be appointed to the Board on May 16. The Company would also like to thank the outgoing directors, Julian Fantino (Chairman) and Raf Souccar, for their devoted service since the company’s inception. As the Company announced on April 27, 2020, Fantino and Souccar have resigned from the Board, effective May 15. The new Board will be comprised entirely of independent members, furthering the Company’s goal of enacting strong corporate governance and best practices.
“As proud founders of Aleafia Health, we have watched a nascent idea grow into a successful company with a well-earned reputation for medical cannabis care. I am delighted to see the progress of Aleafia from idea, to execution, to cannabis health and wellness leader,” said Fantino.“While the Company has grown, the vision has remained the same. We are confident in Aleafia Health’s bright future and thank our committed team for the great work they have done and will continue to do,” said Souccar.Aleafia Health CEO Geoffrey Benic added, “It’s been a tremendous honour to work with Julian and Raf. They founded Aleafia Health with a strong commitment to and unwavering belief in a patient-focused healthcare enterprise, offering medical cannabis care based on education, research and science-based decision-making.”“I would like to welcome Rhonda and Glenn to our board,” said Lead Independent Director Lea Ray. “Their vast leadership experience as directors and executives with major clinical research, biotechnology, healthcare and insurance organizations will serve us well in our continued growth.”Rhonda LawsonRhonda Lawson, a distinguished independent director of for profit and not-for-profit boards of Canadian and global organizations, has been recognized by the Canadian Board Diversity Council, and also holds the Institute of Corporate Directors ICD.D designation.Lawson’s leadership in corporate and human resources governance, strategic planning, audit and risk management has been applied in her role as a board member at healthcare organizations including the Mississauga Halton’s Local Health Integration Network and Community Care and Access Centre. Lawson has also served in executive roles in the healthcare and insurance industries, including as executive director of the Dental Industry Association of Canada, and as a senior vice president at Genworth Financial and Intact Financial and vice president of Aviva Canada Inc., Allianz Insurance Company of Canada and Teva Pharmaceuticals.Glenn WasherGlenn Washer, a distinguished biotechnology and pharmaceutical executive, until recently served as the President of Charles River Laboratories Montreal ULC, the world’s leading contract research organization, with a market capitalization of $7.2 billion USD, operating 90 facilities in 20 countries. It directly supported the development of 85 per cent of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2019.In his former role, Glenn led operations of 16 scientific research facilities, overseeing over 7,000 staff, and was instrumental in the acquisition and integration of several large-scale multi-national contract research organizations. As a board-certified toxicologist, and drug development professional, Glenn has worked with multiple global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to successfully guide their products through strict international regulatory and scientific development hurdles. He has also acted as an industry thought leader, having served as a faculty member at the Pharmaceutical Education and Research Institute in Washington, DC, as an editorial board member for the International Journal of Toxicology, and as a board member of Quebec’s life-sciences industry organization, BioQuebec.Chair of the BoardUpon Ms. Lawson and Mr. Washer’s appointment, the Board intends to update its board leadership and committee membership including the election of new committee chairs and a new Board Chair.For Investor & Media Relations:Nicholas Bergamini, VP Investor Relations
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LEARN MORE: www.AleafiaHealth.comAbout Aleafia Health:Aleafia Health is a vertically integrated and federally licensed Canadian cannabis company offering cannabis health and wellness services and products in Canada and in international markets. The Company operates medical clinics, education centres and production facilities for the production and sale of cannabis.Aleafia Health owns three significant licensed cannabis production facilities, including the first large-scale, legal outdoor cultivation facility in Canadian history. The Company produces a diverse portfolio of commercially proven, high-margin derivative products including oils, capsules and sprays. Aleafia Health operates the largest national network of medical cannabis clinics and education centres staffed by MDs, nurse practitioners and educators and operates internationally in three continents.Innovation, the heart of Aleafia Health’s competitive advantage, has led to the Company maintaining a medical cannabis dataset with over 10 million data points to inform proprietary illness-specific product development and its highly differentiated education platform FoliEdge Academy. The Company is committed to creating sustainable shareholder value; the TSX Venture Exchange named Aleafia the 2019 top performing company prior to its graduation to the TSX.Forward Looking InformationThis news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities laws. Often, but not always, forward-looking 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 information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company or its subsidiaries to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking 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 risks contained in the Company’s annual information form filed with Canadian securities regulators available on the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking information in this news release are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. The forward-looking information included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update such forward-looking information to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.
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