Ashkelon, March 1, 2020 – PRESS RELEASE – Univo (TASE: UNVO), which owns a plant for the production of medical cannabis products under the new Ministry of Health regulations and sells products in accordance with the IMC-GMP standard to pharmacies in Israel, and also owns a farm currently under construction for the cultivation of medical cannabis, has announced an agreement with Canopy Growth for exclusive collaboration in Israel.
Canopy is traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TOR:WEED.CA) at an estimated value of 8.8 billion Canadian dollars, and on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:CGC) at a value of 6.6 billion U.S. dollars. The company has more than 3,000 employees and is one of the companies holding the most extensive knowledge and experience in the world, including in the operation of medical cannabis growing farms in the United States, in Europe and in Africa. The agreement with Univo is the company’s first entry into Israel.
As part of the exclusive agreement in Israel, Univo will in the first stage import into Israel 470 kg of dry medical cannabis grown by Canopy, produce its products with Canopy’s raw materials – products that will bear Univo’s logo and brand, and will exclusively distribute them as finished products in pharmacies in the Israeli market. Univo will import and produce under the GACP standard from which it will produce GMP-standard products, subject to the approvals and guidelines of the Medical Cannabis Agency at the Ministry of Health. In the second stage, Canopy will order manufacturing and processing services from the company at its plant in Ashkelon and will have the right to enter into agreement with Univo as producer and distributor of medical cannabis products under the EU-GMP standard in European markets, subject to the required approvals.
Golan Bitton, CEO of Univo, said, “The agreement with Canopy is a strategic move attesting to Univo’s positioning in the local and the international market as a leading company. The agreement is also proof that there is an advantage in building a technological plant with a large production capacity and with future technological capability for producing products of high quality and to international standards. The agreement will enable us to grow both our market share in Israel, without being dependent on the farm and on local supply, and to continue selling and expanding our product portfolio of medical cannabis products of the highest quality, while laying the foundation for Canopy to produce in the international market.”
Univo recently completed expansion of a commercial agreement with Can-Fite, whereby the parties expanded the scope of the collaboration between them for research on the integration of medical cannabis into the treatment of liver cancer and other cancer indications. Under this framework, Univo will receive an additional c. 400,000 dollars after already having received 500,000 dollars from Can-Fite and allotment of shares without consideration (holding 8.57% of Can-Fite).
