LAVAL, QC, June 17, 2019 /CNW Telbec/ - Neptune
Wellness Solutions Inc. ("Neptune" or the "Company") (NASDAQ:NEPT)
(TSX:NEPT) is pleased to announce that its wholly owned subsidiary,
9354-7537 Québec Inc., has received a notification letter from
Health Canada indicating that all requested license amendments have
been approved.
Extraction Capacity Increases to 200,000 kg
The scope of the amendment received from Health Canada permits
expansion of cannabis operation areas to include an additional
extraction room where Neptune will perform cold ethanol extraction.
Ethanol extraction is faster and more cost effective than the
CO2 extraction currently used and will increase
Neptune's input capacity from 30,000 kg to 200,000 kg.
This seven-fold increase in the Company's capacity will
accelerate production and enable fulfilment of commercial
commitments. Start-up activities will begin immediately, including
the final stages of commissioning the equipment, and Neptune will
ramp up commercial operations on a progressive basis during the
second fiscal quarter.
Production of Cannabis Oil Capsules to Commence
The amendment from Health Canada also includes expansion for an
encapsulation room where Neptune will produce cannabis oil capsules
using the Licaps® technology licensed from Lonza Group AG. The
encapsulation equipment is commissioned and ready for commercial
operations with a capacity of up to 200 million capsules annually.
The Licaps® technology supports differentiated product offerings
through its various delivery systems, colours and branding
possibilities. Furthermore, this is an effective technology for
variable and multiple product formulation runs.
Management Commentary
"Congratulations are in order as this announcement marks another
milestone achieved by our team by successfully meeting the
stringent Health Canada requirements," said Jim Hamilton, CEO of Neptune. "The new
regulations regarding cannabis edibles, extracts and topicals
recently published by Health Canada are expected to result in
significant additional demand for cannabis extraction and
purification services. With our increased extraction capacity,
Neptune is now well positioned to benefit from this rapidly growing
market. In addition, our cannabis oil capsule technology provides
the company a differentiated offering for which there is strong
demand."
Our Future Plans
Neptune's Board of Directors recently approved an investment of
$7 million to establish additional
formulation, manufacturing and packaging infrastructure. This
investment will allow Neptune to provide formulation services for
new expected product forms such as vape pens, topicals, beverages,
sprays, and others. A $4 million
investment has also been approved, due to strong customer demand,
to increase extraction capacity to a total of 1,500,000 kg, under
Neptune's Phase IIIA expansion plans targeted for completion before
the end of calendar year 2019.
With this approval, Neptune is now positioned to submit further
license amendments to incorporate the manufacturing of additional
product forms, and packaging capabilities, as well as for the Phase
IIIA extraction capacity expansion.
About Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc.
Neptune
Wellness Solutions specializes in the extraction, purification and
formulation of health and wellness products. Neptune's wholly owned
subsidiary, 9354-7537 Québec Inc., is licensed by Health Canada to
process cannabis at its 50,000-square-foot facility located in
Sherbrooke, Québec. Neptune brings
decades of experience in the natural products sector to the legal
cannabis industry. Leveraging its scientific and technological
expertise, Neptune focuses on the development of value-added and
differentiated products for the Canadian and global cannabis
markets. Neptune's activities also include the development and
commercialization of turnkey nutrition solutions and patented
ingredients such as MaxSimil®, and of a variety of marine and seed
oils. Its head office is located in Laval, Quebec.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not statements of
historical or current fact constitute "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the U.S. securities laws and Canadian
securities laws. Such forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties, and other unknown factors that could
cause the actual results of Neptune to be materially different from
historical results or from any future results expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. In addition to statements which
explicitly describe such risks and uncertainties, readers are urged
to consider statements labeled with the terms "believes", "belief",
"expects", "intends", "projects", "anticipates", "will", "should"
or "plans" to be uncertain and forward-looking. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking
statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
Forward-looking information in this press release includes, but is
not limited to, information or statements about Neptune's ability
and timing to successfully operate its cold extraction ethanol
operations and to produce, or generate any revenue from the sale of
any marijuana-based and hemp-based therefrom; the evolvement of
governmental regulations and the ability or failure of Neptune to
comply therewith.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release
are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary
statement and the "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking
Information" section contained in Neptune's latest Annual
Information Form (the "AIF"), which also forms part of Neptune's
latest annual report on Form 40-F, and which is available on SEDAR
at www.sedar.com, on EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar.html and on the
investor section of Neptune's website at www.neptunecorp.com. All
forward-looking statements in this press release are made as of the
date of this press release. Neptune does not undertake to update
any such forward-looking statements whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
The forward-looking statements contained herein are also subject
generally to other risks and uncertainties that are described from
time to time in Neptune public securities filings with the
Securities and Exchange Commission and the Canadian securities
commissions. Additional information about these assumptions and
risks and uncertainties is contained in the AIF under "Risk
Factors".
Neither NASDAQ nor the Toronto Stock Exchange accepts
responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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SOURCE Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc.