Awakn Establishes Separate Preclinical and Clinical Expert Advisory Boards to Optimize Delivery of Its Expanding Development Pipeline

Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - July 7, 2021) - Awakn Life Sciences Corp. (NEO: AWKN) (Awakn), a biotechnology company with clinical operations developing and delivering psychedelic medicines to better treat Addiction, announced today that it will establish separate preclinical and clinical expert advisory boards to add to its existing Scientific Advisory Board's capabilities, to optimize delivery of its expanding development pipeline.

Both advisory boards will be led by Prof. David Nutt, Awakn’s Chief Research Officer and globally renowned neuroscientist and addiction researcher. Awakn’s new clinical and preclinical boards will ensure that Awakn adopts and delivers optimum strategies to bring new therapeutic paradigms to market rapidly. These pioneering boards consist of leading preclinical and clinical experts in the fields of drug discovery, psychedelic drug development and clinical trials. Awakn has recently expanded its pipeline significantly, moving to initiate Ketamine and MDMA clinical trials alongside its discovery and development of novel drug candidates for drug-assisted psychotherapy. Separation of the existing Board into preclinical and clinical Boards will facilitate focus to drive rapid progression of these activities in parallel. This will allow Awakn to build on its position and experience as a clinical phase biotechnology company to bring a range of novel innovative and targeted treatments against addictions to market.

Awakn is delighted to announce the addition of Prof. Stephen Husbands, Prof. Harriet de Wit, and Prof. Kevin Fone to the Preclinical Advisory board. Stephen, Harriet, and Kevin are leading experts in their disciplines, and bring outstanding medicinal chemistry, pharmacology and human experimental study expertise to Awakn’s research. They will be joined on this board by Shaun McNulty, Awakn’s Chief Scientific Officer and its chair Prof. David Nutt.

The Clinical Advisory Board will consist of Dr. Ben Sessa, Prof. Celia Morgan, Ann Mithoefer, Dr. Michael Mithoefer and Prof. Matt Johnson, all of which were already existing members of Awakn’s previously named ‘Scientific Advisory Board’. It will also be chaired by Prof. Nutt.

Professor Nutt commented; “Drug-assisted psychotherapy offers a new paradigm to treat patients with severe drug, alcohol, and behavioral addictions who are presently poorly served by inadequate treatments. Awakn has established two world leading teams each possessing proven deep expertise to drive both preclinical and clinical drug discovery activities. These teams will oversee Awakn’s strategy and data to ensure we deliver appropriately across our pipeline. It is my privilege to lead these teams to ensure that Awakn establishes and delivers our new therapies for the benefit of patients their families and the wider community.”

Prof. Stephen Husbands

Professor Husbands is professor of medicinal chemistry in Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology at the University of Bath. His research has focused on the development and therapeutic potential of central nervous system targeted ligands, particularly those interacting with multiple receptors. His interests relate to neuropsychological diseases, in particular the development of low abuse liability analgesics and new treatment agents for drug abuse, depression and anxiety. He has more than 120 publications (including book chapters) and his work has been supported by national and international (NIH) funding agencies as well as industry. Prof Husbands’ work is highly interdisciplinary, and he collaborates and publishes with researchers around the world.

Prof. Harriet De Wit

Professor de Wit obtained her PhD in Experimental Psychology from Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, in 1981. Since then, she has been associated with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Chicago, where she is currently Professor and Director of the Human Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory. In addition to her role as Principal Investigator for several NIH-funded research projects, Prof. de Wit serves as Field Editor for the journal Psychopharmacology. She is a consultant to the Food and Drug Administration and serves on scientific advisory boards at other institutions. She has received awards for her research, including the Marian W. Fischman Memorial Lectureship Award in 2009, the European Behavioral Pharmacology Society Distinguished Investigator Award in 2019 and the Research Society on Alcoholism Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020.

Prof. Kevin Fone

Prof. Kevin Fone is the Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Nottingham. His research interests include improving our understanding of the neurobiological aetiology of common CNS disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression, PTSD and ADHD, and to help develop novel therapeutic treatment strategies for these. His research uses integrated physiology to investigate the functional role of 5-HT and dopamine in the CNS and to evaluate the impact of early-life interventions on brain development and behaviour. The fundamental approach is to concomitantly measure neurotransmitter function, neurochemistry and behaviour in paradigms designed to model CNS disorders. Kevin has benefited from extensive funding from Research Councils, EU consortiums, and many pharmaceutical companies from all over the world. He is a Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society, member of the scientific advisory board for the ECNP and has been President for both the International Society for Serotonin Research and the British Association for Psychopharmacology.

About Awakn Life Sciences Corp.

Awakn Life Sciences is a biotechnology company with clinical operations, researching, developing, and delivering psychedelic medicine to better treat Addiction. Awakn's team consists of world leading chemists, scientists, psychiatrists, and psychologists who are developing and advancing the next generation of psychedelic drugs, therapies, and enabling technologies to treat Addiction. Awakn will also deliver evidence backed psychedelic therapies for Addiction in clinics in the UK and Europe and through licencing partnerships globally.

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This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements, as defined in applicable securities laws (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements"). Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations or beliefs regarding future events or the Company's future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "expects", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "continues", "forecasts", "projects", "predicts", "intends", "anticipates", "targets" or "believes", or variations of, or the negatives of, such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "should", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved, including statements relating to the proposed NEO listing, and the business of the Company. All forward-looking statements, including those herein are qualified by this cautionary statement.

Although the Company believes that the expectations expressed in such statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those in the statements. There are certain factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking information. These include: whether conditions to the listing on NEO will be satisfied; the business plans and strategies of the Company, the ability of the Company to comply with all applicable governmental regulations in a highly regulated business; the inherent risks in investing in target companies or projects which have limited or no operating history and are engaged in activities currently considered illegal in some jurisdictions; changes in laws; limited operating history; reliance on management; requirements for additional financing; competition; inconsistent public opinion and perception regarding the medical-use of psychedelic drugs; and regulatory or political change. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect forward-looking statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this news release speak only as of the date of this news release or as of the date or dates specified in such statements.

Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For more information on the Company, investors are encouraged to review the Company's public filings on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by law.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities in the United States. The Company's and Awakn's securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

Investor Enquiries:
KCSA Strategic Communications
Valter Pinto / Tim Regan
Phone: +1 (212) 896-1254
Awakn@KCSA.com

Media Enquiries:
America and Canada: KCSA Strategic Communications
Anne Donohoe
Adonohoe@KCSA.com

Rest of World: ROAD Communications
Paul Jarman / Anna Ramsey
Awakn@roadcommunications.co.uk

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