Allied Corp. Receives ICA Approval for Psychoactive THC Strains

KELOWNA, British Columbia, March 09, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allied Corp. ("Allied") (OTCQB: ALID), an international medical cannabis company focused on creating and providing targeted psilocybin and cannabinoid health solutions to address today’s medical issues, is pleased to announce that its subsidiary Allied Colombia SAS has received approval from the Colombian Institute of Agriculture (“ICA”) for the cultivation of its proprietary psychoactive cannabis strains.  

This achievement comes as a follow up to May 05, 2020 press release that announced the approval from ICA to conduct the seed evaluation of Allied’s 10 psychoactive strains. This authorization granted in May 2020 allowed Allied to evaluate the 10 different proprietary strains in a controlled environment in order to select the best pheno-typed strains that were best suited for quality and production efficiency. Allied had expected to continue to follow its production plan in order to move towards the first harvest in or around Q3/Q4 2020. This was completed as stated, the strains were harvested, processed and analyzed at independent accredited laboratories for safety parameters and cannabinoid profiles. This was all then presented to the National Ministry of Agriculture in Colombia.

All 10 strains were approved and have passed all of the ICA requirements to be able to cultivate the high THC plants. Allied will now apply for a psychoactive export quota under the Colombian regime.

The psychoactive seed evaluation approval was over a year-long process that began with the registration of the ten (10) novel psycho active (THC based) Allied strains with the national cultivar registry. Each strain was then germinated into plantlets in Allied’s scientific cultivation center in Colombia. Following germination, the plants entered into field trials that included rigorous data collection, analysis and phenotyping of the strains while in the vegetation life cycle. During this time, the strains were provided with propriety nutrients, handled with standard operating procedures and guided towards the plant flowering phase. Proprietary nutrients and procedures were also adhered to during the flowering phase and detailed batch record audit data were diligently collected during every day of the plant life cycle. Following flowering, the plants were harvested and tested for cannabinoid profiles and quality assurance testing parameters. The harvested material was then sent to an accredited laboratory for testing was and tested by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) testing methods.

The lab results showed a higher cannabinoid profile from being grown in the Colombian climate when compared to the same strains grown in North American climate. The lab results, batch records and procedural archives were also submitted to the Colombian Institute of Agriculture and a day-long presentation was provided by Allied’s team.

As a result, Allied received approval from the technical directorate of ICA for the 10 strains tested, representing a diverse range of chemotypes with novel psycho active cannabinoid profiles.

“In all of my years of experience working in the field of agronomy and plant genetics with many different seed families, this is the first time that I have seen 10 strains approved out of the 10 strains that were submitted. Having done this twice is just an astonishing record. To the best of my knowledge, our team is the first to attain such a record in their careers. I feel proud and honored to be a part of the Allied team.” said Dr. Joanna Dossmann, Head of Agronomy and Genetics.

“The registration and approval received is a major milestone for the Company”, said Calum Hughes, CEO. “I am very proud of the production team with this achievement. The cannabinoid profiles that we found in the plants have not been found in other climates. It just makes sense that other agricultural products such as coffee, fresh cut flowers or fruits respond very well to the Colombian climate, so why not cannabis? With this approval, we broaden our portfolio of products and continue our path towards revenue generation through commercialization of our products”.

For more information on ICA, visit Colombian Institute of Agriculture

ICA is the Colombian government entity in charge of the prevention, surveillance, and control of sanitary, biological and chemical risks in the agricultural, fisheries, and aquaculture sector. Its mission is to protect the health of people, animals, and plants and ensure high-quality trade conditions.

For more information on Allied Corp., visit www.allied.health        

About Allied Corp.
Allied Corp. is an international medical cannabis production company with a mission to address today’s medical issues with targeted psilocybin and cannabinoid health solutions. Allied Corp. uses an evidence-informed scientific approach to make this mission possible, through cutting-edge pharmaceutical research and development, innovative plant-based production and unique development of therapeutic products.

