SOURCE OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp.
Letter Summarizes Milestones the Company Achieved In 2015
PETACH-TIKVA, Israel, February 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp. (OTC: OWCP), an Israel-based pharmaceutical research company today released its annual letter to the Company’s shareholders.
Dear shareholders,
As we begin 2016, I want to take a moment to inform you of our activities throughout the last year and provide you with an overview of our objectives going forward.
2015 was an important year for OWC Pharmaceutical Research Corp. We refined our business model, prioritized our opportunities and allocated our resources with the objective of establishing the infrastructure that will enable us to achieve our objectives effectively.
We formed our Israeli subsidiary, One World Cannabis Ltd. (“OWC”) with the intention of applying conventional pharmaceutical research protocols and disciplines to the field of medical cannabis, and with the objective of establishing a leadership position in the research and development of medical cannabis therapies, products and delivery technologies.
As a result of our decision to establish OWC in Israel, an epicenter of medical cannabis research, we are part of a leading-edge scientific community and have access to the greatest minds and facilities in the world of medical cannabis. Furthermore, since the Israeli government not only allows, but also facilitates, much of this research, the past year has seen an acceleration in the understanding of the effects of cannabis on health. This, combined with the broadening of legal access to cannabis for patients around the world, provides OWC with a significant opportunity to improve the lives of millions of patients. We recognize the enormous responsibility that comes with this opportunity, and it is through this lens that we make all corporate decisions.
First and foremost, we are a medical cannabis research and development company. To that end, we have entered into research and collaboration agreements with three of the leading research institutions in Israel, including Sheba Academic Medical Center, one of the leading academic hospitals in the Middle East. These agreements serve as the framework for our clinical trials, and ensure that all of our studies have been, and will continue to be, based on established research protocols of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Institutional Review Boards, and Independent Ethical Committees.
Dr. Yehuda Baruch, our Director of Research, manages the Company’s research efforts. Before joining OWC, Dr. Baruch spent ten years as the head of the Israeli Ministry of Health’s Medical Marijuana Program where, among other things, he oversaw regulatory compliance, secured approvals for clinical trials from the Institutional Review Board, and oversaw patient licensing and standards for cannabis dosing. In addition to his managerial background, Dr. Baruch has extensive experience in medical cannabis research, particularly on the use of cannabinoid-based formulations to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.
While there are many medical conditions and diseases appropriate for cannabis research, our initial focus has been on multiple myeloma, psoriasis and fibromyalgia, for which we have implemented a number of initiatives. While it is premature to report the findings on some of these initiatives, we are very excited by the preliminary results of our IRB-approved, in-vitro multiple myeloma study.
Published this past June, the results indicate a 100% mortality rate of myeloma cells in 60% of the cultured cells within a 24- to 48-hour period, and highlight the abilities of the cannabis oil extract to successfully fight multiple myeloma cancer. Although it is not yet definitive, our observed rapid kill-rate has the potential to revolutionize the way the medical community views cannabis as a treatment for this type of cancer.
Taking the preliminary results of the multiple myeloma study into consideration, we are now working with our partners on the next phase of research. In order to facilitate our efforts, we were able to attract two distinguished PhD scientists to our team of experts: Dr. Asaf Toker who is now serving as our Chief Science Officer and Dr. Merav Leiba who has joined the Company as Senior Science Advisor.
Prior to joining the Company, Dr. Toker was the Medical Director for the Southern District at Meuhedet, the third largest health services provider in Israel. Before that, he served as CEO of AGAM Group, an Israeli biotech company and as the Chief Medical Officer of Centro Medical La Paz in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, where he was responsible for the establishment of a new hospital.
Dr. Leiba is the head of the Multiple Myeloma Outpatient Clinic and Multiple Myeloma Research Lab at Sheba’s Hematology Institute where she led our in-vitro tests on multiple myeloma. Dr. Leiba, a specialist in internal medicine and hematology, was a postdoctoral fellow at the Jerome Lipper Multiple Myeloma Center at Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts from 2006 through 2008. She has also participated in numerous clinical and investigational studies aimed at developing novel drugs for multiple myeloma.
As with any emerging market, firms on the forefront of the medical cannabis industry make news, and we are no exception. Our small -- relative to traditional pharmaceutical R&D -- but powerful team has made great strides since OWC was established eighteen months ago, and the cannabis industry has taken notice. Our proprietary research has garnered the attention of the medical cannabis scientific community, while our ability to navigate the regulatory and operational hurdles of this industry has attracted interest from entrepreneurs. The number of inquiries from cannabis businesses worldwide seeking our assistance was the catalyst for the creation of a new OWC consultancy division.
In addition to providing the Company with another revenue stream, our consultancy division enables us to interact with others in the industry. As we provide our expertise to entrepreneurs and agencies seeking to enter the market, we will also have the opportunity to establish relationships with potential strategic partners and customers. The decision to pursue this direction was validated this past October, when we signed our first client, MedMar, LLC., a US-based company with business operations in three states.
OWC is working with MedMar to help it establish its own medical cannabis treatment program. Under the terms of the non binding agreement, which we have extended through April 1, 2016, we will assist MedMar with defining its product and service offerings, developing operating and training protocols for its staff and management, and establishing training and consulting centers for their medical staff and patients - all while ensuring compliance with applicable government regulations. As MedMar’s operations come on-line, we intend to enter into a licensing agreement with them to license some of our products, formulations and methodologies. Although the terms are still under negotiation, the agreement is expected to provide for a monthly retainer as well as ongoing licensing fees. We believe that this relationship with MedMar will be the first of many consulting relationships, and we look forward to expanding this consultancy division into new markets as opportunities and regulation allow.
As you can see, our first full year of operation was certainly a busy one, with many of our corporate goals achieved. We look forward to sharing our progress as we continue to execute on our business objectives.
As always, we thank you for your continued support and patience as we pursue our goals and vision for the future of medical cannabis, in Israel and around the world!
Respectfully yours,
Mordechai Bignitz,
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
For more information, please visit our website http://www.owcpharma.com. There you will find access to all of our past press releases and SEC filings regarding the activities discussed in this letter. You may also contact Jeffrey Friedland, our U.S. representative, at jfriedland@owcpharma.com, Tel. +1-646-450-8909 Or in Israel contact Mr. Mordechai Bignitz at Mordechai.Bignitz@owcpharma.com , Tel. +972-54-421-6946
This letter contains forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as “may”, “should”, “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “estimates”, “predicts”, “potential” or “continue” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These statements are only predictions and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our or our industry’s actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. More detailed information about the Company and the risk factors that may affect the realization of forward-looking statements is set forth in the filings submitted by the Company to the SEC, copies of which may be obtained from the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov.Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Except as required by applicable law, including the securities laws of the United States, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform these statements to actual results.
