CALGARY, AB, June 22, 2020 /CNW/ - Willow Biosciences Inc. ("Willow" or the "Company") (TSX: WLLW) (OTCQB: CANSF) is pleased to announce that Christopher Speed has joined the Company as Senior Vice President, Sales and Marketing, effective July 1, 2020. In this role, Mr. Speed will lead the sales and marketing of Willow's new line of cannabinoids, along with the Company's strategic planning and customer initiatives.

Mr. Speed has extensive experience and knowledge of the factors that influence food, nutrition and health decisions and the consequences of these on the end-consumer. His expertise in global sales, marketing and public relations tactics, combined with a background in biochemical nutrition, is perfectly suited to advancing Willow's business strategy. Most recently, Mr. Speed was Global Vice President of Consumer Product Goods at an industry-leading cannabinoid ingredient and solutions provider to pharmaceutical and consumer products companies. Prior to that, he was Global Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at a world-renowned vitamin research and development firm.

Trevor Peters, President and Chief Executive Officer of Willow, commented, "We are very excited to have Chris join our team. His expertise and experience in sales and marketing along with his strong background in the ingredients space with consumer packaged goods will be an invaluable asset as we transition Willow into a customer-focused Company."

In his most recent roles, Chris has successfully grown sales and significantly increased the awareness of his companies' products. This success includes gaining strong interest from global consumer packaged goods companies in the emerging commercialization of cannabinoids (both cannabidiol and several other cannabinoids that Willow is currently advancing production processes for). During his career, Chris has launched global finished brands, including Minami Nutrition and Wiley's Finest, and has over a decade of experience working with leading CPG and ingredient brands in the natural food industry. Chris has developed a strong ability to work with a broad range of industry stakeholders to ensure the relevance to his ingredients is appreciated and that he can play a part in helping mature the market for his products.

Chris holds a Master of Human Nutrition and Dietetics from Sydney University in the behavioral and nutritional theory of human health and the impact of food/nutrition and a Bachelor of Science from the Australian National University in nutritional biochemistry, chemistry, biology, physiology and anatomy.

About Willow Biosciences Inc.

Willow is a Canadian biotechnology company based in Calgary, Alberta, that produces high purity, plant-derived compounds that provide building blocks for the global pharmaceutical, health and wellness, and consumer packaged goods industries. Willow's current focus is in the production of cannabinoids for the treatment for pain, anxiety, obesity, brain disorders, among other significant indications. Willow's science team has a proven track record of developing manufacturing technologies for high purity compounds in pain and cancer treatments. Willow's manufacturing process creates a consistent, scalable and sustainable product that allows for the discovery and development of new life changing drugs.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may include forward-looking statements including opinions, assumptions, estimates and the Company's assessment of future plans and operations, and, more particularly, statements concerning the benefits of new management additions and the business plan of the Company, generally, including cannabinoid research and production. When used in this news release, the words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by the Company which include, but are not limited to: the financial strength of the Company; the ability of the Company to fund its business plan using cash on hand and existing resources; the market for Willow's products; and the successful implementation of Willow's production and commercialization strategy, generally. Forward-looking statements are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties, and although the Company believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will be realized. Any number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, risks associated with: the cannabinoid industry in general; the success of the Company's research and development strategies; infringement on intellectual property; failure to benefit from partnerships or successfully integrate acquisitions; actions and initiatives of federal and provincial governments and changes to government policies and the execution and impact of these actions, initiatives and policies; import/export and research restrictions for cannabinoid-based operations; the size of the medical-use and adult-use cannabinoid market; competition from other industry participants; adverse U.S., Canadian and global economic conditions; adverse global events and public-health crises, including the current COVID-19 outbreak; failure to comply with certain regulations; departure of key management personnel or inability to attract and retain talent; and other factors more fully described from time to time in the reports and filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities. Please refer to the AIF and the MD&A for additional risk factors relating to Willow, which can be accessed either on Willow's website at www.willowbio.com or under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Willow Biosciences Inc.

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