Intercure Ltd. [INCR] Filings

As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on May 1, 2023.

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

FORM 20-F

OR

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

OR

For the transition period from _____________to _____________

OR

Date of event requiring this shell company report _____________

Commission File No.:

INTERCURE LTD.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Not Applicable

(Translation of Registrant’s name into English)

Israel

(Jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)

85 Medinat ha-Yehudim Street

Herzliya, 4676670, Israel

(Address of principal executive offices)

Amos Cohen

85 Medinat ha-Yehudim Street

Herzliya, 4676670, Israel

Tel: +972 77 460 5012

Amos@intercure.co

(Name, Telephone, E-mail and/or Facsimile number and Address of Company Contact Person)

Copies to:

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered or to be registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act: None

Securities for which there is a reporting obligation pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Act: None

Indicate the number of outstanding shares of each of the issuer’s classes of capital or common stock as of the close of the period covered by the annual report: Not applicable.

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

If this report is an annual or transition report, indicate by check mark if Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Sections 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or an emerging growth company. See definition of “accelerated filer”, “large accelerated filer”, and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

Indicate by check mark which basis of accounting the Registrant has used to prepare the financial statements included in this filing:

If “Other” has been check in response to the previous question, by check mark which financial statement item Registrant has elected to follow. Item 17 ☐ Item 18 ☐

If this is an annual report, indicate by check mark whether Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

INTRODUCTION

Intercure is an Israeli public corporation whose shares are listed for trading on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “INCR”, on the Toronto Stock Exchange (“TSX”) under the symbol “INCR:U” and on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (“TASE”) under the symbol “INCR”.

Unless indicated otherwise by the context, all references in this Annual Report on Form 20-F to “Intercure”, the “Company”, “our Company”, “we”, “us”, “our” or the “Registrant” are to Intercure Ltd. and its subsidiaries.

Our functional currency and reporting currency are the New Israeli Shekel (NIS). Unless otherwise noted, all monetary amounts are in NIS. References to “USD,” “U.S. dollars” or “$” are to currency of the United States of America, references to “CAD” or “C$” are to Canadian dollars, and references to “NIS” are to New Israeli Shekels. References to “ordinary shares” or “Intercure Shares” are to our ordinary shares, no par value.

Effective as of April 8, 2021, we effectuated a 1-for-4.44926 share consolidation of our outstanding ordinary shares, pursuant to which the number of our outstanding ordinary shares was decreased to 27,021,100 (“Share Consolidation”). We have adjusted all outstanding options, warrants and other rights entitling their holders to purchase ordinary shares, as required by the terms of these securities. In particular, we have reduced the conversion ratio used in the Share Consolidation, and we increased the exercise price in accordance with the terms of each security based on the same ratio. The Share Consolidation did not otherwise affect any of the rights currently accruing to holders of our ordinary shares, or options or warrants exercisable for our ordinary shares. As of December 31, 2022, there were 45,572,709 ordinary shares of the Company outstanding.

PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL INFORMATION

We have included in this Annual Report on Form 20-F our audited consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2022. Our consolidated financial statements appearing in this registration statement are prepared in New Israeli Shekels and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”), as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board (“IASB”), and are audited in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB.

Since the date it acquired significant influence over Canndoc Ltd., the Company has two operating segments: (i) investments in portfolio companies in the biomed sector, and (ii) investments in companies in the medical cannabis sector.

MARKET, INDUSTRY AND OTHER DATA

This Annual Report on Form 20-F includes market and industry data and forecasts that were obtained from third-party sources, industry publications and publicly available information as well as industry data prepared by management on the basis of its knowledge of the industry in which Intercure operates (including management’s estimates and assumptions relating to the industry based on that knowledge). Management’s knowledge of the cannabis industry has been developed through its experience and participation in the industry. Management believes that its industry data is accurate and that its estimates and assumptions are reasonable, but there can be no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of this data. Third-party sources generally state that the information contained therein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but there can be no assurance as to the accuracy or completeness of such information. Although management believes it to be reliable, Intercure has neither independently verified any of the data from management or third-party sources referred to in this registration statement, nor analyzed or verified the underlying studies or surveys relied upon or referred to by such sources, or ascertained the underlying economic assumptions relied upon by such sources. In addition, assumptions and estimates of our and our industry’s future performance are necessarily subject to a high degree of uncertainty and risk due to a variety of factors, including those described in Item 3.D “Risk Factors” below.

Statements made in this Annual Report on Form 20-F concerning the contents of any contract, agreement or other document are summaries of such contracts, agreements or documents and are not complete descriptions of all of their terms. If we filed any of these documents as an exhibit to this Annual Report, you may read the document itself for a complete description of its terms, and the summary included herein is qualified by reference to the full text of the document which is incorporated by reference into this registration statement.

NON-IFRS FINANCIAL MEASURES

In this Annual Report on Form 20-F, Intercure uses certain non-IFRS financial measures to measure, compare and explain the operating results and financial performance of Intercure. These measures are commonly used by companies operating in the cannabis industry as useful metrics for measuring performance. However, they do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and are not necessarily comparable to similar measures presented by other publicly traded entities. These measures should be considered as supplemental in nature and not as a substitute for related financial information prepared in accordance with IFRS. Intercure defines such financial measures as follows:

“Adjusted EBITDA” means EBITDA adjusted for changes in the fair value of inventory, share-based payment expense, impairment losses (and gains) on financial assets, and other expenses (or income);

“EBITDA” means net income (loss) before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.

These measures should not be considered in isolation or used in substitute for measures of performance prepared in accordance with IFRS. For a reconciliation of net income (loss) from continuing operations to EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, please see Item 5. “Operating and Financial Review and Prospects – A. Operating Results.”

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Except for the historical information contained in this Annual Report on Form 20-F, the statements contained in this Annual Report are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and other federal securities laws with respect to our business, financial condition and results of operations. All information other than statements of current and historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “budget”, “continue”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “may”, “might”, “outlook”, “plan”, “possible”, “potential”, “predict”, “project”, “scheduled”, “should”, “target”, “would”, and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not a forward-looking statement. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated or implied in such forward-looking statements. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements included in this Annual Report should not be unduly relied upon. Any forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by reference to the risk factors discussed throughout this Annual Report. Some of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from estimates or projections contained in the forward-looking statements include but are not limited to:

The foregoing list sets forth some, but not all, of the factors that could affect our ability to achieve results described in any forward-looking statements. You should read this Annual Report on Form 20-F and the documents that we reference herein and have filed as exhibits to the Annual Report completely and with the understanding that our actual future results may be materially different from what we expect. You should assume that the information appearing in this Annual Report is accurate as of the date hereof. Because the risk factors referred to in Item 3.D. “Risk Factors” of this Annual Report, could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by us or on our behalf, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Further, any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made, and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which the statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict which factors will arise. In addition, we cannot assess the impact of each factor on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We qualify all of the information presented in this Annual Report, and particularly our forward-looking statements, by these cautionary statements.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Investing in our ordinary shares involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, in addition to the other information set forth in this Annual Report on Form 20-F, including the consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this registration statement, before purchasing our ordinary shares. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition, cash flows and results of operations could be negatively impacted. In that case, the trading price of our ordinary shares would likely decline and you might lose all or part of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations

Summary Risk Factors

Investing in our ordinary shares involves a high degree of risk, as fully described below. The principal factors and uncertainties that make investing in our ordinary shares risky, include, but are not limited to:

Risks Related to Our Pharmaceutical-Grade Cannabis Business and the Medical-Use Cannabis Industry

The medical-use cannabis industry in Israel and other countries is highly regulated and new laws or regulations or changes to existing laws or regulations or changes in their enforcement or application could materially and adversely affect our business.

The successful execution of our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis business objectives is contingent upon our compliance with all applicable laws and regulatory requirements in Israel and other jurisdictions, including our ability to obtain all required regulatory approvals for our production and distribution activities involving our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products.

The administration, application and enforcement of the regime established by the IMCA or the administration, application and enforcement of the laws of other countries by the appropriate regulators in those countries, on us and our business may significantly delay or impact our ability to participate in the Israeli medical-use cannabis market or medical-use cannabis markets outside of Israel, and to produce and distribute pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products for medical use.

Further, the medical-use cannabis industry is a relatively new industry globally and regulation of cannabis for medical use is likely to evolve significantly. The regulatory authorities in the countries in which we operate through our joint ventures, or to which we may export our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis or cannabis-based products, and those in which we plan to operate in in the future, may change the administration, interpretation or application of applicable regulations or their compliance or enforcement procedures at any time. Any such changes could require us to revise our business operations, including our compliance procedures or planned procedures, requiring us to incur increased costs and expend additional resources. There is no assurance that we will be able to comply or continue to comply with the laws and regulations of all of the jurisdictions in which we currently operate or plan to have operations in in the future.

We are, and will continue to be, dependent upon regulatory approvals and licenses for our ability to produce, import and distribute our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products, and these regulatory approvals are subject to ongoing compliance requirements, reporting obligations and fixed terms requiring renewal.

Our ability to produce, import and distribute our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products for medical use in Israel is dependent on licenses and certifications issued by the IMCA to us. We or our business partners hold the following licenses related to the breeding, cultivation, manufacturing, distribution and security of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis in Israel: Israel Medical Cannabis—Good Agriculture Practices (“IMC-GAP”); Israel Medical Cannabis—Good Manufacturing Practices (“IMC-GMP”); Israel Medical Cannabis—Good Distribution Practices (“IMC-GDP”); and Israel Medical Cannabis—Good Security Practices (“IMC-GSP”).

We hold licenses to breed and cultivate pharmaceutical-grade cannabis in Israel. In addition, in our primary facilities in Southern and Northern Israel, the production processes implemented are certified under the IMC-GAP and IMC-GSP standards. In addition, inspectors routinely assess our facilities for compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. For example, our facility in northern Israel is subject to at least one inspection each calendar quarter.

In January 2019, the Israeli government approved the export of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis products. We may be required to obtain and maintain certain permits, licenses or other approvals from regulatory agencies in Israel in order to export our products out of Israel. In addition, the import of our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products into other jurisdictions, such as Germany, the United Kingdom and other European Union member states, is subject to the regulatory requirements of each respective jurisdiction. In addition, the export and import of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis is subject to United Nations treaties establishing country-by-country quotas and our export and import permits are subject to these quotas, which could limit the amount of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis we can export to any particular country.

As a result, until the regulatory requirements are met, none of our products will be distributed through any of our partnerships. In addition, the continuation or expansion of our international operations depends on our ability to renew or secure permits, licenses or other approvals. In the event that we, or our partners, are found not to be in compliance with any applicable authorities, regulations, or conditions, we and our partners’ existing licenses and any new licenses that we may obtain may be revoked or restricted. Should we fail to qualify for licenses or certifications under any of these authorities, should we fail to comply with any applicable regulatory requirements or with conditions set out under our licenses, should our licenses not be renewed when required, or be renewed on different terms, or should our licenses be revoked, we may be unable to execute our business plan. This would have a broad impact on us and could have a material adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition, results of operations and prospects and, as a result, investors could lose all or most of their investment. In addition, any such action could also cause us significant reputational harm, which, in turn, could seriously harm us.

In addition, if we fail to comply with applicable regulatory requirements, we may be subject to enforcement proceedings in any jurisdiction in which we conduct our business, which may result in damage awards, a suspension of our existing approvals, a withdrawal of our existing approvals, the denial of the renewal of our existing licenses or any future approvals, recalls of our products, product seizures, the imposition of future operating restrictions on our business or operations or the imposition of civil or criminal fines or penalties against us, our officers and directors and other parties. These enforcement actions could divert management’s attention and resources away from our business operations and delay or entirely prevent us from continuing our business as planned.

Furthermore, our strategic partnerships with leading brands (Tilray, Organigram, Aphria, Fotmer) depends on our ability to obtain the required import/export permits of cannabis and cannabis-based products into Israel and/or other countries. Any regulatory decision to postpone such permits may negatively impact our ability to operate our partnerships effectively and profitably.

Furthermore, our pharmacy operations (via Cannolam) are operating in accordance with the IMCA regulations as of the date of this registration statement, which limits a patients’ ability to fill their prescriptions to only those authorized pharmacies. Any changes to this regulation that will revoke and change the place of issuance and sales of the medical cannabis products, can impact our pharmacy operations and expansion plans for the future.

Our operations at the Northern Kibbutz facility and the Southern Kibbutz facility involve a partnership with two kibbutz entities that have provided their lease to the land as part of the partnership. These leases to the land are subject to regulatory approval.

In both our Northern Kibbutz facility and Southern Kibbutz facility, our partners are Kibbutz entities that were granted a lease for their land by the Land Administration. The leases authorize use of the land for agriculture purposes. In order to verify that the Kibbutz does not use the land for other purposes, every partnership needs to be approved in advance and pursuant to Agricultural Settlement Law, must obtain an excessive use permit.

We hold such excessive use permits for both facilities, with the one applicable to the Northern Kibbutz Facility valid until September 2023 and the one applicable to the Southern Kibbutz facility valid until December 2024. We currently believe that those permits will be renewed when they expire. However, the renewal of these permits is subject to approval, which may or may not be granted and may be subject to additional restrictions, in each case, potentially impacting our ability to operate the facilities profitably.

Research on the effects of cannabis has been limited and future clinical trials may be expensive, time consuming, uncertain, susceptible to change, delay or termination, and may lead to conclusions that dispute or conflict with our understanding and belief regarding the medical benefits, viability, safety, efficacy and dosing of cannabis.

Research regarding the medical benefits, viability, safety, efficacy and dosing of cannabis or specific cannabinoids such as cannabidiol (“CBD”), and tetrahydrocannabinol (“THC”), remains in relatively early stages and there have been only a few clinical trials that have been conducted on these topics. We have not completed any clinical trials using cannabis or cannabis-based products to date. We have received IMCA feasibility approval to initiate nine clinical trials and we have commenced one phase 3 clinical trial. We initiated a phase 3 clinical trial in a leading Israeli medical center to study our product’s influence on cognitive and adjacent capabilities on children who are on the autistic spectrum, the patient recruitment for the trial was initiated but was stopped due to COVID-19 challenges and as a result of the described significant delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is not clear when the Company will be able to conduct and complete any of its clinical trials.

Clinical trials are expensive, time consuming and difficult to design and implement. We may not be able to complete all or any of the clinical trials that we have planned. Further, the results of preclinical testing and clinical trials are uncertain, and a product can fail at any stage of clinical development. Even if the results of our clinical trials are favorable, clinical trials for a number of our products may continue for several years and may take significantly longer to complete. The testing process can take many years and may include post-marketing studies and surveillance, which could result in substantial additional expense.

The results contained in the articles, reports and studies referenced in this registration statement are not necessarily predictive of future results. Future research and clinical trials may draw opposing conclusions or may reach different or negative conclusions regarding the medical benefits, viability, safety, efficacy, dosing or other facts and perceptions related to the use of cannabis as a treatment for a medical indication. This could result in restrictions on the distribution of our products, the loss of regulatory approval for an approved medical indication, or an adverse effect on the social acceptance of cannabis for medical use or the demand for our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products.

Our business may be adversely affected if there is a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Public health epidemics or outbreaks could adversely impact our business. In late 2019, a novel strain of COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, was reported in Wuhan, China. Initially the outbreak was largely concentrated in China, but it rapidly spread to countries across the globe, including in Israel and the United States. Many countries around the world, including in Israel and the United States, implemented significant governmental measures to control the spread of the virus, including temporary closure of businesses, severe restrictions on travel and the movement of people, and other material limitations on the conduct of business. In response, for several months in 2020, we implemented remote working and workplace protocols for our employees in accordance Israeli Ministry of Health requirements to ensure employee safety and all employees have been instructed on and encouraged to practice best social distancing behaviors.

If there is a resurgence of COVID-19 its spread may materially affect us economically. While the potential economic impact brought by, and the duration of, any future resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic may be difficult to assess or predict, it has already caused, and could result in further, significant disruption of global financial markets, reducing our ability to access capital, which could in the future negatively affect our liquidity and financial position. In addition, the trading prices for other companies have been highly volatile as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, we may face difficulties raising capital through sales of our ordinary shares or other securities and such sales may be on unfavorable terms. To the extent that future waves of COVID-19 disrupt normal business operations, we may face operational challenges with our services, and we likely will have to adopt remote working and workplace protocols for employees in accordance with government requirements and other measures to minimize such impact.

The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our operations will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence, including the duration and severity of the outbreak, and the actions that may be required to contain COVID-19 or treat its impact. In particular, the extent to which any resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic may impact our business and financial performance will depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted with confidence including our research and clinical trials and our ability to raise capital, could affect the operations of key governmental agencies and could result in the inability of our suppliers to deliver components or raw materials on a timely basis or at all, each of which in turn could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Our business, operating results and growth rates may be adversely affected by current or future unfavorable economic and market conditions and adverse developments with respect to financial institutions and associated liquidity risk.

Our business depends on the economic health of the global economies. If the conditions in the global economies remain uncertain or continue to be volatile, or if they deteriorate, including as a result of the impact of military conflict, such as the war between Russia and Ukraine, terrorism or other geopolitical events, our business, operating results and financial condition may be materially adversely affected. Economic weakness, inflation and increases in interest rates, limited availability of credit, liquidity shortages and constrained capital spending have at times in the past resulted, and may in the future result, in challenging and delayed sales cycles, slower adoption of new technologies and increased price competition, and could negatively affect our ability to forecast future periods, which could result in an inability to satisfy demand for our products and a loss of market share.

In addition, increases in inflation raise our costs for commodities, labor, materials and services and other costs required to grow and operate our business, and failure to secure these on reasonable terms may adversely impact our financial condition. Additionally, increases in inflation, along with the uncertainties surrounding COVID-19, geopolitical developments and global supply chain disruptions, have caused, and may in the future cause, global economic uncertainty and uncertainty about the interest rate environment, which may make it more difficult, costly or dilutive for us to secure additional financing. A failure to adequately respond to these risks could have a material adverse impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

More recently, the closures of SVB and Signature Bank and their placement into receivership with the FDIC created bank-specific and broader financial institution liquidity risk and concerns. Although we do not hold accounts in these banks and although the Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and the FDIC jointly released a statement that depositors at SVB and Signature Bank would have access to their funds, even those in excess of the standard FDIC insurance limits, under a systemic risk exception, future adverse developments with respect to specific financial institutions or the broader financial services industry may lead to market-wide liquidity shortages, impair the ability of companies to access near-term working capital needs, and create additional market and economic uncertainty. There can be no assurance that future credit and financial market instability and a deterioration in confidence in economic conditions will not occur. Our general business strategy may be adversely affected by any such economic downturn, liquidity shortages, volatile business environment or continued unpredictable and unstable market conditions. If the current equity and credit markets deteriorate, or if adverse developments are experienced by financial institutions, it may cause short-term liquidity risk and also make any necessary debt or equity financing more difficult, more costly, more onerous with respect to financial and operating covenants and more dilutive. Failure to secure any necessary financing in a timely manner and on favorable terms could have a material adverse effect on our growth strategy, financial performance and stock price and could require us to alter our operating plans. In addition, there is a risk that one or more of our service providers, financial institutions, manufacturers, suppliers and other partners may be adversely affected by the foregoing risks, which could directly affect our ability to attain our operating goals on schedule and on budget.

Environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) issues, including those related to climate change and sustainability, may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and damage our reputation.

There is an increasing focus from certain investors, customers, consumers, employees and other stakeholders concerning ESG matters. Additionally, public interest and legislative pressure related to public companies’ ESG practices continue to grow. If our ESG practices fail to meet regulatory requirements or investor, customer, consumer, employee or other shareholders’ evolving expectations and standards for responsible corporate citizenship in areas including environmental stewardship, support for local communities, board of Directors and employee diversity, human capital management, employee health and safety practices, product quality, supply chain management, corporate governance and transparency, our reputation, brand and employee retention may be negatively impacted, and our customers and suppliers may be unwilling to continue to do business with us.

Customers, consumers, investors and other shareholders are increasingly focusing on environmental issues, including climate change, energy and water use, plastic waste and other sustainability concerns. Concern over climate change may result in new or increased legal and regulatory requirements to reduce or mitigate impacts to the environment. Changing customer and consumer preferences or increased regulatory requirements may result in increased demands or requirements regarding plastics and packaging materials, including single-use and non-recyclable plastic products and packaging, other components of our products and their environmental impact on sustainability, or increased customer and consumer concerns or perceptions (whether accurate or inaccurate) regarding the effects of substances present in certain of our products. Complying with these demands or requirements could cause us to incur additional manufacturing, operating or product development costs.

If we do not adapt to or comply with new regulations, including the SEC’s published proposed rules that would require companies to provide significantly expanded climate-related disclosures in their periodic reporting, which may require us to incur significant additional costs to comply and impose increased oversight obligations on our management and board of directors, or fail to meet evolving investor, industry or stakeholder expectations and concerns regarding ESG issues, investors may reconsider their capital investment in our Company, we may become subject to penalties, and customers and consumers may choose to stop purchasing our products, if approved for commercialization, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business or financial condition.

The medical-use cannabis industry and market may not continue to exist or develop as we anticipate and we may ultimately be unable to succeed in this industry and market.

We are operating our current business in a relatively new industry, and our success depends on the continued growth of this market as well as our ability to attract and retain patients. Demand for pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products is dependent on a number of social, political and economic factors that are beyond our control. Our projections on the number of people who have the potential to benefit from treatment with pharmaceutical-grade cannabis or cannabis-based products are based on our beliefs and estimates. These estimates have been derived from a variety of sources, including scientific literature, surveys of clinics, and market research, and may prove to be incorrect. There is no assurance that an increase in existing demand will occur, that we will benefit from any such increased demand, or that our business will remain profitable even in the event of such an increase in demand.

In addition to being subject to the general business risks applicable to a business involving an agricultural product and a regulated medical product, we need to continue to build brand awareness within the medical-use cannabis industry and make significant investments in our business strategy and production capacity. These investments include introducing new pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products into the markets in which we operate, adopting quality assurance protocols and procedures, building our international presence and undertaking regulatory compliance efforts. These activities may not promote our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products as effectively as intended, or at all, and we expect that our competitors will undertake similar investments to compete with us for market share.

Competitive conditions, physician preferences, patient requirements and spending patterns in the medical-use cannabis industry and market are relatively unknown and may have been uniquely impacted by circumstances unlike those in other existing industries and markets. Our target patient population may be smaller than expected, may not be otherwise amenable to treatment with our products, or may become increasingly difficult to identify and access. Further, we may not be successful in our efforts to attract and retain patients, develop new pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products, produce and distribute these products to the markets in which we operate or to which we export in time to be effectively commercialized. In order to be successful in these activities, we may be required to expend significantly more resources than we currently anticipate, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We compete for market share with companies that may have longer operating histories, more financial resources, and greater manufacturing and marketing experience than us.

We face competition from many different sources, including companies that produce and distribute cannabis for medical use, as well as major pharmaceutical, specialty pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. We anticipate intensifying competition in the medical-use cannabis industry as new jurisdictions allow for the production and distribution of cannabis products, new therapies are approved and advanced technologies become available.

We currently compete directly with other licensed producers of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products in Israel. In the future, we expect to compete with licensed producers who choose to distribute pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products in fully regulated jurisdictions, such as European Union member states. In Canada, we plan to compete with licensed producers who decide to market their products in the medical-use market. Many of our competitors have substantially greater financial, technical and human resources than us. Competitors may also have more experience developing, obtaining regulatory approval for, and marketing products or treatments in the markets where we operate or where we are planning to operate. These factors could give our competitors an advantage in their ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel, produce products that meet regulatory standards, and commercialize their products.

It is possible that the medical-use cannabis industry will undergo consolidation, creating larger companies with financial resources, production, manufacturing, distribution and commercialization capabilities and product offerings that are greater than ours. As a result of any of these factors, we may be unsuccessful in conducting our business as we currently envision, or at all.

The legal and illegal use of cannabis for non-medical purposes may have a significant negative effect on the medical-use cannabis industry and our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis business.

The jurisdictions in which we plan to operate may legalize the production, manufacturing, distribution and purchase of cannabis for non-medical use. As a result, individuals who currently rely upon the medical-use cannabis market to supply pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products for their medical treatment may instead seek cannabis and cannabis-based products through alternative-use cannabis markets. In addition, many regulatory regimes permit patients to produce a limited amount of cannabis for their own medical purposes or to designate a person to produce a limited amount of cannabis on their behalf for such purposes. Widespread use of these markets or methods for obtaining cannabis or cannabis-based products could reduce the current or future consumer demand for our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products.

We also compete with unlicensed and unregulated cannabis market participants, including individuals or groups that are able to produce cannabis without a license, illegal dispensaries and black market participants selling cannabis and cannabis-based products. These competitors may be able to offer products with higher concentrations of certain cannabinoids than we are authorized to produce and may sell and use delivery methods, including edibles, concentrates and extract vaporizers, that we are currently prohibited from offering in the medical-use cannabis market. The competition presented by these unregulated participants, the willingness of patients to purchase unregulated products in lieu of purchasing from licensed producers for any reason, or any inability of law enforcement authorities to enforce existing laws prohibiting the unlicensed production and distribution of cannabis and cannabis-based products, could adversely affect our market share, result in increased competition through the black market for cannabis or have an adverse impact on the public perception of the medical-use cannabis industry and licensed cannabis producers and distributors. As a result of the alternative avenues available for the production and sale of cannabis, we may incur reduced sales and revenue.

We are exposed to risks related to the laws of various countries as a result of our international operations.

We currently plan to expand our operations across multiple countries. As a result, we will be exposed to political, economic, legal and other risks and uncertainties associated with operating in or exporting to various jurisdictions. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in the laws, regulations and policies governing the production, sale and use of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products, political instability, currency controls, fluctuations in currency exchange rates and rates of inflation, labor unrest, changes in taxation laws, regulations and policies, restrictions on foreign exchange and repatriation and changing political conditions and governmental regulations relating to foreign investment and the medical-use cannabis industry more generally.

Any changes to the laws, regulations and policies, general economic policies, or political attitude related to the advertising, production, sale and use of cannabis and cannabis-based products for medical use may adversely affect the operations or profitability of our international operations. Specifically, our operations may be affected to varying degrees by government regulations with respect to, but not limited to, restrictions on advertising, production, price controls, export controls, controls on currency remittance, increased income taxes, restrictions on foreign investment, land and water use restrictions and government policies rewarding contracts to local competitors or requiring domestic producers or vendors to purchase supplies from a particular jurisdiction. Failure to comply strictly with applicable laws, regulations and local practices could result in additional taxes, costs, civil or criminal fines or penalties or other expenses being levied on our international operations, as well as other potential adverse consequences such as the loss of necessary permits or governmental approvals.

Furthermore, although we plan to facilitate the export of our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products to countries in the European Union, there is no assurance that these countries will authorize the import of our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products, or that Israel or any location from which we produce our products will authorize or continue to authorize such exports. Each country in the European Union (or elsewhere) may impose restrictions or limitations on imports that require the use of, or confer significant advantages upon, producers within that particular country. As a result, we may be required to establish production facilities in those countries in the European Union in which we wish to distribute our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products in order to take advantage of any legislation that favors producers located in these countries. As a result, we may be required to utilize less efficient production methods and expend significantly more resources than we currently anticipate.