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Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws in Canada or “forward-looking statements” made pursuant to the “safe harbour” provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, “forward-looking information”). Forward-looking information may relate to the Company’s future outlook and anticipated events, plans or results, and may include information regarding the Company’s objectives, goals, strategies, future revenue or performance and capital expenditures, and other information that is not historical information. Forward-looking information can often be identified by the use of terminology such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “expect,” “pending,” “in process,” “intend,” “estimate,” “project,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “could,” “can,” the negatives thereof, variations thereon and similar expressions. The forward-looking information contained in this press release is based on the Company’s opinions, estimates and assumptions in light of management’s experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments, as well as other factors that management currently believes are appropriate and reasonable in the circumstances. Forward looking statements in this press release include the following: that Allied is leveraging the conditions in its Colombia grow operation and future Kelowna location to support its Research and Development efforts; that Allied is making important strides forward to position itself as a leader in the medical cannabis space, that Allied intends to make a series of proposed trademark and other intellectual property protection filings, as part of the Company’s Intellectual Property and Pharma Development (IP&PD) Strategy, statements respecting the joint development, manufacturing, and introduction of TACTICAL RELIEF™ branded products, and the use of proceeds from the offering of convertible notes.

There can be no assurance that the underlying opinions, estimates and assumptions will prove to be correct. Risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information in this release include: the Company’s exposure to legal and regulatory risk; the effect of the legalization of adult-use cannabis in Canada and Colombia on the medical cannabis industry is unknown and may significantly and negatively affect the Company’s medical cannabis business; that the medical benefits, viability, safety, efficacy, dosing and social acceptance of cannabis are not as currently expected; that adverse changes or developments affecting the Company’s main or planned facilities may have an adverse effect on the Company; that the medical cannabis industry and market may not continue to exist or develop as anticipated or the Company may not be able to succeed in this market; risks related to completion of the greenhouse construction in Colombia, risks related to market competition; risks related to the proposed adult-use cannabis industry and market in Canada and Colombia including the Company’s ability to enter into or compete in such markets; that the Company has a limited operating history and a history of net losses and that it may not achieve or maintain profitability in the future; risks related to the Company’s current or proposed international operations; risks related to future third party strategic alliances or the expansion of currently existing relationships with third parties; that the Company may not be able to successfully identify and execute future acquisitions or dispositions or successfully manage the impacts of such transactions on its operations; risks inherent to the operation of an agricultural business; that the Company may be unable to attract, develop and retain key personnel; risks resulting from significant interruptions to the Company’s access to certain key inputs such as raw materials, electricity, water and other utilities; that the Company may be unable to transport its cannabis products to patients in a safe and efficient manner; risks related to recalls of the Company’s cannabis products or product liability or regulatory claims or actions involving the Company’s cannabis products; risks related to the Company’s reliance on pharmaceutical distributors; that the Company, or the cannabis industry more generally, may receive unfavourable publicity or become subject to negative consumer or investor perception; that certain events or developments in the cannabis industry more generally may impact the Company’s reputation or its relationships with customers or suppliers; that the Company may not be able to obtain adequate insurance coverage in respect of the risks that it faces, that the premiums for such insurance may not continue to be commercially justifiable or that there may be coverage limitations and other exclusions which may result in such insurance not being sufficient; that the Company may become subject to liability arising from fraudulent or illegal activity by its employees, contractors, consultants and others; that the Company may experience breaches of security at its facilities or losses as a result of the theft of its products; risks related to the Company’s information technology systems; that the Company may be unable to sustain its revenue growth and development; that the Company may be unable to expand its operations quickly enough to meet demand or manage its operations beyond their current scale; that the Company may be unable to secure adequate or reliable sources of necessary funding; risks related to, or associated with, the Company’s exposure to reporting requirements; risks related to conflicts of interest; risks related to fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; risks related to the Company’s potential exposure to greater-than-anticipated tax liabilities; risks related to the protection and enforcement of the Company’s intellectual property rights, or the intellectual property that it licenses from others; that the Company may become subject to allegations that it or its licensors are in violation of the intellectual property rights of third parties; that the Company may not realize the full benefit of the clinical trials or studies that it participates in; that the Company may not realize the full benefit of its licenses if the licensed material has less market appeal than expected and the licenses may not be profitable; as well as any other risks that may be further described in and the risk factors discussed in the Company's continuous disclosure including its Management's Discussion and Analysis sections in its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Current Reports on Form 8-K filed under the Company's profile at www.sec.gov.

Although management has attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking information in this presentation, there may be other risk factors not presently known to the Company or that the Company presently believes are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking information in this presentation. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. Accordingly, readers and viewers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. The forward-looking information contained in this release represents the Company’s expectations as of the date of this release or the date indicated, regardless of the time of delivery of the presentation. The Company disclaims any intention, obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws.