Willow Biosciences Inc. Announces Appointment of Vice President, Corporate Development, Stock Option Grant and Investor Presentation

CALGARY, May 2, 2019 /CNW/ - Willow Biosciences Inc. ("Willow" or the "Company") (CSE: WLLW) is pleased to announce that Troy Talkkari has joined the Company as Vice President, Corporate Development, effective May 1, 2019.

Mr. Talkkari has over 12 years of experience in the finance industry, most recently as a Director of Institutional Equity Sales at GMP FirstEnergy. In his tenure in the Investment Banking group, Mr. Talkkari was involved in 66 M&A transactions for aggregate transaction value of over $22 billion. As both a member of the Investment Banking and Sales & Trading teams, Mr. Talkkari was a part of 833 financings, including 279 as the lead dealer, totaling over $131 billion of capital raised. Mr. Talkkari holds a CFA designation and Bachelor of Commerce in Finance from the University of British Columbia.

In his new role, Mr. Talkkari will take a leading role in marketing, communications, investor relations, strategic planning and customer and stakeholder initiatives.

Trevor Peters, President and Chief Executive Officer of Willow, commented: "We are very excited to bring an individual on board with the level of talent and experience of Mr. Talkkari. His strong background in capital markets at one of Canada's leading financial institutions will be an invaluable asset to Willow."

The Company also announces that, pursuant to the terms and conditions of its stock option plan, it has granted an aggregate of 91,120,000 stock options to purchase common shares of the Company to directors, officers and employees of the Company. The options expire five years from the date of grant and are exercisable at a price of $0.07 per common share. The options vest as to one third on the grant date and one third on each of the first and second anniversaries of the grant date.

About Willow Biosciences Inc.

Based in Calgary, Alberta, Willow is a synthetic biology company focused on revolutionizing industrial manufacturing of active pharmaceutical ingredients and other high value products that have been traditionally plant-derived.

The Company has posted an investor presentation on its website at http://www.willowbio.com/. Shareholders and investors are encouraged to access and review the investor presentation to learn more about the Company and its new business strategy.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may include forward-looking statements including opinions, assumptions, estimates, the Company's assessment of future plans and operations, and, more particularly, statements concerning the business plan of the Company, including cannabinoid research and production. When used in this document, the words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by the Company which include, but are not limited to, the timing of the receipt of the required regulatory and third party approvals and the future operations the Company. Forward-looking statements are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties, and although the Company believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will be realized. Any number of important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, risks associated with the cannabis industry in general, infringement on intellectual property, failure to benefit from partnerships or successfully integrate acquisitions, actions and initiatives of federal and provincial governments and changes to government policies and the execution and impact of these actions, initiatives and policies, import/export and research restrictions for cannabinoid-based operations, the size of the medical-use and adult-use cannabis market, competition from other industry participants, adverse U.S., Canadian and global economic conditions, failure to comply with certain regulations, departure of key management personnel or inability to attract and retain talent regulatory and other factors more fully described from time to time in the reports and filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities. Except as required by applicable laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Willow Biosciences Inc.

Trevor Peters, President and Chief Executive Officer, T: [phone], E: [email protected]; Troy Talkkari, CFA, Vice President, Corporate Development, T: [phone], E: [email protected]; 202, 1201 - 5th Street SW, Calgary, AB T2R 0Y6