Vancouver, British Columbia – Harbour Star Capital Corp. dba EastWest BioScience (TSX-V: EAST) (“EastWest” or the “Company”) comments today on the benefits to EastWest of Health Canada’s October 17th implementation of the Subsection 56(1) Class Exemption in relation to the Company’s use of hemp under Industrial Hemp regulations (flowering heads, leaves and branches).
This October 17, 2018 implemented exemption allows EastWest and its’ growing and processing partners to take advantage of Health Canada’s new Industrial Hemp regulations enabling the commercial use of the whole hemp plant which now includes flowering heads, leaves and branches. Under the previous regulation these parts of the hemp plant were prohibited, and hemp growers were required to dispose of all the valuable hemp compounds contained within the whole hemp plant. The now exempt hemp plant material contains a valuable spectrum of raw materials such as cannabinoids, terpenes, etc. which can be used to produce high-value nutraceuticals and other health products.
“The new ability to use the whole hemp plant allows the development of new revenue streams in a variety of markets,” said Rodney Gelineau, CEO of EastWest. “It allows us to begin extracting CBD and other compounds from hemp and develop lucrative new health product lines with hemp’s many active ingredients infused into them.”
“This was the business we envisioned from the beginning,” explains Ciska Asriel, EastWest’s Chief Operating Officer, “and we’ve already developed several formulas for a line of CBD-infused nutraceutical products, which we can ramp up production of very quickly.”
The Company has been working on CBD product development for three years and currently have the product marketing infrastructure and much of the merchandising collateral to put products on to the appropriately licensed shelves. “In that time, we’ve been in discussion with retailers to begin selling our CBD-infused product formulas as soon as the appropriate licensing in place,” adds Asriel.
“We’re working through the execution of our overall seed-to-sale strategy,” says Gelineau. “And, we’ve established a network of suppliers to secure the raw whole-hemp materials needed for our product development.”
“Additionally,” he continues, “the Company is currently in early discussions to acquire a Canada Health licensed hemp growing, processing, and research company. That’s in addition to our late stage discussions to acquire a network of retail natural health stores, which should be announced soon.”
Health Canada : Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) – Section 56 Revision : https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-concerns/controlled-substances-precursorchemicals/policy-regulations/policy-documents/section-56-class-exemption-industrial-hempregulations.html
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS EASTWEST BIOSCIENCE GROUP
“Rodney Gelineau”
Co-Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Director
For further information, please visit www.eastwestbioscience.com or contact EastWest Bioscience representatives at 1-647-394-7383 or investors@eastwestscience.com.