VANCOUVER, CANADA, AND REHOVOT, ISRAEL, December 30, 2021 – BioHarvest Sciences Inc.(“BioHarvest” or the “Company”) (CSE: BHSC – OTC: CNVCF) is pleased to provide the following year-end shareholder partner letter from CEO Ilan Sobel.

 

Dear friends,

It is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity at the end of the year to summarize for our shareholder partners the major accomplishments of what has been an inspiring and transformative first full calendar year for me as CEO of BioHarvest Sciences. I will also include my own forward-looking thoughts for how we are envisioning the year ahead, in which we expect to trigger an acceleration of revenue growth, a game-changing expansion of our product lineup, as well as regulatory work and clinical studies that will provide a clear roadmap to continued global growth. Our vision is to drive human utility value: making a fundamental and positive change to our consumer’s overall health and wellness. 2022 will be a year in which we not only open new doors as we further scale and commercialize our products, but also open minds to the significant potential that our platform technology has to drive this fundamental improvement in health and wellness on a global scale.

In accordance with BioHarvest’s vision and its biotech journey, I am extremely proud to share below the team’s 2021 achievements grouped by key areas: Science & Technology, Operations, Sales, Finance and Environmental & Social Governance.

 

1. In August 2021, we announced the historical creation of the Amalgamated Trichomes Coral Structure (ATCS). Why was this so important? Because the way to deliver full spectrum cannabis is to grow the trichomes, which are the mini factories of the cannabis plant where all cannabinoids, flavonoids and terpenes are produced. These trichomes are delicate components of the plant which can be vulnerable to the shear forces applied by the motion of the liquid media in the bioreactors. This new coral structure protects the trichomes during their growth in such a way that has enabled us to move from lab-scale creation of the trichomes towards larger scale bioreactors.

 

2. We announced on December 8 that we were the first company in the world to grow a significant amount of cannabis biomass “without growing the plant”, creating biotech and Cannabis industry history. With three different strains under development, we have now produced over 10 kilograms of biomass. The news has generated significant media interest (which I will detail below), and it has also introduced our science to thousands of new investors, science fans, and cannabis enthusiasts. It has provided a firm launch point for 2022, and there is more to come: I have challenged our marketing team to have the accompanying videoviewed 1 million+ times, and we are already at 250,000+, so please stay tuned to our upcoming media placements!

 

3. Through our continued research, we added a new functionality claim for VINIA®, which reduces the oxidation of LDL cholesterol, enabling VINIA® to have one more important reason to appeal to the millions of consumers concerned about their cardiovascular health.

 

1. I am so proud that our new 20 Ton per year production facility was completed on schedule, passing the ISO audits in September 2021, despite significant global supply challenges. We received GMP certification from Israel’s Ministry of Health in November and we are currently working hard to execute the biological technology transfer, so we can commence production.

 

2. Our Science, Advisory and Executive teams are critical for executing our biotech vision. This year we were honored to add both significant brain power and experience to each group with the addition of Colonel Chris Hadfield (space and aeronautics), Dr. Dennis Goodman (cardiology), Steven Lehrer (biotech), and Scott McCune (consumer marketing) to our Advisory Board. David Tsur (pharmaceutical and biotech) has joined the Board of Directors. Kobi Rosenzweig (VP operations) and Jarred Turner (VP of E-commerce) have joined the executive team. Building a world class company requires world class people – I am so pleased that each of these industry experts has joined us on our journey.

 

1. Israel Sales – This time last year we were energized by the spectacular VINIA Israel ecommerce launch in Q4 2020, which established a sales momentum that we have been able to successfully maintain. Throughout 2021, we continued to grow revenue in this market, at 10% sales growth quarter on quarter, for the first 3 quarters of the year, and accordingly have increased full year guidance on two occasions.

 

2. VINIA US Market launch – May 2021. While this highlight is only one of many from 2021, it represented a giant leap forward for BioHarvest Sciences. We created entirely new operational units to facilitate the workings of a successful North American e-commerce business, including Marketing, Fulfilment, Customer Success, and global supply. We also added the required thought leadership with committed staff and external partners to bring us their expertise and drive from Launch Day forward. Sales performance in the U.S. pilot program has been extremely encouraging with us crossing the US$100,000 sales orders per month mark very early in the launch, with 89% of sales being subscription packages generating monthly recurring revenue, and an average sales order value of US $80 per transaction. We have been humbled by the feedback from our consumer base – as of this week, new VINIA users have submitted 350+ verified reviews, with a 4.8/5 rating, which is best in class from a performance perspective when benchmarked versus industry norms. We look forward to scaling our US launch as soon as we bring our new 20 Ton per year manufacturing facility online and to adding significant customer count to a base that already exceeds 11,000 customers across USA and Israel.

3. B2B Sales – our Batory sales and distribution partnership continues to add significant value for the business. We have successfully expanded our partnership with “Designs for Health Inc” who in 2021 formulated VINIA® into 3 new products which are now commercially available including “NRF2 Modulator”, “Senolytic Synergy” and “Bergavin™”. We are currently engaged in a number of strategic discussions with giants of industry and look forward to converting additional major B2B partnerships in 2022.

