• ESG standard becoming important distinction in investing world
• OCLN onsite modular products offer customers water independence through ownership, operational control over water quality
• OriginClear water-treatment systems provide companies path to improving ESG standings

Deeply committed to its slogan – above and beyond clear water – OriginClear Inc. (OTC: OCLND) provides companies with much more than simply water treatment solutions. As companies opt for OCLN’s proprietary water treatment systems, they are also meeting new Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) standards, which are fast becoming an invaluable distinction in the investing world.

“ESG is a set of investing guidelines being adopted by more and more large funds, family offices, and so forth all over the world,” OCLN CEO Riggs Eckelberry explained in a news release (http://ibn.fm/xzacu). “Trillions are being invested in companies that are ESG-portfolio companies.”

A Forbes article (http://ibn.fm/Ngf5t) reported that “responsible investing is widely understood as the integration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment processes and decision-making. ESG factors cover a wide spectrum of issues that traditionally are not part of financial analysis, yet may have financial relevance. This might include how corporations respond to climate change, how good they are with water management, how effective their health and safety policies are in the protection against accidents, how they manage their supply chains, how they treat their workers and whether they have a corporate culture that builds trust and fosters innovation.”

Choosing OriginClear makes sense on more than just the environmental level. As current infrastructure fails at providing clean water, companies must look beyond traditional solutions. OriginClear manufactures and distributes professional-grade water treatment and conveyance products for both commercial and industrial properties, including hotels and resorts, housing developments, office buildings, military installations, schools, manufacturing facilities, industry warehouses, oil and gas producers, farms and much more.

The company’s Modular Water Systems(TM) provide quick, efficient water purification, recycling, and wastewater management. OCLN’s onsite modular products offer customers water independence through ownership and operational control over water quality. OriginClear customers see increased productivity while reducing environmental, health and safety risks from pollution, contamination and corrosion.

OriginClear clients enjoy much more than onsite systems that provide purification and recycling levels that centralized systems can’t achieve. In addition to producing cleaner water, OriginClear systems can actually boost real estate asset value as a fundamental capital improvement, combined with long-lasting water savings for the corporate bottom line. And with OriginClear providing a way for organizations to improve their environmental, social and governance (ESG) standings with world-class water management, the company is in a sweet spot for water-treatment solutions.

Providing a clear solution for companies to facilitate their own water treatment, recycle water, and reduce their carbon footprint is a win in all areas. As OriginClear becomes a leader in the growing water treatment industry, the company provides exciting possibilities for potential investors evaluating opportunities that reach beyond the bottom line and meet ESG standards. “As evidence has grown that ESG issues have financial implications, the tide has shifted,” the Forbes article reported. “In many important markets, including the U.S. and the EU, ESG integration is increasingly seen as part of fiduciary duty.”

OriginClear is a leading provider of water treatment solutions. OCLN offers breakthrough water treatment and conveyance products that effectively improve the quality of the planet’s waters by returning them to their original and clear condition. To accomplish this, OriginClear deploys advanced technologies at the point of use with modular, prefabricated systems that create durable assets and water independence for industry, commerce and agriculture. The company’s stated mission is to empower this global movement with modular water treatment and conveyance products that enable water independence and help make clean water available for all.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.OriginClear.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to OCLN are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/OCLN

• VGW to produce minimum of 2.2 million vape pens over two-year period
• The introductory line of Made By BRNT-branded vape pens to contain Valens’ proprietary formulations
• The milestone agreement represents gross revenue potential for Valens of more than $50 million

In the largest publicly announced, multiyear, white-label agreement to date for a branded finished product in the Canadian cannabis industry, Valens GroWorks Corp. (TSX.V: VGW) (OTCQX: VGWCF) announced that it has partnered with BRNT Ltd. to launch a line of cannabis vape pens in Canada.

Under the terms of the agreement, Valens—a vertically integrated provider of industry-leading extraction products and services including a diverse suite of extraction methodologies, next-generation cannabinoid delivery formats, and an ISO 17025 accredited analytical lab—will work closely with BRNT to produce a minimum of 2.2 million vape pens over an initial two-year time period (http://ibn.fm/7eAgM). The extract formulations will be developed, crafted and tested by Valens, with Valens also overseeing the filing and distribution of the product. BRNT will facilitate the hardware design and development of the vaporizer as well as national marketing and sales efforts. The line of single-source, cannabis-extract vaporizers with artfully designed hardware will be branded by BRNT and be made available exclusively through the company’s introductory vaporizer line, Made By.