Our business is subject to, or may become subject to, a variety of U.S. and foreign laws relating to the production and distribution of cannabis, many of which are unsettled and still developing, and which could subject us to claims or otherwise harm our business.

We are subject to, or may become subject to, a variety of laws in the United States, Israel and elsewhere. In the United States, despite cannabis having been legalized at the state level for medical use in many states and for adult use in a number of states, cannabis continues to be categorized as a Schedule I controlled substance under the federal Controlled Substances Act (“CSA”), and subject to the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act (“CSIEA”). We may engage in activities in the United States involving certain corporate and administrative matters, including accounting, legal and creative activities, as well as the offer and sale of our securities on the Nasdaq. We do not produce, manufacture or distribute any cannabis or cannabis-based products in the United States. Therefore, we do not believe that, as a result of our engaging in any of the aforementioned activities, we would be subject to the CSA or CSIEA. Nonetheless, violations of any U.S. federal laws and regulations, such as the CSA and the CSIEA, could result in significant fines, penalties, administrative sanctions, convictions or settlements arising from civil proceedings initiated by either the U.S. federal government or private citizens or criminal charges, including, but not limited to, the disgorgement of profits, cessation of business activities or divestiture.

We are subject to, or may become subject to, a variety of laws and regulations in the United States, Israel and elsewhere that prohibit money laundering, including the Money Laundering Control Act (United States), as amended, and the rules and regulations thereunder and any related or similar rules, regulations or guidelines issued, administered or enforced by governmental authorities in the United States, Israel or any other jurisdiction in which we have business operations or to which we export. Although we believe that none of our activities implicate any applicable money laundering statutes, in the event that any of our business activities, any dividends or distributions therefrom, or any profits or revenue accruing thereby are found to be in violation of money laundering statutes, such transactions may be viewed as proceeds of crime under one or more of the statutes described above or any other applicable legislation, and any persons, including such U.S.-based investors, found to be aiding and abetting us in such violations could be subject to liability. Any violations of these laws, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our operations, involve significant management distraction and involve significant costs and expenses, including legal fees. We could also suffer severe penalties, including criminal and civil penalties, disgorgement and other remedial measures.

We, or the medical-use cannabis industry more generally, may receive unfavorable publicity or become subject to negative patient, physician or investor perception.

We believe that the medical-use cannabis industry is highly dependent upon positive patient, physician or investor perception regarding the benefits, safety, efficacy and quality of the cannabis distributed to patients for medical use. Perception of the medical-use cannabis industry, pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products, currently and in the future, may be significantly influenced by scientific research or findings, regulatory investigations, litigation, political statements, media attention and other publicity (whether or not accurate or with merit) both in Israel and in other countries relating to the use of cannabis or cannabis-based products for medical purposes, including unexpected safety or efficacy concerns arising with respect to pharmaceutical-grade cannabis or cannabis-based products or the activities of medical-use cannabis industry participants.

There can be no assurance that future scientific research, findings, regulatory proceedings, litigation, media attention or other research findings or publicity will be favorable to the medical-use cannabis market or any particular pharmaceutical-grade cannabis or cannabis-based product or will be consistent with prior publicity. Adverse future scientific research reports, findings and regulatory proceedings that are, or litigation, media attention or other publicity that is, perceived as less favorable than, or that questions, earlier research reports, findings or publicity (whether or not accurate or with merit) could result in a significant reduction in the demand for our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products or cannabis for medical use more generally. Further, adverse publicity reports or other media attention regarding the safety, efficacy and quality of cannabis for medical purposes, or our current or future products specifically, or associating the use of cannabis with illness or other negative effects or events, could adversely affect us. This adverse publicity could arise even if the adverse effects associated with cannabis or cannabis-based products resulted from products that are not derived from pharmaceutical-grade cannabis or a patient’s failure to use such products legally, appropriately or as directed.

We are subject to risks inherent to an agricultural business, which include but are not limited to the risk of crop failure.

We currently breed, cultivate and process pharmaceutical-grade cannabis for medical use at our facilities in southern and northern Israel. Our business is subject to the risks inherent to the agricultural business, including the risks of crop failure presented by weather, insects, plant diseases and similar agricultural factors. There can be no assurance that natural elements, such as insects and plant diseases, will not interrupt our production activities or have an adverse effect on our business. If such disruption of operations at our facilities should occur, it could significantly interfere with our ability to continue our development and production activities.

Additionally, generally, our dried flowers final products have a shelf life of 12 months, and our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis oil products have a shelf life of approximately one to two years. Supply chain disruptions or limited sales may lead to product spoilage or could impair our ability to meet future demand, which may cause harm to the reputation of our brand and our business.

General Business Risks and Risks Related to Our Financial Condition and Operations

We have a limited operating history upon which investors can evaluate our future prospects.

We have a limited operating history upon which investors may evaluate the future prospects of our business plan. Our business and prospects must be considered in light of the potential risks, problems, delays, uncertainties and complications encountered in connection with the development of a relatively new business and the creation of a new industry. The risks include, but are not limited to, the possibility that we will not be able to develop functional and scalable products, or that although functional and scalable, our products will not be economical to commercialize; that our competitors hold proprietary rights that preclude us from marketing such products; that our competitors commercialize a superior or equivalent product; that we are not able to upgrade and develop new technologies or enhanced products; or the failure to receive necessary regulatory clearances for our operations and products. To successfully introduce and distribute products at a profit, we must establish brand name recognition and competitive advantages for our products. There can be no assurance that we can successfully address these challenges. If we are unsuccessful, we and our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially and adversely affected.

Our current and future expense levels are based largely on estimates of planned operations and future revenues. It is difficult to accurately forecast future revenues because the medical-use cannabis market has not been fully developed, and we can give no assurance that our products will continue to fuel revenue growth. If our forecasts prove incorrect, our business, operating results and financial condition will be materially and adversely affected. Moreover, we may be unable to adjust our spending in a timely manner to compensate for any unanticipated reduction in the revenue we expect to generate from our products. Consequently, any failure to generate revenues may immediately and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We have had positive cash flow from operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2022, the year ended December 31, 2021, and the year ended December 31, 2020.

We had positive cash flow from operating activities for the year ended December 31, 2022, the year ended December 31,2021 and the year ended December 31, 2020. There is no assurance that any of our operations will generate earnings, operate profitably or provide a return on investment in the future. Accordingly, we may be required to obtain additional financing in order to meet its future cash commitments.

We may be adversely impacted by the failure of any of our joint ventures or by our failure, or the failure of our joint venture partners, to fulfill obligations to the joint venture.

We are a party to several joint ventures, and may in the future enter into new joint ventures. We currently depend on our joint ventures to produce, manufacture and distribute our products outside of Israel. Our joint ventures face all of the inherent risks associated with production, manufacturing, distribution and operations. In addition, we face the risk that either we, or our joint venture partners, will not meet our obligations under the joint venture agreements. If one of our joint venture partners fails to fulfill its obligations due to strategic business interests, financial conditions or any other reason, we may be required to spend additional resources, or we may not be able to continue such operations, in which case we may suffer losses. Such expenses or losses may be significant and may have an adverse effect on our financial position or results of operations.

Our investments in our current or future joint ventures may be adversely affected by our lack of sole decision-making authority and disputes between us and our joint venture partners.

Under the terms of our joint venture agreements, we are not in a position to exercise sole decision-making authority regarding the joint venture. Our joint venture partners may have different economic or other business interests or goals that are inconsistent with our business interests and goals, and may take actions contrary to our policies or objectives, which may result in poor or delayed business decisions. The dissolution of a joint venture could lead to uncertainties, disputes or other issues with respect to each of the joint venture partners’ rights.

If we are not able to comply with all safety, health and environmental regulations applicable to our operations and the medical-use cannabis industry, we may be held liable for any breaches of those regulations.

Safety, health and environmental laws and regulations affect nearly all aspects of our operations, including product development, working conditions, waste disposal, emission controls, the maintenance of air and water quality standards and land reclamation, and, with respect to environmental laws and regulations, impose limitations on the generation, transportation, storage and disposal of solid and hazardous waste. Continuing to meet the standards for pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products requires satisfying additional standards for the conduct of our operations and subjects us or our partners to ongoing compliance inspections in respect of these standards. Compliance with safety, health and environmental laws and regulations can require significant expenditures, and any failure to comply with such safety, health and environmental laws and regulations may result in the imposition of fines and penalties, the temporary or permanent suspension of operations, the imposition of clean-up costs resulting from contaminated properties, the imposition of damages and the loss of or refusal of governmental authorities to issue permits or licenses to us or our partners or to certify us or our partners compliance with applicable standards, including the IMC-GAP, IMC-GMP, IMC-GDP or IMC-GSP standards in Israel. Exposure to these liabilities may arise in connection with our existing operations, our historical operations and operations that may in the future be closed or sold to third parties. We could also be held liable for worker exposure to hazardous substances and for accidents causing injury or death. There can be no assurance that we will at all times be in compliance with all safety, health and environmental laws and regulations notwithstanding our attempts to comply with such laws and regulations.

