Apollon grants an Exclusive Licence Agreement to PureCann, South Africa

24 July 2023

Apollon Formularies Plc

Apollon grants an Exclusive Licence Agreement to PureCann, South Africa

Apollon Formularies plc (AQSE: APOL, "Apollon" or the "Company"), a UK based international pharmaceutical company trading on the Aquis Stock Exchange, is pleased to announce that it has signed an Exclusive License Agreement with PureCann Pty Ltd. ("PureCann"), a South African based medical cannabis company, which will produce, and actively distribute the entire Apollon product range throughout their dispensary network currently being rolled out in South Africa. The license includes the rights to distribute Apollon proprietary medicinal products to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and throughout the African continent where medical cannabis is legally available once the relevant export licenses have been secured by PureCann for these regions.

Transaction Highlights: 

• Apollon will receive a once off licensing fee of £100’000 as well as an ongoing royalty of 6% of gross profit on sales by PureCann for the entire term of the licence.
• Apollon grants PureCann an Exclusive Licence which gives PureCann the  rights to Apollon’s Patent applications, Proprietary Formulations, Patient Protocols and access to the technology relating to formulations which showed successful cancer cell killing in the BIOENSIS pre-clinical studies.    
• Apollon will benefit from brand exposure and sales royalties in PureCann’s licensed medical cannabis dispensaries as well as PureCann’s treatment facilities planning on being rolled out in Q4 of 2023.  
• Further Sub-Licence revenue will be applicable at a commercially favourable split between Apollon and PureCann where PureCann are able to enter into sub license agreements with the other nine African countries where medicinal cannabis is legally available to patients in those jurisdictions under a Sales and Distribution agreement along with further jurisdictions which may legalise in the term of this licence agreement.     
• Apollon will also benefit from crucial clinical data and royalties generated from PureCann’s Treatment centre in Cape Town, South Africa in the near future.   

Background

Since September 2022 Apollon has been in confidential discussions with the Directors of PureCann with the view to entering into a mutually beneficial commercial relationship via an Exclusive License Agreement. PureCann is in the process of rolling out 28 medical cannabis dispensaries nationally and has already gained good traction by adding over 200 eligible medical cannabis patients in their first month of trading.

Apollon will benefit greatly from PureCann’s current network where they have contractual agreements with multiple GACP/GMP cultivators where together we would have access to high-quality low-cost biomass reducing input costs dramatically across the production chain. PureCann also has access to two GMP extraction facilities meaning they can fully produce a complete range of certified cannabis based medicinal products’(CBMP's) for use locally within South Africa but also for export markets in Africa and back to Europe where together we would have a competitive advantage on cost across the board from plant to patient.

PureCann will benefit from Apollon’s vast experience in extraction and processing techniques, pharmaceutical level drug development, clinical trial knowledge, patient treatment protocols by experienced physicians with medical cannabis treatment experience, the exclusive rights to Apollon’s proprietary formulations along with all relevant patents filed under PCT and recently entered national phase admissions and lodged at the South African patent office.

Both companies will benefit substantially from the agreement by providing ongoing international exposure in multiple international jurisdictions to markets requiring quality products with proven pre-clinical data. Having a South African base of operations would improve local access to affordable healthcare whilst at the same time serving to uplift economic development and job creation. It would also bolster the local pharmaceutical production capabilities in this burgeoning economic sector initially within South Africa, but will be expanded to include the Southern African Development Community (“SADC”) with a view to expanding licensing regimes and CBMP’s to the entire African continent currently comprising of more than 1.4 billion people when they legalize and regularise each country in the near to mid term.     

We are due to get an update from Global Hemp Group in the coming days on our pending transaction, but we need to carry on with our usual course of business.  Apollon is very pleased to have been able to conclude this Exclusive License with PureCann. As soon as possible we will inform the market on the status of our deal with Global Hemp Group in a forthcoming press release to the  market.    

Dr Stephen D Barnhill, CEO and Chairman of Apollon Formularies, commented, 

"My team and I are extremely pleased to have signed an Exclusive Licence Agreement with PureCann. They have already reached impressive commercial milestones. As such, we are now able to immediately expand the “Apollon” Brand along with our full medical product portfolio into South Africa.”

“We are looking forward to having a full complement of our formulations for multiple medical conditions in their network of dispensaries as well as in their proposed treatment facilities. We are also excited that they have already been engaging with other African countries to get effective and safe cannabis based medicinal products to patients in those jurisdictions where legal.”

Dr Shan Holmes, Chief Biomedical Scientist of PureCann , stated, 

"We are delighted to be working with Apollon Formularies and specifically Dr Stephen D Barnhill as we grow our business from our base in South Africa. We will continue to build on Apollon’s medical milestones while we bring affordable and effective medicine to a wider population base. As a scientist with substantial experience in plant-based medicine, I am excited to be working shoulder to shoulder with Dr Barnhill and his team in this highly specialist sector.”

"I believe the cannabis sector is starting to experience a ‘second wave’ of interest, both from a medical and commercial perspective and South Africa is well placed to position itself to be at the centre of this new dawn."

The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

For additional information, please visit www.apollon.org.uk or contact:

Apollon Formularies                                                     

Tel:                                                      [phone]
Stene Jacobs                                      [e-mail]

Peterhouse Capital Limited (Corporate Adviser)             

Tel:                                                       [phone]
Guy Miller                                           [e-mail]

BlytheRay (Financial PR/IR-London)                 

Tel:                                                       [phone]
Tim Blythe/Megan Ray                    [e-mail]

About Apollon Formularies and Apollon Formularies Jamaica

Apollon Formularies plc is an international medical cannabis company headquartered in the United Kingdom. Apollon Formularies Jamaica Limited is a pharmaceutical company incorporated and operating in the Commonwealth of Jamaica. Apollon Jamaica is licensed by the Jamaican government's Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA) to cultivate, perform research and development, process, and sell medical cannabis therapeutic products that include legal medical cannabis to treat various illnesses under medical supervision. Apollon and Apollon Jamaica are parties to a Commitment Agreement whereby Apollon is entitled to 95% of Apollon Jamaica's Net Profits, and per a Stock Pledge Agreement that includes Stephen D. Barnhill, M.D., Apollon is to be assigned the entire 49% equity interest of Apollon Jamaica held by Dr. Barnhill, which is the maximum interest in a medical cannabis company allowed to be held by a non-Jamaican, upon the CLA approving the assignment.

 About PureCann

PureCann Pty Ltd is a South African medical cannabis business established in the Western Cape province of South Africa. PureCann has a seasoned professional team who have been at the forefront of the cannabis sector since 2015 with substantial experience in Lesotho and South Africa once medical cannabis was legalised in 2018. PureCann is in the process of rolling out a substantial national medical cannabis dispensary network under the brand -“Beleaf” where onsite licensed physicians will prescribe various Cannabis Based Medicinal Products (CBMP's) under prescription to eligible patients licensed under the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (“SAHPRA”), in terms of S21 and S22C of the Medicines and Related Substances Control Act. PureCann comes with a deep scientific and medical pedigree in both conventional and cannabinoid medicine and also have multiple contractual agreements currently giving them access to 33 GACP/GMP cultivators within South Africa.  

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