“As Valens begins official production of next generation products for Cannabis 2.0, we are excited to be collaborating with BRNT to bring to market a line of differentiated, high quality, concentrate vape products for Canadian consumers,” said Valens GroWorks CEO Tyler Robson. “BRNT has shown impressive sales growth and market understanding through its ancillary offerings. In pairing their retail and product knowledge with Valens’ processing and product development capabilities we believe this provides a solid foundation to provide a product with strong consumer appeal.”

The milestone agreement represents gross revenue potential to Valens of more than $50 million in the first two years, subject to final acceptance from provincial distributors at the proposed price per unit. While the initial agreement calls for Valens to produce at least 2.2 million vape pens in two years, it also includes two successive one-year renewal options. Valens anticipates initial shipment under the agreement to occur during the first fiscal quarter of 2020.

“Valens has demonstrated a commitment to cannabis extraction on a global scale that is driven by passion and quality,” said BRNT Group CEO Simon Grigenas. “It was a natural fit for BRNT to collaborate with Valens to bring the Made By vaporizers brand to life with a partner that can mirror our globally recognized signature design aesthetic and brand development capabilities. BRNT and Valens are setting a new industry standard by creating meaningful brands and products through a focused, profitable approach, as opposed to the traditional vertical integration seen today.”

Valens GroWorks Corp. is a multi-licensed, vertically integrated cannabis company focused on being the partner of choice for leading Canadian and international cannabis brands by providing best-in-class, proprietary services including CO2, ethanol, hydrocarbon, solvent-less and terpene extraction, analytical testing, formulation and white-label product development. Valens is the largest third-party extraction company in Canada with an annual capacity of 425,000 kg of dried cannabis and hemp biomass at its purpose-built facility in Kelowna, British Columbia. The facility is currently in the process of becoming European Union (EU) Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) compliant.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ValensGroWorks.com

• VPR Brands concentrates on building a portfolio of top-notch brands
• The company is contributing to job growth in the new cannabis and hemp economy
• VPR Brands emphasis is product innovation in the cannabis and nicotine verticals

VPR Brands LP (OTCQB: VPRB) is a technology holding company with a presence in multiple lucrative markets. Having built a brand family in the nicotine and cannabis verticals, its present product lineup includes accessories and vaporizers for cannabidiol (CBD), cannabis concentrates, and extracts. A multi-vertical, tiered technology holding enterprise, VPR Brands’ assets also include issued U.S. and Chinese patents for atomization-related products. These include technology for medical-marijuana vaporizers and electronic-cigarette products and components. VPRB continues to implement its effective growth strategy of enhancing its product lines, attracting new customers, and increasing sales.

Florida-based VPR Brands additionally engages in product development for the vapor or vaping market, including e-liquids. In the CBD vertical, the company cultivates an array of brands via direct sales and licensing opportunities (http://ibn.fm/ylVY9). Its brands include its flagship HoneyStick, which has become the company’s leading product and platform to increase growth across both aforementioned verticals.

VPR’s flagship CBD line—Gold Line—offers a broad product portfolio. Products from this line include pre-rolled joints, vape cartridges, edibles, CBD pens, crumble, and tinctures. The company’s other brands include Dr. Good Hemp, Krave, Helium, VaporX, and Vaporin. Recently, it exhibited its new Gold Line CBD hemp-derived product line at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) Expo in Atlanta, Georgia (http://ibn.fm/g6KVn).

This strategy of cultivating a varied family of premier products is working well for VPR Brands. For investors, it’s worth noting that VPR’s Q1 2019 financial results showed increased revenues and a narrowed net loss when compared with 2018 (http://ibn.fm/p9Fjx). The company increased its quarterly revenues roughly 31 percent year-over-year to $1.3 million. Moreover, it slightly lowered its net loss from about $149,000 in 2018 to approximately $138,000 in 2019. By sticking to its foundational business strategy, VPR Brands continues to maintain strong gross operating margins above 40 percent.

Another positive consideration is that in the burgeoning cannabis and hemp industry, jobs are expanding despite regulatory uncertainties (http://ibn.fm/EUcWu). VPR Brands is contributing to this new economy as more people look for employment in the industry. Cannabis and hemp businesses, such as VPR Brands, hire people from diverse categories and skills. This multifaceted aspect of the cannabis industry—employing myriad types of people, including managers, farmworkers, horticulturists, tech-savvy people, accountants, and marketers—adds to its potential for longevity and growth.

According to HempWireNews, experts believe this employment growth resonates with hemp industry participants like VPR Brands and others. These companies—which have historically insisted that considerable economic benefits will accrue from legalizing hemp as sales grow and companies invest, make capital expenditures, and provide jobs in their communities—are being supported by current industry statistics. A recent sales report shows that this year, CBD sales are expected to surpass $1 billion. This represents 133 percent growth over 2018 sales (http://ibn.fm/tprsy). By 2024, the forecast is that sales will exceed $10 billion. Thus, the potential is there for VPR Brands to continue to grow sales while providing jobs to foster economic growth.

VPR Brands continues to innovate in the cannabis and hemp marketplace and has a distinct advantage with its experienced management team. The company increased its full-year revenues to approximately $4.6 million last year and remains on course for healthy gross operating margins. By emphasizing and adding first-class products paired with quality distribution, VPR Brands has been able to attract more customers, which has translated to increased sales. For investors, VPR Brands is a doorway to potential major ROI in two significant verticals.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.VPRBrands.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to VPRB are available in the company’s newsroom at  http://ibn.fm/VPRB

• Helomics chief technology officer speaks at inaugural UK 100,000 Genomes Project Conference
• The 100,000 Genomes Project is a UK-government project, sequenced whole genomes from National Health Service patients
• The depth of the project data is best in class, yielding useful benchmarks to help validate Helomics models

Dr. Mark Collins, chief technology officer of Predictive Oncology Inc.’s (NASDAQ: POAI) Helomics subsidiary, recently spoke at the inaugural UK 100,000 Genomes Project Conference. Collins presented initial findings from Helomics’ analysis of UK 100,000 Genomes Project (“UK100K GP”) data toward Helomics’ goal of building AI-driven predictive models of ovarian cancer. The inaugural conference was hosted by Genomics England on November 4 in London.

According to Global Market Insights Inc., the precision medicine market is forecast to reach more than $96 billion by 2024. Helomics is an innovative precision-medicine company positioned for growth in this growing market. A subsidiary of Predictive Oncology, Helomics is dedicated to improving the standard of care for cancer patients by harnessing the power of a patient’s own living tumor to build multi-omics AI-driven predictive models of tumor drug response to improve clinical outcomes for patients

The 100,000 Genomes Project is a United Kingdom government endeavor that is sequencing whole genomes from National Health Service patients (http://ibn.fm/M9bGx). The project focuses on rare diseases, some common types of cancer and infectious diseases. Recruitment of participants to the 100,000 Genomes Project was completed in 2018, with the 100,000th sequence achieved in December 2018. The aim of the project is to transform health care through new diagnoses and personalized treatments.

Helomics partnered with the UK100K GP last year to bring its invaluable expertise and data to the groundbreaking research. The company is leveraging its proprietary, multi-omic database of tumor-drug-response profiles using the proven power of AI to build predictive models of ovarian cancer. The goal is for these AI-driven predictive models to be used by clinicians to individualize treatment options and by pharma researchers to develop new targeted therapies in the quest to improve outcomes for women with ovarian cancer.

“This partnership is key to our approach of building AI-driven predictive models,” said Collins. “We are delighted to participate in the scientific session, panel discussion and an invite-only session on the expansion of the UK 100,000 Genomes Project to 5 million genomes. The depth of both the genomic and clinical data for ovarian cancer from the project is best in class, yielding useful benchmarks to validate our models. Over the next year, we intend to explore additional projects to enable use of our AI-driven predictive models to improve outcomes for ovarian cancer patients in the UK, as well as seek partnerships with UK pharma companies for the development of new precision ovarian cancer therapies.”

In addition to speaking during the scientific session of the conference, Collins also participated in an invitation-only session focused on the expansion of the UK 100K GP to 5 million genomes.