Changes in any applicable safety, health and environmental laws or regulations may impose stricter standards and enforcement, increased fines and penalties for non-compliance, more stringent environmental assessments of proposed projects and a heightened degree of responsibility for companies and their officers, directors and employees. We are not able to determine the specific impact that any future changes in safety, health or environmental laws or regulations may have on our industry, operations and activities and our resulting financial position; however, we anticipate that capital expenditures and operating expenses will increase in the future as a result of the implementation of new and increasingly stringent safety, health and environmental laws and regulations. Further changes in safety, health and environmental laws and regulations, new information on existing safety, health and environmental conditions or other events, including legal proceedings based upon such conditions or an inability to obtain necessary permits in relation thereto, may require increased compliance expenditures by us.

We may not be able to transport our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products using methods that are safe, efficient and that comply with applicable regulations.

We depend on fast and efficient third-party transportation services to distribute our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products. Any prolonged disruption of third-party transportation services could have a material adverse effect on our sales volumes or our patients’ satisfaction with our products. Rising costs associated with third-party transportation services used by us to transport our products may also adversely impact our profitability, and more generally our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Further, the transportation of our products is subject to strict security standards. As a result, we anticipate that as we expand our global distribution, we may be subject to the increase in costs associated with meeting these standards. A breach of security during transport or delivery could result in the loss of high-value products and forfeiture of import and export approvals, since such approvals are specific to each shipment. Any failure to take the steps necessary to ensure the safekeeping of our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products could also have an impact on our ability to continue operating under our existing licenses, to renew or receive amendments to our existing licenses or to receive new licenses.

Our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products may be subject to recalls for a variety of reasons, which could require us to expend significant management and capital resources.

Manufacturers and distributors of products are sometimes subject to the recall or return of their products for a variety of reasons, including product defects, such as contamination, adulteration, unintended harmful side effects or interactions with other substances, packaging safety and inadequate or inaccurate labeling disclosure. Although we have detailed procedures in place for testing our finished pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products, there can be no assurance that any quality, potency or contamination problems will be detected in time to avoid unforeseen product recalls, regulatory action or lawsuits, whether frivolous or otherwise. If any of the cannabis-based products produced by us are recalled due to an alleged product defect or for any other reason, we could be required to incur the unexpected expense of the recall and any legal proceedings that might arise in connection with the recall. As a result of any such recall, we may lose a significant amount of sales and may not be able to replace those sales at an acceptable margin or at all. In addition, a product recall may require significant management attention or damage our reputation and goodwill or that of our products or our brand.

Additionally, product recalls may lead to increased scrutiny of our operations by regulatory agencies, requiring further management attention, increased compliance costs and potential legal fees, fines, penalties and other expenses. Any product recall affecting the medical-use cannabis industry more broadly, whether or not involving us, could also lead consumers to lose confidence in the safety and quality of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products generally, including products sold by us.

We may be subject to product liability claims or regulatory action if our products are alleged to have caused significant loss or injury. This risk is exacerbated by the fact that cannabis use may increase the risk of serious adverse side effects.

We face the risk of exposure to product liability claims, regulatory action and litigation if our products are alleged to have caused loss or injury. We may be subject to these types of claims due to allegations that our products caused or contributed to injury or illness, failed to include adequate instructions for use or failed to include adequate warnings concerning possible side effects or interactions with other substances. This risk is exacerbated by the fact that cannabis use may increase the risk of developing schizophrenia and other psychoses, symptoms for individuals with bipolar disorder, and other side effects. Previously unknown adverse reactions resulting from human consumption of cannabis-based products alone or in combination with other medications or substances could also occur. In addition, the manufacture and sale of cannabis-based products, like the manufacture and sale of any product, involves a risk of injury to patients due to tampering by unauthorized third parties or product contamination.

We may in the future have to recall certain of our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis or cannabis-based products as a result of potential contamination or quality assurance concerns. A product liability claim or regulatory action against us could result in increased costs and could adversely affect our reputation and goodwill with our patients and consumers generally. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain product liability insurance on acceptable terms or with adequate coverage against potential liabilities. Such insurance is expensive and may not be available in the future on acceptable terms, or at all. Our inability to obtain sufficient insurance coverage on reasonable terms or to otherwise protect against potential product liability claims could result in us becoming subject to significant liabilities that are uninsured and could also adversely affect our commercial arrangements with third parties.

Significant interruptions in our access to certain key inputs such as raw materials, electricity, water and other utilities may impair our cultivation of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis.

Our business is dependent on a number of key inputs and their related costs, including raw materials, supplies and equipment related to our operations, as well as electricity, water and other utilities. Any significant interruption, price increase or negative change in the availability or economics of the supply chain for key inputs and, in particular, rising or volatile energy costs could curtail or preclude our ability to continue production. In addition, our operations would be significantly affected by any such prolonged interruption.

Our ability to compete and produce pharmaceutical-grade cannabis is dependent on us having access, at a reasonable cost and in a timely manner, to skilled labor, equipment, parts and components. No assurances can be given that we will be successful in maintaining our required supply of labor, equipment, parts and components.

We may be unable to attract or retain key personnel with sufficient experience in the cannabis industry, and we may be unable to attract, develop and retain additional employees required for our development and future success.

Our success is largely dependent on the performance of our management team and certain key employees and our continuing ability to attract, develop, motivate and retain highly qualified and skilled employees. Qualified individuals are in high demand, and we may incur significant costs to attract and retain them. The loss of the services of any of our key personnel, including Alexander Rabinovich, our Chief Executive Officer and director, and Ehud Barak, our Chairman, or an inability to attract other suitably qualified persons when needed, could prevent us from executing on our business plan and strategy, and we may be unable to find adequate replacements on a timely basis, or at all. We do not currently maintain key-person insurance on the lives of any of our key personnel.

We may become subject to liability arising from any fraudulent or illegal activity by our employees, contractors, consultants and others.

We are exposed to the risk that our employees, independent contractors, consultants, and business partners may engage in fraudulent or other illegal activity. Misconduct by these parties could include intentional undertakings of unauthorized activities, or reckless or negligent undertakings of authorized activities, in each case on our behalf or in our service that violate: (i) government regulations, including, in Israel, the IMCA regulations; (ii) manufacturing standards; (iii) healthcare laws and regulations; (iv) laws that require the true, complete and accurate reporting of financial information or data; (v) U.S. federal laws banning the possession, sale or importation of cannabis into the United States and prohibiting the financing of activities outside the United States that are unlawful under Israeli or other foreign laws or (vi) the terms of our agreements with insurers. In particular, we could be exposed to class action and other litigation, increased regulatory inspections and related sanctions, the loss of current compliance certifications for our products, including, in Israel, IMC-GAP, IMC-GMP, IMC-GDP or IMC-GSP certifications, or the inability to obtain future certifications, lost sales and revenue or reputational damage as a result of prohibited activities that are being undertaken in the production or manufacturing processes of our products without our knowledge or permission and contrary to our internal policies, procedures and operating requirements.

We cannot always identify or prevent misconduct by our employees or other third parties, including service providers and business partners, and the precautions taken by us to detect and prevent this activity may not be effective in controlling unknown, unanticipated or unmanaged risks or losses or in protecting us from government investigations or other actions or lawsuits stemming from such misconduct. If any such actions are instituted against us, and we are not successful in defending ourselves or asserting our rights, those actions could have a significant impact on our business, including the imposition of civil, criminal or administrative penalties, damages, monetary fines and contractual damages, reputational harm, diminished profits and future earnings or curtailment of our operations.

We may experience breaches of security at our facilities or losses as a result of, but not limited to, theft.

Because of the nature of, the limited legal channels of distribution for, and the volume of inventory of our products in our facilities, we are subject to the risk of theft of our product as well as other security breaches.

In this regard, in December 2020, there was an attempt in our Southern Kibbutz facility. The security systems at the facility worked well and prevented the incident, in addition, nearby forces of the army and the Israeli police arrived at the scene immediately after the incident began. No damage was caused to the facility and nothing was stolen from it.

A security breach at one of our facilities could result in a significant loss of available product, expose us to additional liability under applicable regulations and to potentially costly litigation or increase our expenses relating to the resolution and future prevention of similar thefts, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We engage with third parties that provide us services as part of the production process, some of whom are our competitors, and as a result of our commercial relationship with them, we may disclose information that may be contrary to antitrust laws.

We rely on third parties to provide us with certain necessary services for the production of our branded products. Some of those parties are also our competitors with respect to several aspects of our business. We are sensitive to this issue and have internal policies and procedures that are designed to prevent the sharing of competitive information and our agreements with our competitors make this clear. However, despite our best efforts to safeguard this information, should we inadvertently disclose competitive information, we may be found to be in violation of the Israeli antitrust law, and could be subject to sanctions and civil or criminal penalties, which will have a negative financial impact on us and harm our reputation.

If we sustain cyber-attacks or other privacy or data security incidents that result in security breaches that disrupt our operations or result in the unintended dissemination of protected personal information or proprietary or confidential information, or if we are found by regulators to be non-compliant with statutory requirements for the protection and storage of personal data, we could suffer a loss of revenue, increased costs, exposure to significant liability, reputational harm and other serious negative consequences.

