EastWest Bioscience Restructures its Board for Expansion into the US and EU CBD Markets

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / April 15, 2019 / EastWest Bioscience (the "Company" or "EastWest") (EAST.V) announces today the appointment of two new independent Directors, Paul Mandl and Jeff Bierman, to the Board. Both these new board members will help to ensure the Company is well-equipped to efficiently execute its expansion into the US and EU. Scott Reeves, previously Chair of Board, is voluntarily stepping into the role of Secretary. Douglas Horne, who served as an independent on the Company's board since March 2017 has resigned from the board for health reasons.

"As EastWest continues to mature into a global wellness and CBD consumer goods company, it is vital that our Board and Management continues to enhance its composition to ensure its experience and skill set is aligned with the Company's global strategic direction," states Rodney Gelineau, CEO of EastWest Bioscience. "The changes announced today ensure that our Board will be well-equipped to provide strong guidance for the Company's next moves into the US and EU markets. Our new board members are experts in International Trade, regulatory transparency, International Supply Chains, Financial Management and Capital Markets in these two regions."

Paul Mandl brings to the board extensive international trade and international supply chain management experience, based on over 30 years of commercial and technical experience. His work resume spans 47 countries over 5 continents with a strong focus on the European model of regulatory harmonization predominantly in the Agrifood sector. He has managed a multitude of projects for global consumer products companies such as Unilever, transnational financial institutions such as the World Bank and European Union, as well as European based consulting companies operating in the international arena. In his latest role, Paul is the Project Director for a €22 Million multi-year Regional Economic Integration initiative for the 10 South East ASIAN countries which comprise ASEAN.

As a trade policy analyst, he understands regional trade policy, the development of regional markets, and the influence of regulatory frameworks in the European and International context. Furthermore, as an international marketing expert, he brings both commercial and technical experience in marketing, storage and distribution in global and regional market. This together with his extensive network of advisors and companies in Europe and ASIA will bring a stronger international business dimension to the East West business model. The company is excited to harness Paul's global experience in trade and supply chains and particularly his in depth knowledge of the European Markets for our evolving product range, which will prove invaluable as EastWest is entering other markets outside North America, particularly Europe and Asia.

Jeff Bierman, CMT is a Chartered Market Technician and adjunct Professor of Finance at both DePaul University–Driehaus College of Business and the Loyola University Chicago-Quinlan School of Business. He has been published in professional journals and dozens of magazines and reports such as Investor's Digest, Dick Davis Digest, Bull & Bear Report, and Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine. He has decades of equity research and analysis experience including senior level market trading roles in TD Ameritrade, Chicago and TheoTrade.com as their Chief Market Technician. Jeff brings considerable experience in US capital markets and financial management and analysis. He specializes in mergers and acquisition issues, portfolio theory, cashflow analysis, capital budgeting and the application of historical cases and applying them in financial decision making.

Jeff's experience will be valuable in helping the Company implement best practices in capital budgeting for its various business units and will be particularly important in the restructuring of Sangsters in Canada. In addition, after the recent TSX approval in Kentucky, US, the Company will be making multiple announcements on its buildout of its US Expansion through strategic joint ventures. The Company is looking forward to fully utilizing Jeff's wealth of experience and technical skills as it navigates its US and EU expansions.

Douglas Horne has voluntarily resigned from his position as a Director of the Company due to health reasons. He was appointed to the Company's board in March 2017 and made important contributions to the development of the Company's retail and manufacturing strategy. "We wish Doug Horne the best of health," states Gelineau, "and wish to sincerely thank him for his valuable contributions towards establishing EastWest's position in the domestic and international CBD business."