Based in Eagan, Minnesota, Predictive Oncology operates through three business units: Helomics, TumorGenesis and Skyline Medical. Predictive Oncology works together with the pharmaceutical, diagnostic and biotechnology industries to develop highly customizable assessment methods that can lead to more effective treatments for patients. Predictive Oncology continues to take advantage of the synergies of its subsidiaries to bring precision medicine to the treatment of cancer. The company is at the vanguard of innovation in using AI in improving outcomes for cancer patients. For investors, Predictive Oncology offers the potential for significant ROI as it focuses on improving patient outcomes.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Predictive-Oncology.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to POAI are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/POAI

It’s estimated that over 3.5 million patients are unable to receive appropriate healthcare due to a lack of reliable transportation. This is the sole cause for many appointment “no-shows,” which inevitably leads to more emergency room visits. This has negative implications for both patients and caregivers. Uber Health and Cerner Corporation (NASDAQ: CERN), a health technologies company, are working together to combat this issue (http://ibn.fm/zF5o0).

Under the agreement, health providers can order ride requests for patients from Uber Health. In doing so, the patient’s contact information will auto-populate from Cerner directly into an Uber ride request, streamlining the booking process and ensuring patients have timely and reliable transportation to and from their medical appointments. The integration of the Uber Health app with Cerner’s EHR will soon be available across the United States.

“Joining forces with Cerner marks a new chapter for Uber Health and our mission to provide accessible, efficient transportation for patients and caregivers,” Dan Trigub, Head of Uber Health stated in the press release. “Reliable transportation to and from appointments can help reduce operating costs, patient no-show rates and help improve patient outcomes. Our goal is to simplify the way healthcare providers can access transportation options — and our work together will accomplish just that.”

Uber Health, which launched in March of 2018, is already working with large customers like BayCare, a client of Cerner. It’s estimated that this Florida health system will have organized over 20,000 rides using the Uber Health platform by the end of 2019.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Cerner.com

• InsuraGuest’s proprietary InsurTech software delivers a specialized policy to guests at the time of check-in
• The company targets both the vacations rental and hotel industry in the U.S., Europe, and the U.K, with plans to enter Asia in 2020
• Vacation rental market is highly lucrative with 297.17 million total vacation rental users worldwide

Service-as-a-software (SaaS) company InsuraGuest Inc. has signed a contract with Cal-Vegas, Ltd.(R) to provide its insurance product and services to the Red Lion Inn & Suites(R) property in South Carolina, according to a company press release (http://ibn.fm/IcYdw). Under the agreement, the Red Lion Inn & Suites will integrate InsuraGuest’s proprietary InsurTech software to offer its specialized insurance coverage to its guests at the time of check-in. InsuraGuest’s API will integrate with the hotel’s property management system.

The InsurTech software platform delivers a specialized guest protection policy, acting as the first line of defense against accidents and losses for both the guest and the hotel or vacation rental property. According to the contract signed with Cal-Vegas, the Red Lion Inn & Suites will purchase InsuraGuest coverage and supply it to all guests and room occupants on check-in.

The specialized policy covers accidental medical, accidental death and dismemberment, and theft of personal property while on property. The coverage is sold to the property and is automatically extended to the guest.

InsuraGuest created this insurance product for vacation rentals and hotel properties to fill an existing gap in traditional insurance. In most cases, insurance fails to adequately cover the full scope of risks that travelers and hotel or property owners face. InsuraGuest’s product aims to include different kinds of losses or accidents happening at vacation properties that are not the fault of the property directly, leaving guests with no claim to coverage.

The agreement with Cal-Vegas further strengthens InsuraGuest’s position on the U.S. market, where it operates coast-to-coast. The company is working on expanding the scope of its InsurTech platform and insurance products to cover European Union member states and the United Kingdom, with plans in motion to launch on the Asian market by mid-2020. The European and Asian hotel markets are both more significant than the U.S. market, holding a combined 5.4 billion hotel nights stayed in 2018, compared to 1.1 billion stayed nights in the United States.

While the U.S. hotel industry’s annual revenues grow consistently, reaching $218 billion in 2018, the vacation rental properties market is expanding considerably faster and is expected to topple the hotel industry by 2020 (http://ibn.fm/iQpFv). Statistics indicate that the vacation rental industry’s projected revenue in 2019 is $57.669 billion, with a market growth rate of 6.9 percent. There are 297.17 million total vacation rental users worldwide. Europe is leading this segment as well, accounting for 60 percent of all vacation rental properties on the market. The U.S. accounts for 20 percent, and the rest of the world accounts for the remaining 20 percent.