We routinely process, store and transmit large amounts of data in our operations, including protected personal information as well as proprietary or confidential information relating to our business and third parties. We have programs in place to detect, contain and respond to data security incidents and provide employee awareness training around phishing, malware and other cyber risks to protect, to the greatest extent possible, against cyber risks and security breaches. However, because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change frequently and may be difficult to detect for long periods of time, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or implement adequate preventive measures. Experienced computer programmers and hackers may be able to penetrate our layered security controls and misappropriate or compromise our protected personal information or proprietary or confidential information or that of third parties, create system disruptions or cause system shutdowns. They also may be able to develop and deploy viruses, worms and other malicious software programs that attack our systems or otherwise exploit any security vulnerabilities. Hardware, software, or applications we develop or procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could unexpectedly compromise information security. Our facilities may also be vulnerable to security incidents or security attacks, acts of vandalism or theft, coordinated attacks by activist entities, misplaced or lost data, human errors, or other similar events that could negatively affect our systems and our customer’s data.

There are a number of laws protecting the confidentiality of certain patient health information, including patient records, and restricting the use and disclosure of such protected information. In particular, the privacy rules in Israel, and similar laws in other applicable jurisdictions, protect medical records and other personal health information by limiting the use and disclosure of such health information to the minimum level reasonably necessary to accomplish the intended purpose. We collect and store personal information about our patients and are responsible for protecting that information from privacy breaches. A privacy breach may occur through a procedural or process failure, a technology malfunction or deliberate unauthorized intrusions. Theft of data for competitive purposes, particularly patient lists and preferences, is an ongoing risk whether perpetrated through employee collusion or negligence or through deliberate cyber-attack. The costs to eliminate or address the foregoing security threats and vulnerabilities before or after a cyber-incident could be material. Our remediation efforts may not be successful and could result in interruptions, delays, or cessation of services and the loss of existing or potential customers. In addition, breaches of our security measures and the unauthorized dissemination of sensitive personal information, proprietary information or confidential information about us or our customers or other third-parties, could expose our customers’ private information and our customers to the risk of financial or medical identity theft, or expose us or other third-parties to a risk of loss or misuse of this information, result in litigation and potential liability for us, damage to our brand and reputation, or otherwise harm our business.

We are further required to comply with requirements with respect to the storage, protection and access to personal data on our systems, as well as with respect to the registration of our databases containing personal information. Non-compliance with such requirements could result in sanctions, litigation and potential liability for us, damage to our brand and reputation, or otherwise harm our business.

We plan to rely on third parties to conduct certain elements of our production and distribution and to perform other tasks for us. If these third parties do not successfully carry out their contractual duties, meet expected deadlines or comply with regulatory requirements, we may not be successful in commercializing our products.

We plan to rely upon third-party vendors for our ongoing services including the manufacturing of our products. We also plan to rely on third-party distributors, including pharmaceutical distributors and other courier services, and may in the future rely on other third parties, to distribute our products. These vendors will not be our employees and we will control only certain aspects of their activities. However, we may be responsible for ensuring that their services are performed in accordance with the applicable protocol, or in accordance with legal, regulatory and scientific standards, including, for manufacturers, the relevant GMP standards. Our reliance on these vendors may not relieve us of our responsibilities under applicable regulations, and if our vendors fail to meet these standards, we may suffer adverse consequences, including liability resulting from litigation, damage to our brand and reputation, or other harms to our business.

Further, our vendors may fail to devote sufficient resources to the provision of services to us, including the manufacturing and distribution of our products, and the performance of such services may be delayed or interrupted. Failure to meet projected deadlines may delay or diminish the sale of our products. Damage to our products, such as product spoilage, could expose us to potential product liability, damage our reputation and the reputation of our brand or otherwise harm our business.

If any of our relationships with these third-party vendors terminate, we may not be able to enter into arrangements with alternative vendors or do so on commercially reasonable terms. Replacing or adding additional vendors involves additional cost and requires management time and focus. In addition, during the transition period when a new vendor commences work, delays may occur. Such delays can materially impact our ability to meet our desired development timelines. Though we carefully manage our relationships with our vendors, we may encounter similar challenges or delays in the future, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and prospects. If these third-party service providers do not successfully perform their contractual duties, or if their performance is substandard, we may not be successful in commercializing our products and our revenue from product sales could be negatively impacted.

We may be unable to sustain our revenue growth and development.

Our revenue has grown in recent years. Our ability to sustain this growth will depend on a number of factors, many of which are beyond our control, including, but not limited to, the availability of sufficient capital on suitable terms, changes in laws and regulations respecting the production and distribution of our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products, competition, the size of alternative markets, including the black market and the legal adult-use markets, and our ability to produce sufficient volumes of our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products to meet patient demand. In addition, we are subject to a variety of business risks generally associated with developing companies. Future development and expansion could place significant strain on our management personnel and will likely require us to recruit additional management personnel, and there is no assurance that we will be able to do so.

We may be unable to expand our operations quickly enough to meet demand or manage our operations beyond their current scale.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage effectively our expanding operations, which may include increasing our production capabilities, adding manufacturing capabilities, adding distribution channels and entering into joint ventures or partnerships. We may be unable to sustain or accelerate our growth or such growth, if achieved, may not result in profitable operations. We may be unable to attract and retain the management personnel necessary for continued growth or we may not be successful in our strategic investments in joint ventures or acquisitions.

We may not be able to secure adequate or reliable sources of the funding required to operate our business or increase our production to meet patient demand for our products.

The continued development of our business will require additional financing, and there is no assurance that we will obtain the financing necessary to be able to achieve our business objectives. Our ability to obtain additional financing will depend on investor demand, our performance and reputation, market conditions and other factors. Our inability to raise such capital could result in the delay or indefinite postponement of our current business objectives or in our inability to continue to carry on our business. There can be no assurance that additional capital or other types of financing will be available if needed or that, if available, the terms of such financing will be favorable to us.

In addition, from time to time, we may enter into transactions to acquire assets or the capital stock or other interests of other entities. Our continued growth may be financed, wholly or partially, with debt, which may increase our debt levels above industry standards. Any debt financing secured in the future could involve restrictive covenants relating to capital raising activities and other financial and operational matters, which may make it more difficult for us to obtain additional capital and to pursue business opportunities, including potential acquisitions. Debt financings may also contain provisions that, if breached, may entitle lenders or their agents to accelerate repayment of loans, and there is no assurance that we would be able to repay such loans in such an event or prevent the enforcement of security granted pursuant to any such debt financing.

We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a public company listed on both a Canadian and U.S. national securities exchange and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives.

As a public company listed on a U.S. and Canadian national securities exchange, particularly after we are no longer an emerging growth company, we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company. In addition, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), and rules implemented by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), and the Nasdaq Capital Market, impose various requirements on public companies, including requirements to file annual reports with respect to our business and financial condition and operations and establish and maintain effective disclosure and financial controls and corporate governance practices. Our management and other personnel have limited experience operating as a public company, which may result in operational inefficiencies or errors, or a failure to improve or maintain effective internal controls over financial reporting (“ICFR”), and disclosure controls and procedures (“DCP”), necessary to ensure the timely and accurate reporting of operational and financial results. Our existing management team will need to devote a substantial amount of time to these compliance initiatives, and we may need to hire additional personnel to assist us with complying with these requirements. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time consuming and costly.

Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (“Section 404”), we will be required to furnish a report by our management on our ICFR, which, after we are no longer an emerging growth company and unless we qualify for an exemption, must be accompanied by an attestation report on ICFR issued by our independent registered public accounting firm. To achieve compliance with Section 404 within the prescribed period, we will document and evaluate our ICFR, which is both costly and challenging. In this regard, we will need to continue to dedicate internal resources, potentially engage outside consultants and adopt a detailed work plan to assess and document the adequacy of our ICFR, continue steps to improve control processes as appropriate, validate through testing that controls are functioning as documented and implement a continuous reporting and improvement process for ICFR. Despite our efforts, there is a risk that neither we nor our independent registered public accounting firm will be able to conclude within the prescribed timeframe that our ICFR is effective as required by Section 404. This could result in a determination that there are one or more material weaknesses in our ICFR, which could cause an adverse reaction in the financial markets due to a loss of confidence in the reliability of our consolidated financial statements.

In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure are creating uncertainty for public companies, increasing legal and financial compliance costs and making some public company required activities more time consuming. These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and divert management’s time and attention from revenue generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies, regulatory authorities may initiate legal proceedings against us and our business may be harmed.

We also expect that being listed on a U.S. national securities exchange and complying with applicable rules and regulations will make it more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to incur substantially higher costs to obtain and maintain the same or similar coverage that is currently in place. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified executive officers and members of our board of directors.

We are an emerging growth company and the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies may make our ordinary shares less attractive to investors.

We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the JOBS Act, and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies. For as long as we remain an emerging growth company we are permitted and intend to rely on exemptions from certain disclosure requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies.” These exemptions include but are not limited to:

We may take advantage of these provisions for up to five years or such earlier time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. We would cease to be an emerging growth company upon the earlier to occur of: (1) the last day of the fiscal year in which we have total annual gross revenue of $1.235 billion or more; (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in nonconvertible debt during the previous three years; or (3) the date on which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer under the rules of the SEC. We may choose to take advantage of some but not all of these reduced burdens, and therefore the information that we provide holders of our ordinary shares may be different from the information you might receive from other public companies in which you hold equity. In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of an extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards applicable to public companies. However, given that we currently report and expect to continue to report under IFRS as issued by the IASB, the extended transition period available to emerging growth companies that report under GAAP is inapplicable to us.

