KALSEC SIGNS MASTER SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH WILLOW BIOSCIENCES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND MANUFACTURE OF FUNCTIONAL FOOD INGREDIENTS USING PRECISION FERMENTATION

KALAMAZOO, Mich. and CALGARY, AB and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ - Willow Biosciences Inc. ("Willow") (TSX: WLLW) (OTCQB: CANSF), a leading biotechnology company focused on revolutionizing industrial manufacturing of pure, consistent and sustainable functional ingredients and Kalsec® Inc. ("Kalsec"), a leading global producer of natural taste and sensory, food protection, colors and advanced hops ingredients for the food and beverage industry, announce entry into a Master Services Agreement (the "MSA") to develop and commercialize a precision fermentation production process for a high volume, natural food opportunity.

"We are pleased to add a new functional ingredient to our portfolio, highlighting the demand for our fully integrated FutureGrown^TM technology platform," said Dr. Peter Seufer-Wasserthal, Willow's President & CEO. "We welcome the opportunity to advance Kalsec's range of natural, sustainable products while also evolving Willow's business strategy."

The MSA consists of research & development and scale-up phases, with Willow generating revenues from both research fees and milestone payments. If successful, and the partnership proceeds to commercialization, both parties anticipate entering into a license agreement to share in the economics of the delivered product. This strategic partnership is driving important innovation and will support greater adoption of precision fermentation technology for natural food and beverage products.

Willow's FutureGrown^TM technology platform is a fully integrated, proven solution for rapid strain engineering, process development and scaled-up manufacturing that incorporates the latest technologies available for precision fermentation. Willow's R&D pipeline now includes four functional ingredients utilizing its FutureGrown^TM technology. Kalsec's projects with Willow focus on S. cerevisiae (brewer's yeast), which is an ideal host for expressing and engineering metabolic pathways to numerous products of interest to the food and beverage market.

Kalsec's long history and expertise in creating natural products and solutions for the food and beverage industry will enable the benefits of precision fermentation to be realized. By working closely with their customers, the development team at Kalsec has identified multiple potential opportunities for collaboration and innovation in this space.

"Kalsec continually researches new technologies to enhance sustainability and efficiency in our production capabilities and enable the maturation of markets for natural products," says Dr. Roger Nahas, Executive Vice President of Global R&D and Chief Innovation Officer. "We look forward to this collaboration with Willow to introduce new, precision-fermented products to benefit our customers and the environment."

Kalsec® Inc provides innovative taste and sensory, natural food protection, natural colors and advanced hops solutions to the food and beverage industries. We capture the best nature has to offer and utilize over 60 years of experience and industry leading innovation to make food and beverage products look better, taste better and last longer. Family owned and headquartered in Kalamazoo, Michigan since 1958, Kalsec has regional offices, laboratories and sales teams in North America, Europe, and Asia. As a certified B Corp, Kalsec makes ethical and sustainable decisions that serve our customers, employees, communities, and the environment. We are proud to be using our business as a force for good. For more information, visit www.kalsec.com.

Willow develops and produces precision fermented functional ingredients for the health and wellness, food and beverage and personal care markets. Willow's FutureGrown^TM biotechnology platform allows large-scale production with sustainability at its core. Willow's R&D team has a proven track record of developing and commercializing bio-based manufacturing processes and products to benefit our B2B partners and their customers. For more information, visit www.willowbio.com.

This news release may include forward-looking statements including opinions, assumptions, estimates and the Company's assessment of future plans and operations, and, more particularly, statements concerning: the MSA, including the ability to accommodate new programs and to expand capabilities; the continued development of Willow's FutureGrown™ CBG; the demand and market size potential of the synthetic ingredients industry; and the business plan of the Company, generally, including becoming a leader in precision fermentation, research and production of functional ingredients. When used in this news release, the words "will," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project," "should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the statements that identify forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations and assumptions made by the Company which include, but are not limited to: the success of Willow's strategic partnerships, including the development of future strategic partnerships; the financial strength of the Company; the ability of the Company to fund its business plan using cash on hand and existing resources; the market for Willow's products; the ability of the Company to obtain and retain applicable licences; the ability of the Company to obtain suitable manufacturing partners and other strategic relationships; and the successful implementation of Willow's commercialization and production strategy, generally. Forward-looking statements are subject to a wide range of risks and uncertainties, and although the Company believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will be realized. Any number of important factors could cause actual results biotechnology industry in general; the success of the Company's research and development strategies; infringement on intellectual property; failure to benefit from partnerships or successfully integrate acquisitions; actions and initiatives of federal and provincial governments and changes to government policies and the execution and impact of these actions, initiatives and policies; import/export and research restrictions for cannabinoid-based operations; the size of the medical-use and adult-use cannabinoid market; competition from other industry participants; adverse U.S., Canadian and global economic conditions; adverse global events and public-health crises, including the current COVID-19 outbreak; failure to comply with certain regulations; departure of key management personnel or inability to attract and retain talent; and other factors more fully described from time to time in the reports and filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities. Please refer to the Company's most recent annual information form and management's discussion and analysis for additional risk factors relating to Willow, which can be accessed either on Willow's website at www.willowbio.com or under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com.

Any financial outlook and future-oriented financial information contained in this document regarding prospective financial performance, financial position, cash balances or revenue is based on assumptions about future events, including economic conditions and proposed courses of action based on management's assessment of the relevant information that is currently available. Projected operational information contains forward-looking information and is based on a number of material assumptions and factors, as are set out above. These projections may also be considered to contain future-oriented financial information or a financial outlook. The actual results of the Company's operations for any period will likely vary from the amounts set forth in these projections and such variations may be material. Actual results will vary from projected results. Readers are cautioned that any such financial outlook and future-oriented financial information contained herein should not be used for purposes other than those for which it is disclosed herein.

The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law. The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.

SOURCE Willow Biosciences Inc.