Press Release

After highly competitive selection and vetting process, Columbia Care to produce CBD and THC-A oils in Health Service Area V and serve throughout the Commonwealth

Full approval would make Virginia the 13^th highly regulated state where Columbia Care is licensed to operate

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Columbia Care LLC (“Columbia Care”), the nation’s leading medical cannabis company, today announced that it was one of only five applicants to receive conditional approval from the Virginia Board of Pharmacy to cultivate, produce and dispense cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinolic acid (THC-A) oils to qualifying patients in Virginia. Columbia Care will be based in Virginia Health Service Area V, the Hampton Roads/Norfolk region, and will serve patients throughout the Commonwealth.

“After such a competitive process that included detailed vetting of our personnel, business plan and national operations, we are proud and humbled to have been one of only five companies to receive conditional approval from the Virginia Board of Pharmacy to produce and dispense CBD and THC-A oils to patients in Virginia. We intend to develop a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical processing facility capable of surpassing the rigorous processing requirements outlined by the Board of Pharmacy, as we have successfully done in multiple other states,” said Nicholas Vita, chief executive officer of Columbia Care. “Throughout the country, we are servants to our communities, and we believe it is of utmost importance that we act as a positive force to improve lives and patient wellness. This is the mission upon which our company was founded and is reflected in our corporate DNA. We look forward to providing our highly formulated, pharmaceutical-quality cannabinoid-based medicines and improving the lives of patients across the Commonwealth of Virginia beginning in the second half of 2019.”

Marissa Levine, M.D. M.P.H, former Virginia State Health Commissioner and co-chair of the Columbia Care Virginia advisory board, added, “Columbia Care has a proven track record of working effectively with the medical and research communities, providing a superior patient experience and producing products worthy of selection. I am honored to serve on Columbia Care Virginia’s advisory board, and I look forward to helping the Company advance its mission of improving the lives of patients and their families by developing the highest-quality cannabinoid-based medicines and delivering the best care to the community at large.”

In addition to Dr. Levine, Columbia Care Virginia assembled a distinguished group of advisory board members. The board provides Columbia Care with valuable Virginia-specific insights and experience to assure Columbia Care Virginia will be a leader in pharmacist-led care, clinical research and agricultural innovation, not only in the Commonwealth, but nationwide. Additional Columbia Care Virginia advisory board members include:

• Basil Gooden, Ph.D., former Virginia secretary of agriculture
• David Creecy, PharmD, former president of the Virginia Pharmacists Association
• Tim Musselman, PharmD, former executive director of the Virginia Pharmacists Association
• Reverend Tyrone Nelson, Henrico County board of supervisors
• Calvin Butts, Hampton University board of trustee
• Terron Sims II, prominent U.S. veterans advocate
• Lisa Smith, leading Virginia medical cannabis patient advocate

Consistent with the Company’s national effort to deliver the highest-quality and most consistent cannabinoid-based medicines to patients with unmet medical needs, Columbia Care’s pharmaceutical processing facility will be designed and operated with patient safety and comfort in mind. The facility will be staffed by a dedicated team trained to provide the highest level of professionalism, compassion, confidentiality and respect for patients. For more information about Columbia Care Virginia, please visit www.col-careva.com.

For more information on the Virginia Medical Cannabidiol and THC-A Oil Program, including information for patients, please visit 
https://www.dhp.virginia.gov/pharmacy/PharmaceuticalProcessing/default.htm.

About Columbia Care LLC
Columbia Care is the nation’s largest and most experienced manufacturer and provider of medical cannabis products and services. The Company has been vetted by more regulators and successfully awarded more licenses in highly selective and regulated jurisdictions than any other company in the nation. Columbia Care has completed more than 750,000 successful patient interactions since its inception and is working in collaboration with some of the most renowned and innovative teaching hospitals and medical centers in the world. Columbia Care is a patient-centered healthcare company setting the standard for compassion, professionalism, quality, caring and innovation for a rapidly expanding new industry focused on providing the transparency and education patients need with the product quality clinicians and consumers expect. By the end of first quarter 2019, Columbia Care anticipates selling its proprietary, pharmaceutical-quality EleCeed™, TheraCeed™ and ClaraCeed™ medications in tablet, vaporization, tincture, suppository and topical formulations throughout its national distribution network in order to treat patients with varying unmet medical needs. For more information on Columbia Care, please visit www.col-care.com.

Media Contact:
Josephine Belluardo, Ph.D.
LifeSci Public Relations
+1.646.751.4361
jo@lifescipublicrelations.com

Source: Columbia Care LLC

Released October 25, 2018