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Former federal minister, the Hon. Dr.
Gary Goodyear, named President,
Clinic Operations
Current Director, Dr. Michael Verbora, named Chief Medical
Officer
Mark J. Sandler,
Senior Criminal and Regulatory Lawyer appointed
Director
Don Hunter named
Vice-President, Business Development
TORONTO, April 24, 2018 /CNW/ - Aleafia Health Inc.
(TSXV: ALEF; OTC: CAMDF) ("Aleafia Health") today
announced changes to its executive team that will better position
the vertically integrated medical cannabis company to meet its
ambitious growth goals.
Changes to the leadership include:
- The appointment of The Honourable Dr. Gary Goodyear as President, Clinic Operations,
in lieu of his serving on the board.
- The appointment of Dr. Michael
Verbora as Chief Medical Officer in addition to his serving
on the board and audit committee.
- The appointment of Mr. Mark J.
Sandler, Senior criminal and regulatory lawyer as Aleafia
Director, filling the vacancy on the Board of Directors left by Dr.
Goodyear.
- The appointment of Don Hunter as
Vice-President, Business Development.
"In addition to being one of Canada's few vertically integrated medical
cannabis companies, we believe that the experienced and ethical
leadership team is one of our organization's defining strengths,"
said Aleafia Executive Chairman Julian
Fantino. "We're confident that appointing Dr. Goodyear to
lead our clinic operational side, and Mr. Sandler to our Board of
Directors, will further enhance our competitive advantage in the
medical cannabis space."
The company leadership welcomes the fact that the Honourable Dr.
Gary Goodyear, who served in two
federal cabinet-level portfolios, also boasts experience developing
his own successful franchised model for healthcare treatment. The
company leadership is also confident in the expertise and
leadership of Dr. Verbora to oversee all matters pertaining to
cannabinoid medicine within the organization. Additionally, the
Aleafia leadership is extremely pleased to add a legal expert of
Mr. Sandler's calibre to the Aleafia Board as an independent
director.
Aleafia believes that coming on the heels of its recent
appointment of a new Head Horticulturalist today's announcement
further demonstrates the remarkable bench strength of the Aleafia
executive team. This company further believes that this
change—combined with the expanding network of clinics and research
opportunities, and the expanding Health Canada LP facility that is
expected to yield its first harvest in the next five weeks—puts the
company in a strong position to meet its ambitious expansion goals
in the coming months and years.
Furthermore, the Company announces that Mr. John Philpott will no longer be serving as
Executive Vice President or in an operational capacity with the
Company, but he will remain as a director. Raf Souccar will
continue to serve as Chief Executive Officer but not as
President.
The company granted an aggregate of 2,350,000 stock options
pursuant to its stock option plan as follows: 1,000,000 to Mr.
Hunter at a price of $0.63, 850,000
to Dr. Verbora and 500,000 to Mr. Sandler at a price of
$0.60. Options granted to Mr.
Hunter vest over a two year period every 6 months while options
granted to Dr. Verbora and Mr. Sandler vest quarterly over a one
year period. All options have a five year term.
QUOTES
The Honourable Dr. Gary
Goodyear
"Our twenty-two clinics, and the dedicated
physicians and support staff who operate them, are critical to the
success of Aleafia Health," said Dr. Goodyear. "I look forward to
working with my new team and taking the patient-focused,
physician-led, research-driven model of operations through the next
phase of expansion in the coming months and years."
Mr. Mark J. Sandler
"Even since my consultancy with Health Canada's Drug Strategy and
Controlled Substances Programme, I have understood that cannabinoid
medicine—when managed correctly— can bring profound improvements to
the quality of life for those in need," said Mr. Sandler. "I'm
delighted to join the Board of Directors of Aleafia Health because
this organization is both ethically sound and competitively
positioned for success."
Dr. Michael Verbora
"I'm very excited to continue advancing the patient care and the
science of cannabinoid medicine in this new role as Chief Medical
Officer," said Dr. Michael Verbora.
"I am humbled by the Board's confidence in my leadership, and
grateful to our outstanding team of dedicated medical practitioners
across our clinic network and the exceptional work they do every
day in support of our many patients."
Mr. Don
Hunter
"It's a pleasure to be part of this
strong, professional, ethical team," said Mr. Hunter. "It's an
exciting time to be in business development within the medical
cannabis industry, and I'm thrilled be able to work on increasing
opportunities for the company in a way that can take it to a whole
new level."
BIOGRAPHIES
The Honourable Dr. Gary
Goodyear
The Honourable Dr. Gary Goodyear is a Doctor of Chiropractic, has
been at the forefront of health care, business and government.
After graduating from the Canadian Memorial
Chiropractic College, he developed a successful franchised
model for the treatment and management of non-head injuries from
motor vehicle accidents, and practiced for 20 years until his
election to Parliament in 2004. He served as Canada's Minister of State, Science and
Technology as well as Minister of State for the Federal Economic
Development Agency, Southern
Ontario, with a dual focus on enriching Canada's innovation and research agenda. Dr.
Goodyear served as a Director for Aleafia before taking on the role
of President, Clinic Operations in 2018.
Mr. Mark J. Sandler
Mr. Sandler has been a member of the Ontario bar for over 38 years. He is the
senior partner of Cooper, Sandler, Shime & Bergman LLP, and
practices as an appellate and trial lawyer in criminal and
regulatory matters. He served as an elected Bencher of the Law
Society of Upper Canada, the legal
profession's governing body, for three terms (just under 12 years),
and chaired its Appeal Panel and Tribunal Committee. He is an
elected Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is
listed as one of Canada's best
lawyers in a number of publications. From 2006 to 2014, he was a
member of the Board (a "trustee") of the Law Foundation of
Ontario and then its Chair from
2009 to 2014. He was an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall Law
School for 14 years, and lectures extensively to prosecutors,
defence counsel, judges, Boards and agencies on a variety of
topics, including, professional ethics and responsibilities,
criminal and regulatory law. He has been consulted internationally
(including by two governments) on law reform and has served as
counsel or consultant to 12 public inquiries or systemic reviews,
including a 2003-2004 review for the Minister of Health and Health
Canada, Drug Strategy and Controlled Substances Programme of
existing medical marihuana regulations and policies, and a review
for Health Canada of the accuracy of certificates of drug analysis.
He is the recipient of the G. Arthur Martin
Medal for his outstanding contributions to criminal justice
in Canada.
A full biography is available on the Cooper, Sandler, Shime and
Bergman LLP website.
Dr. Michael Verbora
Dr. Michael Verbora earned an MBA
from the University of Windsor's
Odette School of Business in 2009
and an M.D. from Schulich School of Medicine at Western University in 2013, before entering a
Family Practice residency at the University of
Toronto. A member of the Canadian Consortium for the
Investigation of Cannabinoids, Doctors for Responsible Access and
the Canadian Pain Society, he has completed over 2,000 cannabinoid
therapy consultations, and has presented many talks in community
and hospital settings while serving as student health physician at
Seneca College and Medical Director,
Canabo Medical Clinic. Dr. Verbora was recently named an Assistant
Professor at McMaster Medical School.
Mr. Don Hunter
Don
obtained one of the first Health Canada licenses to grow and sell
commercial hemp, medical cannabis' sister plant (without THC). An
industry pioneer, he worked with the National
Research Council to create applications for hemp fiber as
well as turning the seed oil into food products. He later created
his own multidisciplinary healthcare model that has operated for
the last decade. In 2016, Don joined Canabo Medical Corp. as
its National Manager of Educators and Licensed Producer
Relations, after which he significantly increased Canabo's
revenue stream. He launched key research partnerships dealing with
medical cannabis as an alternative treatment for numerous chronic
illnesses as well as its quality of life improvement,
socio-economic impact, pharmaceutical reduction and patient relief
for specific chronic issues such as sleep, PTSD, cancer, arthritis,
multiple sclerosis and epilepsy. He joined the Aleafia team
as part its vertical integration with Canabo, and will continue to
put his skills, knowledge and experience to excellent use as Vice
President, Business Development.
About Aleafia Health Inc.:
Aleafia Health Inc. is one of Canada's leading,
vertically integrated medical cannabis companies with a unique
patient-focused, medical cannabis healthcare solution. Led by a
distinguished and experienced corporate leadership
team, Aleafia Health Inc. is pioneering a patient-centric
experience that includes personalized services before, during
and after treatment. Aleafia's 22 cannabis clinics are staffed
by licensed, practicing physicians. Aleafia Health Inc.
has realized sustained patient acquisition growth and retention,
underscoring the success of Canada's first
"patient-centric" cannabis-based health network. For more
information, please visit www.aleafiainc.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX
Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or
accuracy of this release. This press release contains
forward-looking statements and information that are based on the
beliefs of management and reflect the Aleafia's current
expectations. When used in this press release, the words
"estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect",
"plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these
words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are
intended to identify forward-looking statements and
information. The forward-looking statements and information in
this press release includes information relating to the
implementation of Aleafia Health's business plan. Such
statements and information reflect the current view of Aleafia with
respect to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to
differ materially from those contemplated in those forward-looking
statements and information.
Although Aleafia 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. Accordingly, readers should not place undue
reliance on any forward-looking information or statements contained
in this press release. The forward-looking information contained in
this press release is made as of the date hereof, and Aleafia does
not undertake to update any forward-looking information that is
contained or referenced herein, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except in accordance with
applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral
forward-looking information and statements attributable to Aleafia
or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its
entirety by this notice.
SOURCE Aleafia Inc.