Applied DNA Sciences Inks Cannabis Licensing Deal With Theracann International

(RTTNews) - Applied DNA Sciences Inc. (APDN) and TheraCann International Benchmark Corp., a cannabis and hemp consultancy, said Friday that they have entered into an exclusive licensing and cooperation agreement for a cannabis tracking system. Shares of Applied DNA gained almost 32 percent in Friday's trading following the announcement.

Under the agreement, TheraCann's wholly-owned subsidiary, ETCH BioTrace, S.A., has been granted the use of Applied DNA's CertainT supply chain integrity platform technology within the global legal cannabis and hemp markets.

Under the terms of the agreement, Applied DNA will receive an up-front licensing fee of $5 million over a four-month period beginning on or before April 15, 2019, and completed by October 15, 2019.

Pursuant to the agreement, Applied DNA will be the exclusive supplier of molecular tags, provided as SigNature, molecular tag application systems and molecular tag authentication systems for TheraCann's ETCH biotrace seed-to-sale-tracking system.

The two companies will jointly market and sell the system, with a profit share after the recoupment of initial investments. The agreement also calls for specific annual minimum payment milestones to Applied DNA, starting in year two, and scaling from $7 million in year three to $20 million in year fifteen.

"Powered by our CertainT platform, TheraCann's ETCH biotrace system can offer the global legal cannabis and hemp industry the unparalleled ability to ensure true authentication and provenance verification. Given TheraCann's growing standing in the industry, and in conjunction with TheraCann's Benchmark SOLUTION, full turn-key cannabis project offering, we believe that this Agreement effectively places Applied DNA at the heart of a fast-growing industry," said Dr. James Hayward, president and CEO of Applied DNA.