North Americans are faced with an ever-increasing crisis of mental health and addiction disorders that demand innovation to flatten and reverse the curve. Much like the United States, Canada suffered a 74% increase in opioid-related deaths over the course of the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic 1 .
Today's standard of care has numerous shortcomings, and to be effective, appropriate treatments must be readily available and address the additional health issues that come with addiction and mental health disorders.
Levitee Labs is deeply committed to provide specialized mental health support to those in need through a strategy that includes consolidating and optimizing clinics and pharmacies and developing new treatment options, including those leveraging active ingredients in psychedelics.
Levitee Labs methodically recruited each member of the new Medical Advisory Board for their individual expertise and cumulative synergies that will facilitate expeditious and efficient growth through connection to other thought leaders and major players in all relevant industries.
"I'd like to formally welcome each new Medical Advisor; we are honored to have you as part of our team," commented Pouya Farmand, Chief Executive Officer at Levitee Labs. "Providing effective, easily accessible treatment options to the millions of people suffering from substance abuse disorder is the foundation of our strategy and I am confident in the contributions the Medical Advisory Board will make to meet all our goals by changing the existing paradigm. Our strategy is solid, and our team is unparalleled, a combination that points to a bright future where negative addiction stigmas are removed and instead of feeling hopeless, patients readily get the help and support they need to overcome their difficult disorders."
The Levitee Labs Medical Advisory Board consists of:
Mark Tarnopolsky, MD , PhD, FRCP(C): Dr. Tarnopolsky is Professor of Pediatrics and holds an Endowed Chair in, and is Division Head of, Neuromuscular and Neurometabolic Diseases at McMaster University Children's Hospital, Hamilton, Ontario. In addition to extensive research efforts into the diagnosis and therapeutic options for these disorders, he has published over 500 PubMed articles with an h-index of 130. Dr. Tarnopolsky brings business experience as the former co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) for Life Science Nutritionals. Dr. Tanopolsky is currently the CSO for Cora Therapeutics and SofTabsand looking at opportunities for the fast active delivery of other bioactive compounds including psychedelics, and the founder, CEO and CSO of Exerkine (exerkine.com) and Stayabove Nutrition (stayabovenutrition.ca).
Noha ElSayed, B.Sc.Pharm, APA : Mrs. ElSayed earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy and obtained her Additional Prescribing Authorities from The Alberta College of Pharmacists. She is an active member of several specialized health care networks. Mrs. ElSayed has a passion for mental health care, addiction treatment, custom compounding, and travel health, as well as diabetes and chronic disease management education. She prides herself on staying up-to-date with the latest pharmacy practices and procedures and is an expert in custom compounding techniques and knowledge, Hepatitis C, Ketamine, pharmacy operations and optimization, establishing new (greenfield) pharmacies, pharmacy supply chains, and dermatology.
Bakir Al Tikriti, MD M.B.ch.B CCFP PGC(PAIN): Dr. Al Tikriti is an addiction medicine and chronic pain management specialist. He deals with complex addiction and mental health cases and medical management for chronic pain complex patients. Dr. Al Tikriti obtained his certificate in chronic pain management at the University of Alberta. He is also certified by the College of Family Physicians of Canada and a licensed member of the General Medical Council of the United Kingdom.
Mohammed Mosli, MD, FRCPC, ISAM: Dr. Mosli is a multilingual Public Health and Preventive Medicine physician specialized in Addictions Health, health services improvement, health promotion, environmental public health, and health policy. He has spent the last five years as a Medical Officer of Canada's largest province-wide, fully-integrated health system that serves over four million patients. Dr. Mosli served, or currently serves, as a director, educator, or senior level manager for an array of organizations, including those in provincial, institutional, and private segments. He is a valuable physician member of the Opioid Addictions Medicine team for Levitee Clinics™ and Levitee Pharmacies™ in Alberta. Dr. Mosli earned his FRCPC (Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada) degree from the University of Calgary in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. He earned his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree in the field of Medical Sciences from King Abdulaziz University in Saudi Arabia. Dr. Mosli holds professional certifications in the International Society of Addictions Medicine; Incident Command System (ICS) for healthcare; and Quality Improvement in healthcare. He currently holds and has previously held licenses by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (CPSA)(2012-Present); Licentiate of the Medical Council of Canada (LMCC)(2014-Present); Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS) 2009-2014; and Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada (FRCPC) (issued June 2017).
