Tweed Completes Canada's First World-Class Cannabis Breeding Facility

SMITHS FALLS, ON, Sept. 12, 2016 /CNW/ - Tweed Inc. (Tweed), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canopy Growth Corporation (TSX:CGC), is pleased to announce the completion of its state-of-the art cannabis breeding facility within its Smiths Falls, Ontario headquarters. It is believed to be the first of its kind in the industry and will form the foundation of new Canadian-bred genetics for Tweed and its customers.

Tweed has taken a major step towards evolving the way cannabis is bred and selected for commercial sale. Working with the best breeders in the world such as DNA Genetics and its own Master Breeder, the company and its partners are now ready to embark on the exciting journey of creating new proprietary genetics by selecting male and female plants with desirable traits, and breeding new strains under strict controls.

"With few exceptions – like Bedrocan Canada who obtained world-class, standardized genetics from Dutch cannabis pioneer Bedrocan Beheer BV – most Canadian producers including Tweed have relied on starting from scratch using other people's genetics," said Mark Zekulin, President of Canopy Growth Corporation. "For the past two years we have been refining the phenotyping process to refine the best plants in our genetic bank, and working with our partner DNA Genetics to enhance our processes towards perfection. Now we're venturing into unchartered territory by breeding our own strains, unique to Tweed customers, and launching seed production for customers who choose to explore growing at home."

Tweed's R&D capabilities have also evolved to service this new approach. In-house researchers will soon be capable of selecting seeds based on genetic traits in a lab rather than growing them out and evaluating them as mature plants, a process that can take years and occupies valuable production space.

"Around the world, the best breeders are more artists than scientists," said Kevin Furet, Tweed's Master Grower and Breeder. "I wouldn't say it's a technologically advanced discipline. Until now it's been about sight, smell, and instinct. We can still do all that but with the new breeding facility we can reinforce and refine our decisions with hard data from the lab. This is what the Tweed brand is all about, driving quality and variety through innovation."

With the construction and installation complete, Health Canada will be invited to inspect the new rooms before they are brought online. Tweed's proprietary strains will be finalized by early 2018, with advance access to Tweed patients in 2017.

Here's to Future (Breeding and) Growth.

And here's a quick launch video.

About Tweed Inc.
Tweed is the most recognized marijuana production brand in the world. It has built a large and loyal following by focusing on quality products and meaningful customer relationships. Tweed doesn't just sell marijuana, it facilitates a conversation about a product we've all heard about but haven't met intimately yet.

Tweed production occurs across two distinct production sites. Tweed Smiths Falls is housed in the former Hershey Chocolate factory at 1 Hershey Drive, and comprises 40 acres of land with over 460,000 sq. ft. of available space. Tweed occupies 168,000 sq. ft. of licensed production space, plus office space where Canopy's head office drives the vision forward. It is a data-driven, automated and lean operation, housing an R&D facility, oil extraction infrastructure, and in-house lab. Precise climate controlled spaces for each stage of cannabis production, from clone to cured bud, allows for the highest quality and widest variety of product in the sector.

Tweed is partnered with some of the leading names in the sector including legendary breeders DNA Genetics and iconic cannabis connoisseur Snoop Dogg.

About Canopy Growth Corporation
Canopy Growth is publicly traded on the TSX-Venture exchange, and a leading diversified producer of medical cannabis through its wholly owned subsidiaries Tweed, Bedrocan Canada, and Tweed Farms. The Company operates a collection of diverse brands and curated strain variety, supported by over half a million square feet of indoor and greenhouse production capacity.

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "estimates", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Canopy Growth Corporation, Tweed Inc., Tweed Farms Inc. or Bedrocan Canada Inc. to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and Canopy Growth does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.

Neither the Toronto Stock Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the Toronto Stock Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Canopy Growth Corporation

For further information: Jordan Sinclair, Director of Communications, [email protected], 855-558-9333 ex 309; Tyler Burns, Investor Relations, [email protected], 855-558-9333 ex 122; Director: Bruce Linton, Chairman and CEO, [email protected]