Mr. Paul Pedersen reports

NEXTLEAF AWARDED U.S. PATENT FOR TECHNOLOGY THAT MAXIMIZES CANNABINOID YIELD AND REDUCES WASTE

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has granted Nextleaf Solutions Ltd. its 18th issued U.S. patent.

Nextleaf's latest U.S. patent describes a system in which spent cannabis biomass is heated in stages to reclaim residual cannabinoids while simultaneously generating carbon with a desired porosity level. When utilized, this patented process allows Nextleaf to maximize its cannabinoid molecule yield, reduce waste destined for landfills and create a new business vertical at minimal cost. The global activated carbon market is expected to garner 2.7 million tonnes and have a total addressable market over $5.1-billion in 2022.

The cannabis industry has a major issue with cannabis waste. In 2020, 20 per cent of all dried cannabis (279,837 kilograms) was destroyed by Canadian licensed producers and over 500 tonnes of cannabis have been destroyed since 2018. This issued U.S. patent is the latest example of Nextleaf's respect for the plant and its continuous commitment to developing innovative solutions for industrywide problems.

Nextleaf owns one of the largest collections of U.S. patents among all cannabis companies as well as a Greater Vancouver based extraction plant producing low-cost cannabinoid ingredients under its Health Canada licences. Nextleaf's multipatented automated extraction plant upcycles aged cannabis flower and biomass, which would otherwise be destroyed, into high-purity cannabinoid ingredients at industrial scale.

Nextleaf's intellectual property (IP) includes 18 U.S. patents and over 95 issued patents globally on cannabinoid processing, including extraction, distillation and acetylation. With this latest issued patent, Nextleaf has a success rate above 95 per cent for pending application to issued patents. The average success rate of pending to issued patents in the pharmaceutical industry is 42.8 per cent.

"Given the U.S. House of Representatives passing the MORE Act -- a bill that would end the federal prohibition on cannabis -- and the need for the U.S. government to address the opioid epidemic, we believe cannabis legalization will become a reality in the United States in the near term. With a U.S. patent stack protecting what we believe to be the most efficient methods of producing distilled THC [tetrahydrocannabinol] and CBD [cannabidiol] in a regulated market, Nextleaf is well positioned to benefit from U.S. legalization," said Nextleaf chief executive officer Paul Pedersen.

Executive officer update

Nextleaf announces a recent update to its leadership structure with the transition of Ryan Ko, chief technology officer of Nextleaf Solutions, from his executive officer role to serve as Nextleaf's vice-president of innovation and technology. The change is effective as of April 5, 2022. A co-founder of Nextleaf, Mr. Ko has written over 80 global patents and will remain as the key driver of Nextleaf's innovation and IP commercialization strategy.

About Nextleaf Solutions Ltd.

Nextleaf is a federally regulated manufacturer and distributor of cannabis vapes and oils under its award-winning prohibition-era brand, Glacial Gold. The company's multipatented ingredient processing technology transforms cannabis and hemp biomass into high-purity distillate at an industrial scale. Nextleaf is a low-cost producer of cannabis oils and supplies THC and CBD ingredients to qualified wholesale partners across Canada. Nextleaf is the first publicly traded company to be issued a U.S. patent for the industrial extraction and purification of cannabinoids. The company has been issued 18 U.S. patents and over 90 patents globally on cannabinoid processing, including distillation and acetylation. Nextleaf develops proprietary cannabinoid-based formulations and delivery technology through its Health Canada research licence with sensory evaluation of cannabis through human testing.

Nextleaf Solutions trades as OILS on the Canadian Securities Exchange, OILFF on the OTCQB market in the United States and L0MA on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

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