 

1. Investors have reacted positively to the company’s achievements throughout 2021. The share price increased ~130% from the beginning of the year to reflect a recently reached market capitalization of ~$200 million.

 

2. Strong treasury – In 2021, we raised a total of $9.4 Million CAD in two successful private placements, plus $4.6 Million CAD in exercised warrants.

 

3. In 2021, we have significantly increased the investor base. As the company continues to perform well against its biotech vision and increases revenues substantially, the prospects remain high for 2022 to further increase that base and to add more institutional investors.

 

4. Given the 2021 achievements record and the 2022 prospects listed below, we believe that BioHarvest presents a very attractive investment opportunity.

 

I trust that our community of investor partners understands how deeply we are committed to making BioHarvest Sciences a role model for other companies to follow as it relates to our ESG credentials and delivering continuous improvement across key identified metrics.

 

1. In July, we became the first Biotechnology company that produces cannabinoids to publish an ESG Sustainability report. This initial report was our first, and there are more to come. As the Globe and Mail reported on Dec 28. 2021, our BioFarming technology can reduce land requirements for nutrient growth by 95%. Investors are welcome to access the complete ESG report here.

 

2. We are a company committed to diversity in the workplace and understand the power of diversity to help create competitive advantage. We are very proud of the fact that 55% of our workforce is female and that our entire R & D team is female. Importantly, as a company that understands the power of experience, we have more than 45% of our workforce above the age of 50 years old. This provides us with a wealth of brain power, people maturity and a unique sense of drive and commitment to make the world better for our children and grandchildren.

 

3. Our December media coverage on cannabis R+D has generated a wave of commercial inquiries, which is fantastic, and we are committed to responding to every contact. I want to reassure investors that we will consider every commercial opportunity, but I do want our community to understand that our first priority will be to supply cannabis ingredients for medicinal applications in line with our commitment to be a purpose driven company. We do not envision replacing recreational suppliers, or artisan growers – we will focus on providing fingerprint consistent ingredients for products that require the highest levels of cleanliness and consistency.

This year, we partnered with two very established public relations firms (Boldt and Thunder-11) to help introduce us to both Major news media and the cannabis community, and it has paid huge dividends in “earned” media coverage. For the portion of our community that follows early-stage companies, this major media interest will be mind blowing, as small companies will rarely make the news cycle. Our North American news coverage is spiking here at the end of 2021, which establishes a fantastic launching point for the New Year.

 

• Forbe.com: Dec 8 – Producing Cannabis Biomass Without Growing A Cannabis Plant – How One Company Is Doing It.

 

• The Globe and Mail: Dec. 28 – Canadian-Israeli biotech company growing nutrients for Earth and beyond

 

• The Houston Chronicle: Dec. 27 – Bowie Singing Astronaut developing protein pills for real space travel

 

• CannabisTech.com: Dec. 23 – How to Grow Cannabis Without Growing a Plant

 

• The Jerusalem Post: Dec. 29 – An astounding 2021 for Israeli tech could bring pivot

 

Looking Forward to 2022

This coming year will see us “land” and “expand”, plus drive further impact in existing programs.

We expect to be selling our first cannabis-related products in 2022 upon completion of our final scale up phase and regulatory approvals. For VINIA, we are planning a step up in aggressive US marketing and will continue to push forward on the regulatory approval of VINIA in the EU and UK. As a science-based company, we always want to expand our science-based credentials, so we intend to fund additional clinical trials on VINIA, cannabis, and our olive cell product which is next in our polyphenol/antioxidant pipeline.

At some point in the first half of 2022, we will likely announce the next plant-based vertical which we believe we can disrupt with our proprietary platform technology, adding one more significant

validation on how we can bring the power of the plant to the people. Investors can also anticipate the 2022 launch of our first cannabis products and the significant scaling of VINIA®. I expect these two products to generate market-moving revenues in 2022, but they are just the start.

We will also join the space race as the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Sir Richard Branson work to make “space settlements” something of a reality by 2030. We will work closely with our new advisory board member Colonel Chris Hadfield to start the process to assess how we can use our proprietary platform to help solve two major challenges which exists for space settlements – sustainable food supply and reducing the effects of ionizing radiation on oxidation of LDL cholesterol.

Our entire team is so thankful that you have been part of this stage in our growth phase, and we are very proud to partner with you on our biotech journey. We are inspired by your support and the deep sense of “purpose” that you share with us on the BioHarvest Sciences team. That primary purpose is to drive Human Utility Value, and to drive a transformational positive change in the Health and Wellness of hundreds of millions of people.

Our team is laser focused on executing the 2022 plan, and we intend to make 2022 a year to remember.

For a video reel of this year’s major announcements, click here.

Happy New Year and may your 2022 be filled with only good health and blessings.

Warmest wishes,