Sydney, June 16, 2016 - (ABN Newswire) - MMJ PhytoTech Limited (ASX:MMJ) (“MMJ” or “the Company”) is pleased to advise that it has strengthened its senior management and advisory personnel with the appointment of Stanislav Sologubov as Chief Executive Officer of Satipharm Switzerland and John Hollister as a strategic pharmaceutical consultant.
Highlights:
- Stanislav Sologubov appointed Chief Executive Officer of Satipharm Switzerland to drive European sales growth
- John Hollister appointed as consultant to provide framework on pharmaceutical manufacturing across key business divisions in Canada, Israel and Switzerland
- Licensing applications for Duncan and Lucky Lake production facilities progressing positively with Health Canada
The key appointments have been made as MMJ continues to advance its clinical development and pharmaceutical processing strategy, and are intended to support the Company’s ongoing evolution towards a pharmaceutical business model.
As CEO of Satipharm Switzerland, Sologubov will be focused on accelerating sales of Satipharm’s medical cannabis (“MC”) consumer health products in Europe. With the mid-term goal of establishing a robust, multi-product cash flow stream to fund MMJ’s clinical development and pharmaceutical processing initiatives.
Sologubov will initially focus on the rapid expansion of Satipharm Gelpell(R) Gastro-Resistant Microgel CBD Oral capsule sales. Furthermore, Satipharm has a robust pipeline of exclusive MC-based consumer health products which have been earmarked for near-term release to support the pharmaceutical-grade capsules, and the Company will provide additional product updates in due course.
Sologubov is an international sales and marketing expert with more than 15 years’ experience working with global healthcare companies including Johnson & Johnson and Bausch + Lomb a robust track record in delivering sales growth and brings with him a wealth of industry knowledge and contacts that will play a critical role in building MMJ’s market presence in Europe.
Hollister is a healthcare industry executive with more than 25 years’ experience working for large pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies. Hollister has extensive experience in all aspects of commercialisation in the healthcare industry, having recently held the position of CEO at US-based biopharmaceutical company Nemus Bioscience Inc.
In addition, the Company is also pleased to report that the Marijuana for Medical Purposes Regulations (“MMPR”) licensing approval for the Lucky Lake production facility is progressing.
Furthermore, pre-production and ramp-up activities are underway at the Company’s Duncan Facility in preparation for the final licensing approvals, which are expected to be granted imminently. Upon receipt of all licensing approvals, the Duncan and Lucky Lake facilities will be integrated, allowing MMJ to scale up production capacity.
MMJ PhytoTech Limited’s Managing Director, Andreas Gedeon, commented: “We are very pleased to be appointing two highly regarded healthcare industry professionals to assist with our transition into a leading pharmaceutical company.
We view our expansion into key European markets as a significant near-term value driver for the business, and the appointments of Stanislav and John respectively, are a core component of this strategy.
The Board is also very encouraged by the continued progress being made in respect to our MMPR licensing applications in Canada, and we expect to be in a position to provide further updates on these approvals shortly..
Also noteworthy, is that the granting of MMPR licenses has served as a significant value driver for a number of listed companies operating in the sector, and we expect the approval of our applications to be a key catalyst for MMJ in the near-term.”
About: MMJ PhytoTech Ltd
MMJ PhytoTech Limited (ASX:MMJ) is a Medical Cannabis company, which aims to commercialise Medical Grade Cannabis (MGC) and high potential cannabis based therapeutics products to the rapidly growing international market with regulated medical cannabis laws. The Company operates three subsidiaries with operations across the entire Medical Cannabis value chain, encompassing the Company’s “Farm to Pharma” strategy.
It’s United Greeneries subsidiary has growing facilities in Canada and is fully integrated with Agrichem Analytical, its quality control and testing laboratory. Satipharm has a number of key international distribution partnerships for the distribution of cannabinoid-based pharmaceutical, nutraceutical and wellness products.
Through its PhytoTech Therapeutics subsidiary in Israel the Company has an exclusive research and licensing agreement with Yissum, the prestigious Research Development and technology transfer Company of Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, a global leader in medical cannabis research.
