SASKATOON, Saskatchewan--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Advancements in biopharmaceuticals are dramatically improving health outcomes and transforming our expectations of disease. Despite successful treatment, however, people continue to suffer from pain and discomfort due to chronic disease, treatment side effects or conditions related to aging.
Today we are pleased to announce ZYUS Life Sciences Inc. (“ZYUS” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical Company focused on international production and distribution of phyto-therapeutic compounds, leading with cannabis-based medicines. ZYUS was previously called CB3 Life Sciences Inc.
ZYUS was founded by Brent Zettl and his industry-leading senior management team from the medicinal cannabis sector, who have a collective clear purpose to expand the potential for medicine by advancing the science of well-being.
The ZYUS Vision: To forge a new industry of phyto-therapeutics and elevate its solutions as a standard of care for treating disease and managing the experience of it.
“Our name enables us to convey that we are more than producers of cannabinoids and express a higher purpose: to reimagine the potential of medicine to alleviate human suffering and restore health and wellness,” said Brent Zettl, President and CEO. “Pronounced “ZEYE-us”, our name is an abstraction of the word ‘science’ + ‘zygote’ (the fusion of two cells), representing the beginning of life and symbolizing our aim to improve quality of life. It also embeds ‘us’ as a reference to our teamwork, partnerships and our commitment to the broader ‘us’ – society. The name conveys our forward-looking and collaborative approach to bringing phyto-therapeutics to market.”
Business Plan
ZYUS’ fundamental business plan in cannabis is to be a global-scale producer of value-added medical-grade cannabis oil and oil-derived products such as capsules and topical cream.
ZYUS is upgrading a global-scale ethanol extraction facility which will source dry herbal feedstock cannabis material from multiple Canadian licensed cannabis producers (LPs), thereby taking advantage of a dry herbal capacity overbuild widely anticipated to emerge within the next one to two years. ZYUS is solely focused on the development of pharmaceutical-grade medicinal oil products and dedicated to improving patient well-being, which is highly unique and well placed relative to the overall direction of the domestic and global industry.
The timing for ZYUS’ business plan is particularly attractive due to a number of industry trends and indicators. Cannabis oil and oil derivative products are poised to become the majority of the domestic and global cannabis markets. These markets are anticipated to grow rapidly over the next ten years. These value-added oil products require a high level of expertise to successfully establish commercial extraction facilities and produce pharmaceutical-grade cannabinoid formulations on scale.
Facility Details
The ZYUS extraction facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan will be constructed in two phases. Phase 1, currently being designed and constructed and targeted for completion early 2019, will be capable of producing the equivalent of approximately 500,000, 50ml bottles of cannabis oil per annum. Even in this pilot phase, the ZYUS facility will have significant capacity.
The ZYUS global-scale, world-class, extraction facility, targeted to be fully commissioned in the first half of 2020, is anticipated to be one of the largest cannabis extraction facilities in the world, with annual total projected processing capacity of 350,000kg of dry herbal cannabis, or 35 million 50ml bottles equivalent of cannabis oil per annum.
Executive Team
The ZYUS management team brings a mix of significant industry skills, expertise and leadership. Backgrounds of the executive team are as follows:
Brent Zettl, President & Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Zettl, BScA Distinction (Agriculture), is the leading pioneer of the Canadian medical cannabis industry and has led many of Canada’s significant advancements in patient care and cannabis clinical research. He founded Prairie Plant Systems Inc. (“PPS”) in 1988 which eventually became the sole provider of legal medical cannabis products to Health Canada through the years 2000 to 2013. In 2017, PPS combined with CanniMed Therapeutics to list on TSX (“TSX:CMED”). In March 2018, CanniMed was acquired by Aurora Cannabis Inc. for CAD$1.1-billion.