Eding Mvilongo, MD: Dr Eding Mvilongo is an Anesthesiologist working in Montréal, Québec. After graduating from Laurentian University with a BSc (Hon) in Physics, she completed a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Queen's University before pursuing medical school at Université Laval in Québec City, Québec. She returned to her native Montréal for her residency in Anesthesiology at McGill University. After graduation, she continued with subspecialty training in Pediatric Anesthesiology at the University of British Columbia (BC Children's Hospital). Dr Mvilongo is currently practicing at Hôpital Cité-de-la-Santé and is affiliated with Hôpital Sainte-Justine, a major Pediatric Center in Québec. She is also an affiliated clinical professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Control of the Université de Montréal. She is an active member in her department, supervising residents in training as well as participating in key committees and coordinating surgical activities of the hospital. Her main areas of interests are Regional Anesthesia and Pain Control, Neonatal Resuscitation and Medical Simulation.
Through the acquisition of clinics, pharmacies and leading technologies, Levitee Labs is re-imagining the treatment dynamic and taking a holistic approach to bridge the gaps in therapeutic programs today. In November, the Company signed a letter of intent (LOI) to acquire 51% of a compounding pharmacy in Calgary, Alberta, Canada that will be used as an initial base for the production and distribution of pharmaceutical products, which will include pain and depression management products, such as ketamine. The Company also signed an LOI to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares in a company owning and operating a chain of specialty addiction pharmacies located throughout the lower mainland of British Columbia, Canada.
Levitee Labs also announces that Maigul Wickham, CPA will assume duties, effective immediately, as the Chief Financial Officer of the company in place of Mason Darabi.
1. https://www.kflaph.ca/en/healthy-living/fentanyl.aspx
About Levitee Labs
Levitee is establishing itself as a leader in the integrative wellness space. Through leveraging an M&A regimen that focuses on the centralization of complementary integrative wellness assets, Levitee aims to transform mental health and addiction treatments through the integration of psychedelic medicines and therapies.
The Company's current portfolio of assets includes: Levitee Clinics™, a group of five operating addiction and pain treatment clinics in Alberta; Levitee Pharmacies™, three pharmacies operating in Alberta specialized in filling prescriptions for patients with substance use disorders, mental health conditions, and chronic pain; BlockMD, the first technology company in Alberta to receive provincial approval for electronic-prescriptions in the addiction treatment space; and Earth Circle Organics, a direct-to-consumer and wholesaler of supplements and superfood products with 180+ SKUs in its product lineup across three brands. Further information about Levitee is available on its website at www.leviteelabs.com .
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Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance, or achievements that Levitee anticipates or expects may or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking information. Such information may involve, but is not limited to, statements respecting Levitee's business plans and proposed products, and the benefits derived from mushroom-infused products; the acquisitive growth potential of Levitee once acquisitions are completed; the expectation that Levitee will continue to execute its accretive acquisition program, and the contribution of such program to Levitee's future growth potential; and Levitee's objective to transform mental health and addiction treatments through the integration of psychedelic medicines and therapies. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates", or "believes" or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. These statements and other forward-looking information are based on assumptions made by Levitee based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release as well as management's current expectations or beliefs regarding future growth, results of operations, future capital (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof) and expenditures. These assumptions may also be based on information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources. Forward-looking information is necessarily based on a number of opinions, assumptions and estimates that, while considered reasonable by Levitee as of the date such statements are made, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to risks associated with the following: Levitee's limited history of operations; ability to secure additional financing; negative cash flow from operating activities since inception; regulatory requirements; changes in consumer preferences; supply of raw materials; reliance on a limited number of products; brand awareness; the ability to develop, market and produce new products; dependence on certain key senior managers; reliance on third parties for manufacturing and packaging; potential product liability claims and product recalls; and significant competition. For additional information regarding these risks, please see the risk factors identified and reported in Levitee's public filings under its SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements or information. The forward-looking information is made as of the date of this news release, and Levitee assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise such forward-looking information, except as required by applicable securities laws. The CSE (operated by CNSX Markets Inc.) has neither approved nor disapproved of the contents of this press release and accepts no responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy hereof.
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