The fast-growing vacation rental property market is a lucrative opportunity for InsuraGuest, providing ample potential for expansion of operations and distribution of its insurance products and services. Expansion to the massive European hospitality market will further increase the company’s opportunities for growth.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.InsuraGuest.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to InsuraGuest are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/InsuraGuest

• Predictive Oncology is at forefront of growing trend of precision medicine
• The company applies smart tumor profiling, AI platform to extensive genomic and biomarker patient data sets
• POAI has large amounts of historical, standardized patient data from clinical testing that can be leveraged immediately

The moment has come for Predictive Oncology Inc. (NASDAQ: POAI). A knowledge-driven, precision-medicine company, POAI focuses on applying data and artificial intelligence to personalized medicine and drug discovery. The company applies its smart tumor profiling and AI platform to extensive genomic and biomarker patient data sets to predict clinical outcomes and, most importantly, improve clinical outcomes for cancer patients of today and tomorrow.

While precision medicine, sometimes referred to as personalized medicine, is a relatively new term, the idea has been around for years (http://ibn.fm/KlNJH). Defined by the U.S. National Library of Medicine as “an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle for each person,” the approach is gaining momentum as data sets especially in genomics have grown rapidly. Applying AI approaches to these large data sets offers the ability to more deeply analyze these data much faster and with more accurate results than previously.

Predictive Oncology is at the forefront of this growing trend that examines multiple factors about the patient from genomics, tumor profiles, nutrition, environmental factors, lifestyle and habits to determine a plan of action for treatment. In a recent overview (http://ibn.fm/pYVQI), POAI notes that for years, big pharma has invested tremendous resources — both financial and human — in genomics in order to understand a patient’s genome and hopefully provide more targeted treatments. However, despite the significant amount of time and money devoted to the research, success rates for such targeted therapies remain low, and adoption in clinical practice is lukewarm. It has become increasingly clear that genomics alone is not enough.

Experts are beginning to see a compelling need for a multi-omic approach, or a method that combines a variety of data sets including genome, transcriptome, epigenome, proteome, response-ome and microbiome. However, while this approach may provide a higher chance of successful treatment, accessing the data is proving to be challenging. Few comprehensive, multi-omic data sets exist, and initiating new data-collection projects are both time consuming and costly.

Enter Predictive Oncology. Competitors in the cancer field must wait at least five years to determine patient survival rates for specific treatments before they can show value in the data they have gathered. POAI, on the other hand, has vast amounts of historical data that it has been compiling for years, time-tested and proven data that can be leveraged today.

The company’s data includes two unique assets:

• A clinically validated, patient-derived (PDx), tumor-profiling platform that can generate drug-response profiles and other multi-omic data
• Data on the drug-response profiles of more than 150,000 tumors across 137 cancer types, validated by using the PDx platform in more than a decade of clinical testing.

In addition, the company continues to generate more data every day and has the ability to mine its existing assets to identify even more outcome data.

Predictive Oncology, which began as a joint venture between Skyline Medical and Helomics, is ideally positioned to harness the power of artificial intelligence and work with the pharmaceutical, diagnostic, and biotech industries to develop AI-driven predictive models of tumor drug response to impact patient outcomes.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Predictive-Oncology.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to POAI are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/POAI

• Growing awareness by public about how big companies track, sell personal data
• Owning, monetizing personal data possible through BIGtoken app
• Working to educate consumers on how to protect, own use of personal data

People are starting to understand how vulnerable their data is and how big companies such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and other social-media platforms track and sell that data. Every individual creates data by what they search, view, read, listen to, purchase and like. That data is collected and sold, generating billions in revenue each year. SRAX Inc. (NASDAQ: SRAX), through its BIGtoken platform, is placing power of that data back into an individual’s hands. Through SRAX, consumers can now own and monetize their personal data.

In spring 2018, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set guidelines that caused online companies worldwide with audiences in the EU to scramble for compliancy. While the United States doesn’t currently have the same restrictions, things are beginning to change. The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) will go into effect Jan. 1, 2020. This new law will give consumers the ability to forbid a company from sharing their information and request that their information be deleted. Just as the GDPR had a worldwide ripple effect, the CCPA will affect any state that does business in California (http://ibn.fm/adXVl).