Adam Darbellay, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Darbellay, BComm, MPAcc, CPA, CA, is a finance executive who brings 17 years of public accounting and public company experience, with expertise in Financial Reporting, M&A and Finance Strategy. Prior to joining ZYUS, Mr. Darbellay was responsible for overseeing Finance Transformation and Integration at Nutrien Inc., an integrated global agriculture products and services company.
Keith Carpenter, Chief Strategy and Investment Officer
Mr. Carpenter, BA (Economics), MBA, CFA, has more than 20 years of investment experience, spanning both the buy and sell-side, with the last ten in agriculture equity research, where he was a Brendan Wood Top Gun-ranked analyst and StarMine Award recipient.
Allan Fowler, Vice President Corporate Development
Mr. Fowler, BCOMM, CA, is a seasoned financial and business executive whose 40-year career spans a wide range of senior executive and board roles in numerous private and public companies as well as private equity investment firms. Mr. Fowler was VP Business Development and Investor Relations at CanniMed Therapeutics.
Michelle Gursky, Vice President Legal Affairs
Ms. Gursky, JD, brings 20 years of legal experience to ZYUS, with more than a decade of that experience spent as in-house counsel for life sciences and biotechnology companies in both the private and public sector. Prior to joining ZYUS, Ms. Gursky was Director of Legal Affairs at CanniMed Therapeutics.
Larry Holbrook, Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Holbrook, PhD (Neurobiology), has been a senior research scientist in a number of Canadian biotechnology startup companies for more than 35 years. His main research focus has been the utilization of molecular biological technology advancements to develop plant made pharmaceuticals. For the last 15 years Dr. Holbrook has been involved in medical cannabis research and development, most recently as Chief Scientific Officer at CanniMed Therapeutics.
About ZYUS
ZYUSTM is a Canadian based company dedicated to restoring health and humanity by advancing the field of targeted phyto-therapeutics, including cannabinoids.
Notwithstanding significant advances in biopharmaceuticals, patients still suffer despite treatment. At ZYUS, we are elevating cannabinoids as a medical solution to alleviate suffering in patients who are experiencing discomfort due to chronic disease, treatment side effects or conditions related to aging. Through advocacy, research and innovation, we enable healthcare professionals to leverage the power of cannabinoids to manage disease and improve patient quality of life.
Our aim is to shift the paradigm from the treatment of physical disease to caring for overall well-being by accelerating adoption of cannabinoids as a medical solution. To achieve this, we are investing in clinical research, advancing manufacturing, defining scientific standards, delivering high quality offerings, and raising awareness of medical need across the industry.
We’re looking for partners in our mission to make life more livable for patients globally.
ZYUS: Advancing the Science of Well-Being™
Please visit ZYUS.com
Forward-Looking Information
This document contains “forward-looking statements” and “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively, “forward-looking information”) with respect to ZYUS, including, but not limited to (a) the global cannabis oil market; (b) future availability of dry herbal cannabis; (c) total projected capacity of the processing and extraction facility, (d) projected annual revenue based on the total projected capacity, and (e) any other statement that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply future plans, intentions, levels of activity, results, financial position, operational or financial performance or achievements, and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual plans, intentions, activities, results, performance or achievements of ZYUS to be materially different from any future plans, intentions, activities, results, position, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information is not a guarantee of future performance and is based upon a number of estimates and assumptions of management at the date the statements are made including among other things assumptions about: favorable operating conditions; obtaining and maintaining all required licenses and permits; the pricing of various cannabis products; the ability to raise sufficient capital to advance the business of ZYUS; and the level of demand for cannabis products including medical cannabis products. While ZYUS considers these assumptions to be reasonable, the assumptions are inherently subject to significant risks and uncertainties, contingencies and other factors that could cause actual performance, achievements, actions, events, results or conditions to be materially different from those projected in the forward-looking information.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information and statements. Forward-looking information and statements are provided and made as of the date hereof and ZYUS does not undertake any obligation to revise or update any forward-looking information or statements other than as required by applicable law.
