SAN DIEGO, CA, March 12, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals Inc. (EHP), a clinical-stage company developing medicines based on cannabinoid science, has appointed Lisa Sanford as Chief Financial Officer effective April 1, 2019. Ms. Sanford has served as Interim CFO of EHP since October 2018 and brings over 30 years of experience in finance and accounting in the life sciences, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.

"Our decision to appoint Lisa as Chief Financial Officer is based largely on her diversified background in strategic financial management with both private and publicly traded companies,” said Jim DeMesa, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of EHP. “In addition, Lisa’s leadership skills, along with her deep knowledge of current EHP operations and her experience with a broad range of financial activities, makes her a great addition to our team as we work toward our future growth objectives.”

Prior to taking on the role of Interim CFO at EHP, Ms. Sanford served as the company’s Vice President of Finance since July 2018 and was an independent consultant to the company since May 2017. From April 2000 through July 2018, Ms. Sanford was a consultant for both public and private companies where her responsibilities included SEC reporting, IPO assistance, technical research, financial statement preparation and performance of due diligence related to mergers and acquisitions. Ms. Sanford also served as an audit senior manager at Ernst & Young LLP, where she worked for twelve years and was involved in multiple IPOs and business combinations. She received her bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Lehigh University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

About Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals Inc.

Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals is developing product candidates derived from cannabinoids for the treatment of CNS, autoimmune, and other diseases. The Company has two families of new chemical entities, derived from synthetic cannabidiol (CBD) and cannabigerol (CBG), that it has modified through rational drug design to affect validated receptors pertinent to targeted diseases. Its first drug candidate, EHP-101, is in Phase I clinical development and is focused on treating multiple sclerosis and scleroderma. Its second, EHP-102, is in preclinical development and is focused on treating Huntington’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. For more information, visit http://www.emeraldpharma.life or contact: info@emeraldpharma.life.

To the extent statements contained in this news release are not descriptions of historical facts regarding Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals Inc. they should be considered "forward-looking statements," as described in the private securities litigation reform act of 1995, that reflect management's current beliefs and expectations. You can identify forward-looking statements by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "goal," "hope," "hypothesis," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "strategy," "will," "would," or the negative of those terms, and similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: (i) the success and timing of our product development activities and clinical trials; (ii) our ability to develop our product candidates; (iii) our plans to research, discover, evaluate and develop additional potential product, technology and business candidates and opportunities; (iv) the anticipated timing of clinical data availability; (v) our ability to meet our milestones; and (vi) our expectations regarding our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection. Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements. Emerald Health Pharmaceuticals' investigational drug products have not been approved or cleared by the FDA.