When we are no longer deemed to be an emerging growth company, we will not be entitled to the exemptions provided in the JOBS Act discussed above. We cannot predict if investors will find our ordinary shares less attractive as a result of our reliance on exemptions under the JOBS Act. If some investors find our ordinary shares less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our ordinary shares and our share price may be more volatile.

As a “foreign private issuer,” we are permitted, and intend, to follow certain home country corporate governance practices instead of otherwise applicable SEC and Nasdaq Capital Market requirements, which may result in less protection than is accorded to investors under rules applicable to domestic U.S. issuers.

We are a “foreign private issuer” and are not subject to the same requirements that are imposed upon U.S. domestic issuers by the SEC. Under the Exchange Act, we will be subject to reporting obligations that, in certain respects, are less detailed and less frequent than those of U.S. domestic reporting companies. For example, we will not be required to issue quarterly reports or proxy statements that comply with the requirements applicable to U.S. domestic reporting companies. Furthermore, although under regulations promulgated under the Companies Law, 5759-1999, as amended, or the Israeli Companies Law, effective as of May 15, 2011, (the “Companies Law”) as an Israeli public company listed overseas we will be required to disclose the compensation of our five most highly compensated office holders on an individual basis (rather than on an aggregate basis), this disclosure will not be as extensive as that required of U.S. domestic reporting companies. We will also have four months after the end of each fiscal year to file our annual reports with the SEC and will not be required to file current reports as frequently or promptly as U.S. domestic reporting companies. Furthermore, our officers, directors and principal shareholders will be exempt from the requirements to report transactions and short-swing profit recovery required by Section 16 of the Exchange Act. Also, as a “foreign private issuer,” we are not subject to the requirements of Regulation FD (Fair Disclosure) promulgated under the Exchange Act. These exemptions and leniencies will reduce the frequency and scope of information and protections available to investors in comparison to those applicable to a U.S. domestic reporting company.

In addition, as a “foreign private issuer,” we are permitted to follow certain home country corporate governance practices instead of those otherwise required under the listing rules of the Nasdaq for domestic U.S. issuers. For instance, we follow home country practice in Israel instead of the listing rules of the Nasdaq requiring that a majority of a listed company’s board of directors be comprised of independent directors within a specified period after listing. In addition, we will follow our home country law instead of the listing rules of the Nasdaq that require that we obtain shareholder approval for certain dilutive events, such as the establishment or amendment of certain equity based compensation plans, an issuance that will result in a change of control of our company, certain transactions other than a public offering involving issuances of a 20% or greater interest in the company, and certain acquisitions of the stock or assets of another company. We may in the future elect to follow home country corporate governance practices in Israel with regard to other matters. Following our home country corporate governance practices as opposed to the requirements that would otherwise apply to a U.S. company listed on the Nasdaq may provide less protection to investors than what would otherwise be accorded to investors under the listing rules of the Nasdaq applicable to domestic U.S. issuers.

We would lose our foreign private issuer status if (i) a majority of our shares come to be owned by U.S. residents and (ii) a majority of our directors or executive officers are U.S. citizens or residents or we fail to meet the additional requirements necessary to avoid the loss of foreign private issuer status. The regulatory and compliance costs to us under U.S. securities laws as a U.S. domestic issuer may be significantly higher than what we would otherwise incur as a foreign private issuer.

We may not be able to successfully identify and execute strategic alliances or other relationships with third parties or to successfully manage the impacts of acquisitions, dispositions or relationships on our operations.

We currently have, and may expand the scope of, and may in the future enter into, strategic alliances with third parties that we believe will complement or augment our existing business. Our ability to complete further such strategic alliances is dependent upon, and may be limited by, among other things, the availability of suitable candidates and capital. In addition, strategic alliances could present unforeseen integration obstacles or costs, may not enhance our business and may involve risks that could adversely affect us, including the investment of significant amounts of management time that may be diverted from operations in order to pursue and complete such transactions or maintain such strategic alliances. Future strategic alliances could result in the incurrence of debt, costs and contingent liabilities, and there can be no assurance that these future strategic alliances will achieve, or that our existing strategic alliances will continue to achieve, the expected benefits to our business or that we will be able to consummate future strategic alliances on satisfactory terms, or at all.

Although we currently are not in the process of commencing any other material strategic transactions, such as acquisitions, we may from time to time consider such transactions. Material strategic transactions involve a number of risks, including: (i) the potential disruption of our ongoing business; (ii) the distraction of management away from the ongoing oversight of our existing business activities; (iii) incurring additional indebtedness; (iv) the anticipated benefits and cost savings of those transactions not being realized fully, or at all, or taking longer to realize than anticipated; (v) an increase in the scope and complexity of our operations and (vi) the loss or reduction of control over certain of our assets. A strategic transaction may result in a significant change in the nature of our business, operations and strategy, and we may encounter unforeseen obstacles or costs in implementing a strategic transaction or integrating any acquired business into our operations.

International expansion of our business exposes us to the business, regulatory, political, operational, financial, economic and other potential risks associated with doing business outside of Israel.

Other than our headquarters, production facilities and other operations located in Israel, we currently have limited international operations, but our business strategy incorporates potentially significant international expansion. We plan to enter into both strategic relationships, such as joint ventures for the production and distribution of our products and third-party distribution arrangements, and to conduct general business activities outside of Israel. Conducting business internationally involves a number of risks, including, but not limited to:

Any of these factors could significantly harm our future international expansion and operations and, consequently, our results of operations.

Tax and accounting requirements may change in ways that are unforeseen to us and we may face difficulty or be unable to implement or comply with any such changes.

We are subject to numerous tax and accounting requirements, and changes in existing accounting or taxation rules or practices, or varying interpretations of current rules or practices, could have a significant adverse effect on our financial results, the manner in which we conduct our business or the marketability of any of our products. We currently have international operations and plan to expand such operations in the future. These operations, and any expansion thereto, will require us to comply with the tax laws and regulations of multiple jurisdictions, which may vary substantially. Complying with the tax laws of these jurisdictions can be time consuming and expensive and could potentially subject us to penalties and fees in the future if we were to fail to comply.

A breakdown in our information technology systems could result in a significant disruption to our business.

Our operations are highly dependent on our information technology systems. If we were to suffer a breakdown in our systems, storage, distribution or tracing, we could experience significant disruptions affecting all our areas of activity, including our research, accounting and billing processes and potentially our production processes. We may also suffer from a partial loss of information or data due to such disruption.

We face operational risk.

Operational risk is the risk that a direct or indirect loss may result from an inadequate or failed technology, from a human process or from external events. The impact of this loss may be financial loss, loss of reputation or legal and regulatory proceedings. Management endeavors to minimize losses in this area by ensuring that effective infrastructure and controls exist. These controls are constantly reviewed and if deemed necessary improvements are implemented.

Our performance will be subject to fluctuations in foreign exchange rates.

As foreign exchange rates fluctuate, our financial results may be impacted as a material amount of our revenue is generated in NIS. Therefore, if the value of the NIS decreases, our results as measured in US Dollars or Canadian Dollars will also decrease.

We are subject to privacy and information security risks.

There are a number of laws protecting the confidentiality of certain patient health information and other personal information, including patient records, and restricting the use and disclosure of that protected information. In particular, the Israeli privacy protection law and, once applicable, the privacy rules under the Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act (Canada) (“PIPEDA”), or the European Unions’ General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), and similar laws in other jurisdictions, protect medical records and other personal health information by limiting their use and disclosure to the minimum level reasonably necessary to accomplish the intended purpose. We collect and store personal information about our Israeli patient and are responsible for protecting that information from privacy breaches. As of the date of this registration statement, we have three (3) registered databases pursuant to Israeli privacy protection laws, one for Canndoc’s, one for Cannolam patients, and one for Kineret pharmacy which is a subsidiary of Cannolam. A privacy breach may occur through a procedural or process failure, an IT malfunction or deliberate unauthorized intrusions. Theft of data for competitive purposes, particularly patient lists and preferences, is an ongoing risk whether perpetrated through employee collusion, negligence or through a deliberate cyber-attack. If we are found to be in violation of the privacy or security rules under the Israeli privacy protection law or other laws protecting the confidentiality of patient health information, including as a result of data theft and privacy breaches, we could be subject to sanctions and civil or criminal penalties, which could have a negative financial impact and harm our reputation.

The market price for our shares may be volatile and could decline in value.

The market price of our shares could be subject to significant fluctuations. Some of the factors that may cause the market price of our shares to fluctuate include:

Additionally, these factors, as well as other related factors, may cause decreases in asset values that are deemed to be other than temporary, which may result in impairment losses to us. As well, certain institutional investors may base their investment decisions on consideration of our environmental, governance and social practices and performance against such institutions’ respective investment guidelines and criteria, and failure to satisfy such criteria, may result in limited or no investment in our shares by those institutions, which could materially adversely affect the trading price of our shares. There can be no assurance that continuing fluctuations in price and volume will not occur. If such increased levels of volatility and market turmoil continue for a protracted period of time, our operations and the trading price of our shares may be materially adversely effected.