SRAX is a step ahead of privacy acts that will impact California and, potentially, the entire country. The company created BIGtoken as a way to place the power of data mining into an individual’s hands—and the company isn’t just doing it in one state but worldwide.

After being operational for a year, SRAX decided to poll its BIGtoken community regarding its data-privacy awareness. The survey yielded valuable insights into the way consumers view their online presence. For SRAX, one promising result of the survey showed that 62 percent of its users would allow more advertisements if they were being paid for the data that delivered the ad. Of concern for the company is its finding that the majority of consumers are concerned about browser privacy but aren’t as aware of how social-media apps have access to their data. Survey results indicated that many social-media users aren’t taking the basic steps necessary to protect themselves – and these stats come from a polled group that had opted into data privacy. Survey results clearly indicate much can still be done when it comes to educating and equipping consumers to take ownership of what is rightfully theirs.

SRAX has risen to the challenge with its BIGtoken Insight on Consumer Data Privacy (http://ibn.fm/njats). The SRAX platform provides agencies, businesses and individuals with the ability to grow brand awareness and loyalty. It places the brand’s information in the hands of individuals who are more likely to turn into a loyal customer rather than those who are targeted through data mining. Through SRAX, consumers have willingly opted into the targeted messages expressing an interest in the product. Because consumers are in charge of their own personal data and the brand’s use of that data, it creates transparency and trust between the two. Rather than receiving a request to delete data and potentially leaving on negative terms, brands are able to engage with pre-approval. A personalized shopper ad is experienced, foot traffic and purchases are increased, and the brand’s ROIs are increased.

BIGtoken works to provide quality information to the agencies, businesses and individual brands that will foster a long-term relationship between them and consumers. SRAX sells access to the data in the form of anonymized segments. This access can be removed at any time.

BIGtoken also works to educate consumers, letting them know what happens behind the scenes, how their data is accessed, and how much it is worth. Users worldwide can sign in to the BIGtoken app at any time to see how their data is being used and how much they have earned for that information. Surveys, check-ins and purchases all go toward earning rewards. The consumer can be paid with a deposit to PayPal or a gift card, or they can even donate their earnings to a charity of their choice. Sixteen million users worldwide have already opted into BIGtoken’s data-management solution, proving that there is a growing interest among consumers to be compensated by marketers for the use of personal data.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.SRAX.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to SRAX are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/SRAX

The liberalization of cannabis has released a fast-growing, multibillion-dollar industry to cultivate, market and distribute product — and a whole lot more. Support services and systems are providing significant opportunities in logistics, technology, product development, branding, research and development, and regulatory compliance. Together, these opportunities create a value chain, unparalleled in recent times. Australis Capital Inc. (OTCQX: AUSAF) intends to explore those opportunities.

Australis Capital is focused on building the infrastructure required to meet the demands of the growing U.S. cannabis market including acquiring and building transformative companies to advance the cannabis industry. AUSAF is synthetizing decades of expertise, strategic alignments and capital investment to identify, acquire and partner with companies to meet the growing market demand. The company’s mission is to promote the healing, wellness and benefits of medicinal and recreational cannabis through high-quality products, experiences, innovations and accessibility.

Australis Capital is supported in that mission by a strong mentor and former parent company, Aurora Cannabis, the second-largest cannabis company in the world by market capitalization. Australis Capital (http://ibn.fm/47evN) is Aurora’s “backdoor strategy for entering the U.S. market.” Aurora cannot maintain its listings on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) if it has U.S. cannabis operations. Hence, the spin-off of Australis Capital. However, the much-smaller Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has no prohibitions against member companies doing business in the U.S. marijuana market.

Focused on furthering accessibility, well-being, health and the best possible experience from medicinal and recreational cannabis, Australis Capital operates the following eight brands and entities, five of which are fully owned.

Green Therapeutics (fully owned)

Green Therapeutics (GT) was founded in 2014 with the aim of providing safe, consistent, effective cannabis wellness products. The company has developed three prominent cannabis brands. Its Tsunami(TM) brand, a recreational line of products, is the top brand for live resin extracts in Nevada, while its Provisions(TM) line is well-known for premium distillate cartridges and cutting-edge sublingual sprays. Finally, the GT Flowers line provides consumers with selections from more than 150 different strains ranging from classics to the newest crosses, including many exclusive cuts.

