Zelira Therapeutics Expands HOPE® Distribution In The U.S.A
PERTH, Australia, Dec. 3, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Zelira Therapeutics Ltd (ASX: ZLD, OTCQB: ZLDAF, Zelira), formerly Zelda Therapeutics Ltd, announced today it will bring its HOPE® Franchise to the state of Louisiana with a licensing agreement that will generate immediate revenue through a licensing arrangement which includes an up-front fee and ongoing royalties. The commercial terms of this arrangement remain confidential. The Franchise was launched successfully in Pennsylvania in May 2019 under Ilera Healthcare which holds the license for the state. Since entering the market, HOPE® has shown strong revenue growth establishing itself as the top selling formulated medicinal cannabis product line in Pennsylvania.
Zelira Therapeutics Ltd is the newly formed merged company aligning Zelda Therapeutics Limited, an Australian-based bio-pharmaceutical company, and Ilera Therapeutics LLC, a privately held medicinal cannabis and cannabinoid science company based in Pennsylvania. Together, the companies will have direct access to the U.S., the world's largest medicinal cannabis market, with over four million registered patients, as well as other markets including Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom. This merger brings a long-term supply and distribution relationships with pharmaceutical grade manufacturers in Europe (via HAPA pharm BV) and the U.S. (via TerrAscend/Ilera Healthcare and Advanced Biomedics LLC.) ensuring access to commercial scale quantities of pharmaceutical-grade medicinal cannabis to supply large and growing patient populations.
Zelira expects to launch its global strategy to the state of Louisiana by first quarter 2020. The pharmaceutical-grade product line HOPE® was developed by the Ilera Therapeutics team to specifically address patient symptoms associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The HOPE® Franchise has received support from organizations such as HOPE Grows for Autism, a leading autism advocacy group based in Pennsylvania. Zelira's unique 'Launch, Learn and Develop' strategy collects patient insights from the product that informs further product enhancement. Zelira is licensing HOPE® to Louisiana based Advance Biomedics LLC so that it can bring HOPE® products to patients throughout the state.
"Our objective is to deliver high quality, clinically validated products and options to patients and physicians. We are thrilled to bring this medicine to Louisiana and its approximately 5 million residents, allowing a broader reach for patient accessibility. Additionally, we are engaging U.S and international operators to extend the benefits of HOPE® to an even greater patient population while we continue to obtain data to gain additional understanding of the impact of medicinal cannabis on these patients," said Osagie Imasogie, Chairman of Zelira.
Zelira's Deputy Chairman, Harry Karelis commented, "This team has world-class expertise in clinical trial design, drug development, cannabinoid science research and product launch, distribution and management. With HOPE® in the U.S. and global markets we now have the accessibility to address more patient needs and the ability to distribute the HOPE® portfolio through licensing agreements within the US and globally, with expected revenues in the first half of 2020.
Tim Slate
Company Secretary
About Zelira Therapeutics (www.zeliratherapeutics.com)
Zelira Therapeutics Ltd is a leading global therapeutic medicinal cannabis company with access to the world's largest and fastest growing cannabis markets. Zelira owns a portfolio of proprietary revenue generating products and a pipeline of candidates undergoing clinical development that are positioned to enter global markets from 2020. The company is focused on developing branded cannabis products for the treatment of a variety of medical conditions.
The Company is undertaking:
- Human clinical trial programs focused on insomnia, autism and opioid reduction with activities in Australia and the USA.
- Pre-clinical research examining the effect of cannabinoids in breast, brain and pancreatic cancer as well as research examining the potential for cannabinoids to treat diabetes-associated cognitive decline.
The Company conducts this work in partnership with world-leading researchers and organizations including Complutense University in Madrid, Spain; Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia; the Telethon Kids Institute in Perth; the University of Western Australia, in Perth; St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne, Australia; and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) in the United States.
Zelira has also formed a strategic partnership with European medicinal cannabis group HAPA Pharm BV, to access HAPA Pharm's EU-GMP grade manufacturing capabilities and accessing its German distribution network providing a credible and rapid path to commercialization for successful clinically validated formulations.
The Company has developed two proprietary formulations (HOPE®) already launched and generating revenues in Pennsylvania, has laboratory capabilities to develop formulations in Pennsylvania and Louisiana with ability to conduct clinical trials and is establishing a national footprint across the US for the licensing of its products. The company also has a partnership with Ethicann for the development of a proprietary product, CAN-001, which is being developed for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV), which occurs in approximately 80% of the new 23.6 million cases of cancer annually worldwide.
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SOURCE Zelda Therapeutics Limited
