Emerald Joint Venture Receives Licenses from Health Canada to Sell Proprietary Products Supporting the Endocannabinoid System

Endo Brain recently awarded 2018 SupplySide Editor’s Choice Award for Brain Health

Planned mid-2019 product launch will open natural health product, grocery, and pharmacy store channels to Emerald non-cannabis product line

VICTORIA, British Columbia, Dec. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emerald Health Therapeutics Inc. ("Emerald" or “the Company”) (TSXV: EMH; OTCQX: EMHTF) today announced that its joint venture, Emerald Health Naturals (“EHN”), has received product licenses and natural product numbers (NPNs) from Health Canada to sell its award-winning Endo product line of endocannabinoid-supporting nutritional products in Canada. The Endo product line has been designed to impact stress, anxiety, restless sleep, pain and other conditions using non-cannabis ingredients. EHN intends to launch the Endo product line over-the-counter in Canadian natural health product, grocery, and pharmacy stores by mid-2019.

“Our Endo product line was developed by internationally recognized natural health product experts and is unique in the natural healthcare marketplace. We are very excited to be able to offer our Endo products to Canadian consumers to support their endocannabinoid systems and improve aspects of their health,” said Dr. Gaetano Morello, CEO of EHN. “We are leveraging our key strategic relationships and working hard on the marketing, manufacturing and logistical steps in order to launch the Endo line by mid-2019.”

The Endo product line was developed by Emerald’s joint venture partner, San Diego-based Emerald Health Bioceuticals, Inc. (“EHB”), and its scientific advisors. Over the last year, EHB has secured multiple distribution and sales channels in the United States and internationally for the Endo product line, ranging from small independent natural health product retailers to nation-wide grocery store chains and Amazon.com. EHN, which is owned 51% by Emerald and 49% by EHB, will have exclusive Canadian distribution rights to the Endo products.

These cannabis-free nutritional supplements feature PhytoCann-Complexâ„¢, a proprietary formulation designed to support the body’s endocannabinoid system, which plays a central role in the orchestration, maintenance, and balance of health and well-being. The products include Endo Sleep^TM, Endo Inflame^TM, Endo Brain^TM, Endo Bliss^TM, and Endo Calm^TM. Endo Brain was recently awarded a prestigious 2018 SupplySide Consumer Packaged Goods Editor’s Choice Award for Brain Health, building on its NEXTY "Editor's Choice" Best New Supplement Award in the natural products industry in 2017.

“We have the unique opportunity to brand Emerald through EHN’s offering of the Endo product line through a number of valuable sales channels that are frequently visited by cannabis users but which cannot currently sell cannabis products,” said Dr. Avtar Dhillon, Executive Chairman and President of Emerald. “In the event that CBD and other non-psychoactive cannabinoid products are allowed to be sold in these channels in the future, Emerald will be well positioned to add its cannabinoid compounds to the Endo product line and leverage its early marketing advantage. Emerald’s vision is to enhance human health through cannabis science. The creation of EHN and the launch of the Endo product line in Canada are key steps in Emerald’s strategy to achieve this goal.”

As announced in the Company’s press release dated November 22, 2018, the Company has obtained conditional approval of the TSX Venture Exchange for the formation of the EHN joint venture. The parties are in the process of finalizing definitive documentation with respect to EHN. Formation of EHN is conditional upon final regulatory approval and settlement of definitive documentation.

About the Endocannabinoid System

The endocannabinoid system (“ECS”) is a biological system with a vital role in regulating human health and disease. A lack of balance in the endocannabinoid system is likely to have adverse consequences in a number of human health conditions. The ECS is activated by endocannabinoids produced naturally in the body, but also by cannabis or non-cannabis plant ingredients that mimic the actions of cannabinoids produced in the body. All products in the Endo product line contain Phyto-Cann^TM Complex, which has been formulated by leading nutritional and cannabinoid scientists with non-cannabis herbal and botanical cannabinoids designed to favorably impact the ECS.