Mr. Natural (fully owned)

Mr. Natural Inc. is the culmination of Bob “Natural” Luciano’s more than 50 years of cannabis expertise. A Vietnam veteran, Luciano first experimented with cannabis to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Australis Capital now offers a classic medical and recreational cannabis brand, internationally known for its quality, strong-THC products, which have won recognition for long-lasting duration, intense terpene profiles and organic flavors. Mr. Natural strains have won numerous awards, including the First High Times Medical Cannabis Cup and the 2009 L.A. Jemm Harvest Cup. All products used in the cultivation of Mr. Natural’s cannabis are certified organic.

Cocoon Rewards (fully owned)

Cocoon Rewards is a mobile platform that can be used to access U.S. cannabis dispensaries. Developed by Rthm Technologies Inc., the platform was originally a top health app available in 26 countries. Rthm holds several brand-associated trademarks and has developed the world’s first mobile-genetics and circadian-rhythm mapping platform for both iOS and Android devices.

Cocoon Technology (fully owned)

Cocoon Technology’s omni-commerce solution connects customers with dispensaries through state-of-the-art, self-service kiosks; integrated mobile applications; and tablets. The solution offers a cloud-based, self-service fulfillment platform called Cocoon Technology to dispense marijuana products. The Cocoon self-service kiosk is designed to sit inside a brick-and-mortar retail store, much like a vending machine.

AUSA Elements (fully owned)

AUSA Elements is an organic cultivation and production facility currently under construction, which will consist of the following:

• up to 219,000 square feet devoted to organic, state-of-the-art cultivation, manufacturing, and production
• up to 44,000 square feet for a CBD hemp house for oil extraction, product development, manufacturing, research and product storage.

The facility will house the following brands: Mr. Natural, Tsunami, Provisions and G.T. Flower. In addition, the facility will have an estimated flower capacity of 42,000 pounds annually and will utilize the most up-to-date cultivation and cannabis extraction equipment along with using proprietary hydrocarbon and ethanol technologies, including Wagner Dimas pre-roll technology. Capacity of the facility is expected to exceed 6 million pre-rolls annually. The greenhouse will be built to the Aurora Cannabis standard using ALPS Greenhouse Design, material and technology. The project is expected to be completed by September 2020.

Folium Biosciences (partially owned)

Folium Biosciences specializes in the cultivation, extraction and manufacture of hemp-derived, bulk-CBD ingredients and finished products. The company is the largest North American, vertically integrated producer, manufacturer and distributor of hemp-derived phytocannabinoids. Its Colorado facility is the largest phytocannabinoid extraction and purification facility in the United States. Folium Biosciences employs a unique engineering process that enables the separation and removal of unwanted compounds while creating the maximum potency level of phytocannabinoids, terpenes, terpenoids and flavonoids. Wholesale CBD products sold by Folium include broad-spectrum hemp oil (with 0.0 percent THC), water-soluble CBD powder, water-soluble CBD liquid and Nano CBD. Folium’s emphasis on research, product development and clinical science, reflected in its state-of-the-art extraction processes and advanced formulations, has resulted in several pending patents.

Quality Green (partially owned)

Quality Green, founded in 2013, is an ACMPR-licensed producer based in Canfield, Ontario. The company owns and operates a 50,000-cGMP-square-foot greenhouse widely recognized for its optimized production efficiency, best practices and high standards. Expansion plans are currently underway. In Q1 2019, the company established Quality Green Deutschland GmbH in Germany, and in Q2 2019, Quality Green’s application for an HC Import license for new genetics was approved.

Body and Mind Inc. (partially owned)

Body and Mind Inc. (OTC: BMMJ) invests in medical and recreational cannabis cultivation, production and retail assets. Its wholly owned Nevada subsidiary was awarded one of the first medical-marijuana cultivation licenses and now holds a production license as well. BMMJ products include dried flower, edibles, topicals, extracts and GPEN Gio cartridges. BMMJ marijuana strains have won numerous awards including the Las Vegas Hempfest Cup 2016, High Times Top Ten, the NorCal Secret Cup and the Emerald Cup. The company continues to expand operations in Nevada and Ohio and is constantly reviewing additional accretive expansion opportunities. As of May 30, 2019, Australis owned 37.7 percent of BMMJ’s issued and outstanding shares.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.AUSA-Corp.com

