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Thorofare, New Jersey, Dec. 05, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — PRESS RELEASE — Akers Biosciences, Inc., a developer of rapid health information technologies, announced today that it will continue its strategic review and has identified the hemp and minor cannabinoid sectors as promising adjacent opportunities that could benefit from Akers’ core competencies. The company is exploring how to leverage its 30 years of operational history in its medical device business, where its current products have U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance, its current operations practice Good Manufacturing Processes (cGMP), its medical device facility is certified under ISO 13485 – 2016 and the facility carries an Analytical Lab Certification for Schedules 2, 3, 4 and 5 controlled substances issued by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the State of New Jersey.

Akers has an extensive history in the development, production, and distribution of rapid screening and testing products designed to deliver medical information to healthcare providers. We believe that recent public statements by regulators, including the FDA, expressing concerns about the safety of certain cannabidiol products on the market creates an opportunity for a company like Akers, with experience in manufacturing and developing safe diagnostic tools, to pursue this opportunity, and help develop new safe products derived from cannabinoids.

Akers has also formed an advisory board with expertise in the hemp and minor cannabinoid industry to assist the Board of Directors in its strategic review including, potentially, the extraction, testing, purification and formulation of safe cannabinoids within the hemp industry. The advisory board may also explore a pathway to consumer products with a focus on minor cannabinoids.

Akers intends to work closely with its new Advisory Board members Bob Hoban and Michael Patterson, as well as its own legal counsel. Hoban is the President and Founder of Hoban Law Group which is a full-service law firm specializing in ‘cannabusiness.’ Hoban won the landmark Cannamart case in 2010 which led to Colorado’s commercial cannabis regulatory system in 2011. Patterson is a health care executive with over 25 years of experience who is currently the Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Cannabis Pharmaceutical Research and Development LLC. Patterson is a subject matter expert in the global cannabis industry and a board member of the American Journal of Endocannabinoid Medicine.

Michael Patterson said, “With the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill legalizing hemp and CBD derived from hemp, and the recent release of USDA guidelines requiring laboratory testing be performed by a DEA licensed laboratory, it is an opportunistic time for Akers to pursue possible opportunities in the hemp/cannabinoid testing and product formulation business.”

He continued, “Their decades of experience in bioscience and highly regulated healthcare industries provide could be synergistic in providing trusted hemp/cannabinoid testing and product formulations to companies across the United States and internationally” 

Additionally, Akers is consulting with two industry leaders on possible opportunities in the hemp/cannabinoid industries, David Goldstein and Yoray Halevy, who previously launched a medical cannabis recommendation engine called Potbotics and compiled a cannabinoid-based database through this former company. Possible opportunities may include the development of consumer facing products, such as cosmetics and sleep aids using minor cannabinoids. Akers believes that it is possible that cannabinoids may be able to be utilized in a myriad of goods to provide users with natural alternative remedies ranging from sleep benefits to workout recovery.

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