Willow Biosciences Inc. ("Willow" or the "Company") (TSX: WLLW) (OTCQB: CANSF), a leading biotechnology company focused on revolutionizing industrial manufacturing of pure, consistent and sustainable ingredients, is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has appointed Dr. Chris Savile, Willow's Chief Operations Officer, as President and Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Trevor Peters, a Director and Founder of the Company, as Chairman, effective March 28, 2023, in connection with Dr. Peter Seufer-Wasserthal's retirement as President and CEO. Dr. Seufer-Wasserthal will continue to be a Director of the Company.

Dr. Savile, a leader at Willow since the Company's inception in early 2019, has been appointed President and Chief Executive Officer effective March 28, 2023. Since joining Willow, Dr. Savile has led the development of the technology platform, building of the operational capabilities, and expansion of the internal portfolio and external partnerships.  Prior to joining Willow, Dr. Savile worked in senior leadership roles at Intrexon Corporation, a biotechnology company, and Codexis, Inc., a protein engineering company. Chris is an experienced business professional and an accomplished chemist, high-throughput assay scientist, and protein engineer with a strong technical background.

"Chris' extensive scientific knowledge and business development experience will be invaluable to Willow in its next phase of growth," said Trevor Peters, Chairman of the Board. "Chris has played an integral part in the success Willow has achieved to date. He is the driving force behind our scientific achievements, including the development of our new biooxidation manufacturing platform, and our commercial successes including the partnerships with Sandhill One and Kalsec as well as other commercial programs that the Company anticipates announcing in the near future."

The Company is also pleased to announce that Dr. Trish Choudhary, Willow's VP Research and Development, has been promoted to the role of Sr. VP Research and Development. Dr. Choudhary has been with the Company since its inception in 2019, leading the Company's R&D program in Mountain View, California. Dr. Choudhary has built and continues to build Willow's genetic engineering technology that includes enzyme engineering, strain engineering and its recently-developed genome-wide high-throughput editing technology. These tools have enabled the rapid development and commercialization of our first precision fermentation product, cannabigerol (CBG), development of the aforementioned biooxidation manufacturing platform, and development of alternative hosts to broaden our capabilities and offering.

Additionally,  Mr. Raffi Asadorian will join the Board of Directors as an independent director following the Company's upcoming annual general meeting of shareholders on May 12, 2023 (the "AGM"). Mr. Asadorian has been the Chief Financial Officer of AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, a NASDAQ-listed, commercial stage specialty pharmaceutical company since August 2017. Mr. Asadorian has over 30 years of experience in finance, including 15 years' experience as a CFO with publicly listed and private equity-owned biotech and life sciences companies including Amyris and Barr Pharmaceuticals . Prior to that, Mr. Asadorian was a Partner in the Transaction Services Group of PwC, LLP in New York. Mr. Asadorian holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Manchester and a B. Sc., Business Administration in Accounting from Xavier University in Cincinnati. Mr. Asadorian is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive, Ohio).

Mr. Trevor Peters, a Director and Founder of the Company, will succeed Dr. Peter Seufer-Wasserthal as Chairman of the Board. Ms. Barbara Munroe will continue to serve as a Director and Chair of the Governance and Compensation Committee but will no longer serve as Lead Independent Director. Mr. Sadiq Lalani will not stand for re-election as a director at the Company's upcoming AGM due to other commitments.

"Willow is grateful to Dr. Seufer-Wasserthal's vision and talent," said Trevor Peters, Chairman of the Board of the Company. "Under his leadership, we have completed our transition to an innovative company, focused on functional ingredients."

 "I am excited to  take over as President and CEO and to build upon the amazing progress we have made in our transition to become a fully-integrated precision fermentation company with a growing list of internal product opportunities and a rapidly expanding portfolio of development and commercialization partners, said Chris Savile, President and CEO. I am eager to continue the future growth of Willow."