• Edible cannabis products are absorbed slowly
• Consumers of cannabis edibles often mistake the delayed effect for insufficiency, leading to overdosing
• DehydraTECH drug-delivery platform speeds up absorption, reducing overdose risk

Sometimes what is gained on the roundabouts is lost on the swings, to paraphrase an old saying. Cannabis liberalization has introduced an entirely new sector to the food and beverage industry – namely, cannabis edibles such as cookies, chocolates and candies. It’s a sector that appears poised for growth. But as mass consumption increases, a hidden problem is emerging (http://ibn.fm/E1DSr). Because bioabsorption rates via edibles are slower than those via smoking, oral ingestion is leading to unexpected challenges. Consumers mistake the slow onset of effect of traditional cannabis edibles for not enough cannabinoid, so they increase consumption which can lead to overdosing. However, a biotech solution from Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (CSE: LXX) (OTCQX: LXRP) appears to solve this problem. The company’s DehydraTECH(TM) drug-delivery platform greatly increases the rate at which drugs like cannabis are absorbed by the body. The technology could be used to avoid overdoses before they ever begin.

Consumers have certainly developed a taste for cannabis. A recent report projects the global cannabis-edibles market will reach over $11.6 billion by 2025, climbing at a CAGR of 25 percent, from $2.4 billion in 2018 (http://ibn.fm/Yc1rF). One reason for this rapid mass adoption is the promise that oral ingestion is safer. The reality is more complicated.

A March 2019 report in the ‘Annals of Internal Medicine’ (http://ibn.fm/W1uTf) states that edibles are being associated with “medical complications that we never knew were associated with marijuana.” Patients “who ingested the drug were more likely to suffer more severe effects, including psychiatric symptoms and heart problems,” with “18 percent of edible users suffering symptoms such as anxiety and psychosis compared with about 11 percent of cannabis smokers.”

There are three reasons why edible cannabis is very different than smoked. One is, as noted above, that edible delivery of drugs is always slower than pulmonary delivery. A second difference is that smoking has been associated with lung cancers and emphysema, whereas edibles have not. And the third difference is that traditional edibles – prior to Lexaria’s technology becoming available – deliver cannabinoids across the intestinal wall and into the liver, where it is transformed into a very different metabolite of the traditional Delta-9 that smokers are more familiar with.

The human liver metabolizes the Delta-9 and changes it to Delta-11-Hydroxy (11-OH-THC) which produces different, stronger psychoactive effects for most users. And the metabolization process takes time – usually 1 to 2 hours – which explains the long delays associated with old fashioned edibles.

Lexaria’s technology ingeniously bypasses first-pass liver metabolism, delivering more of the THC in the Delta-9 variant, the same as smoking. This is how Lexaria manages to deliver the drug more quickly and in a form more familiar to cannabis smokers.

Earlier this year, Lexaria commenced a series of animal studies that, among other things, sought to improve understanding of how edible forms of cannabinoids enter the bloodstream. The company compared its standard DehydraTECH formulation, which combines cannabinoids with long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) using its patented, dehydration-processing technique, to a concentration-matched formulation utilizing coconut oil, a medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil commonly used in the cannabis edibles industry. Test results showed the following (http://ibn.fm/xQYq2):

• The DehydraTECH formulation delivered measurable quantities of cannabidiol (CBD) into the blood in as little as 2 minutes.
• Lexaria’s technology delivered more CBD to the bloodstream in 15 minutes than conventional MCT oil-based control formulations achieved in 60 minutes.
• Lexaria’s DehydraTECH formulation delivers cannabinoids at industry-leading volumes and speed while effectively masking bitter flavor and aroma profiles.

Lexaria’s patented DehydraTECH LCFA formulation offers a more effective delivery mechanism than MCT oils, which are widely used by many firms making and selling cannabis edibles throughout North America. Although the studies tested only for CBD delivery, the company has every reason to believe that virtually identical results would have been achieved if THC had been the cannabinoid under examination.

Application of the technology extends beyond nicotine to non-psychoactive cannabinoids, vitamins and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), as well as nicotine. Lexaria licenses the technology to leading cannabis edibles companies across North America.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaBioscience.com

NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to LXRP are available in the company’s newsroom at http://ibn.fm/LXRP