In addition, broad market and industry factors may harm the market price of our shares. Hence, the price of our shares could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with us, and these fluctuations could materially reduce the price of our shares regardless of our operating performance. In the past, following a significant decline in the market price of a company’s securities, there have been instances of securities class action litigation having been instituted against that company. If we become was involved in any similar litigation, we could incur substantial costs, its management’s attention and resources could be diverted and it could harm our business, operating results and financial condition.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about us or our business, our shares trading price and volume could decline.

The trading market for our shares will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If no securities or industry analysts commence covering our company, the trading price for our shares would be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of the analysts who cover our company downgrade our shares or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, our shares trading price may decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fails to publish reports on our company regularly, demand for our shares could decrease, which could cause our share trading price and volume to decline.

Our equity compensation plan may adversely impact our financial results.

Intercure’s stock option plan permits the grant of options. Under applicable accounting standards, we may be required to record a liability and a related expense in our financial statements for potential future cash settlements of equity compensation awards. The recording of this liability could have an adverse impact on and create volatility in our financial results and, in turn, could adversely impact the trading price of our shares.

We may be subject to legal proceedings from time to time.

Legal proceedings may arise from time to time in the course of our business. All industries are subject to legal claims, with and without merit. Such legal claims may be brought against us or one or more of our subsidiaries in the future from time to time. Defense and settlement costs of legal claims can be substantial, even with respect to claims that have no merit. Due to the inherent uncertainty of the litigation process, such processes could take away from management time and effort and the resolution of any particular legal proceeding to which we may become subject could have a material adverse effect on our financial position and results of operations.

Certain events or developments in the Regulated Cannabis industry more generally and social media may impact our reputation.

Damage to our reputation can be the result of the actual or perceived occurrence of any number of events, and could include any negative publicity, whether true or not. Cannabis has often been associated with various other narcotics, violence and criminal activities, the risk of which is that our business might attract negative publicity. There is also risk that the action(s) of other participants, companies and service providers in the cannabis industry may negatively affect the reputation of the industry as a whole and thereby negatively impact our reputation.

The increased usage of social media and other web-based tools used to generate, publish and discuss user-generated content and to connect with other users has made it increasingly easy for individuals and groups to communicate and share opinions and views in regards to issuers and their activities, whether true or not and the cannabis industry in general, whether true or not. Negative posts or comments about us on any social network could damage our reputation. In addition, employees or others might disclose non-public sensitive information related to our business through external media channels. The continuing evolution of social media will present us with new challenges and risks.

We do not ultimately have direct control over how we specifically, or the cannabis industry generally, is perceived by others. Reputation loss may result in decreased investor confidence, increased challenges in developing and maintaining community relations and an impediment to our overall ability to advance our business strategy and realize on our growth prospects.

Risks Related to Intellectual Property

We may be subject to risks related to the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights and may become subject to allegations that we or our joint venture partners are in violation of the intellectual property rights of third parties.

Our intellectual property rights are important to our business. The Company relies on non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements to protect its intellectual property rights. We have submitted trademark applications for our brand and logo in Israel, Canada, the United States and member states of the European Union, and trademarks for the Canndoc brand have been registered in Israel, UK, Poland, Denmark, Germany, and the US.

We have also obtained protected breeding rights on five of our unique genetics in Israel, and intend to apply for protective breeding rights in any jurisdiction in which such rights may be registered, under the International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (the “Plant Convention”), or any other applicable rules and regulations that provide legal protection, similar to the protection afforded to the owners of technological inventions, to the proprietary rights of breeders in the new plant varieties they breed.

We rely upon a combination of trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect the intellectual property related to our technologies and products. We are also in the process of applying for protected breeding rights in Israel and seek to apply for protective rights in any jurisdiction in which such rights may be registered. Our success depends in large part on our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection with respect to our proprietary technologies and products.

We may in the future seek to protect our proprietary position by filing patent applications in Israel and in other countries, with respect to our novel technologies and products, which are important to our business. Patent prosecution is expensive and time consuming. We may not be able to prepare, file and prosecute all necessary or desirable patent applications at a reasonable cost or in a timely manner or in all jurisdictions. It is also possible that we will fail to identify patentable aspects of our research and development activities before it is too late to obtain patent protection for them.

In addition to the protection afforded by any patents that may be granted in the future, we rely on trade secret protection and confidentiality agreements to protect proprietary know-how that is not patentable or that we elect not to patent, processes for which patents are difficult to enforce and any other elements of our product development and production processes that involve proprietary know-how, information or technology that is not covered by patents. We cannot assure investors that our trade secrets and other confidential proprietary information will not be disclosed or that competitors will not otherwise gain access to our trade secrets or independently develop substantially equivalent information and techniques.

If we cannot obtain and maintain effective protections for our intellectual property rights, we may not be able to compete effectively, and our business and results of operations could be harmed. Misappropriation or unauthorized disclosure of our trade secrets and intellectual property could impair our competitive position and may have a material adverse effect on our business. Additionally, if the steps taken to maintain our trade secrets and intellectual property rights are deemed inadequate, we may have insufficient recourse against third parties for misappropriating the trade secret or intellectual property right. Any of the foregoing could significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

Our reliance on third parties requires us to share our trade secrets and other intellectual property, which increases the possibility that a competitor will discover them or that our trade secrets or other intellectual property will be misappropriated or disclosed.

We seek to protect our proprietary technologies and processes, in part, by entering into confidentiality agreements with our employees, consultants, contractors and partners. We also seek to preserve the integrity and confidentiality of our data, trade secrets and intellectual property by maintaining the physical security of our premises and physical and electronic security of our information technology systems. Despite our efforts to protect our trade secrets, our competitors or other third parties may discover our trade secrets, either through breach of confidentiality agreements, independent development or the publication of information including our trade secrets by third parties. A competitor’s or other third party’s discovery of our trade secrets would impair our competitive position and could have an adverse impact on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Further, although we expect all of our employees, consultants and other third parties who may be involved in the development of intellectual property for us to assign their inventions to us, and all of our employees, consultants, advisors and any third parties who have access to our proprietary know-how, information, or technology enter into confidentiality agreements with us, we cannot provide any assurance that we have entered into such agreements with all applicable third parties or that all such agreements have been duly executed. Even if we have entered into such agreements, we cannot assure investors that our counterparties will comply with the terms of such agreements or that the assignment of intellectual property rights under such agreements is self-executing. We may be forced to bring claims against third parties, or defend claims that they may bring against us, to determine the ownership of what we regard as our intellectual property. If we fail in prosecuting or defending any such claims, in addition to paying monetary damages, we may lose valuable intellectual property rights. Even if we are successful in prosecuting or defending against such claims, litigation could result in substantial costs and be a distraction to our senior management and scientific personnel. This could inflict significant harm to our business, results of operations and financial prospects.

Intellectual property rights of third parties could adversely affect our ability to commercialize our products, and we might be required to litigate or obtain licenses from third parties in order to develop or market our products. Such litigation or licenses could be costly or not available on commercially reasonable terms.

It is inherently difficult to assess conclusively our freedom to operate without infringing or otherwise violating on third party rights. Third party intellectual property rights may cover our products or elements thereof, our production, processes, or our trademark and brand. In such cases, we may not be in a position to develop or commercialize our products unless we successfully pursue litigation to nullify or invalidate the third party intellectual property right concerned, or enter into a license agreement with the intellectual property right holder, if available on commercially reasonable terms. There may also be pending applications for rights that, if approved, could be alleged to be infringed by our products, processes or trademarks, and, as a result, third party intellectual property right holders may bring infringement claims against us. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully defend, settle or otherwise resolve such infringement claims. If we are unable to settle future claims successfully on terms acceptable to us, we may be required to engage in or continue costly, unpredictable and time-consuming litigation and may be prevented from or experience substantial delays in pursuing the development of and marketing of our products.

If such an infringement claim is brought and is successful, we may be required to pay substantial damages, including treble damages and attorneys’ fees if we are found to have willfully infringed, we may be forced to cease the development and commercialization of and otherwise abandon our products, redesign our products so that we no longer infringe the third party intellectual property rights (which may not be commercially feasible), or we may need to seek a license from any holders of such intellectual property rights. No assurances can be given that a license will be available on commercially reasonable terms, if at all. Even if we were able to obtain such a license, it could be granted on non-exclusive terms, thereby providing our competitors and other third parties access to the same technologies licensed to us. Any of these events, even if we were ultimately to prevail, could require us to divert substantial financial and management resources that we would otherwise be able to devote to our business and otherwise significantly harm our business, results of operations and prospects.

We may not realize the full benefit of preclinical studies or clinical trials using our GMP-certified products for various indications.

We are currently providing our products for use in one active clinical study, and in the future we plan to participate in preclinical studies and clinical trials. However, we are not the sponsor of this active study and our role in this study is limited to providing the pharmaceutical-grade product and supplying information derived from our database. Any intellectual property generated during this study will not belong to us and, other than receiving access to the results of such study, we do not have any proprietary rights in such study.

We may not be a sponsor of future studies or trials, and, as such, may not have full control over the design, conduct and terms of such studies or trials. Further, we may only act as the provider of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis for studies and trials that are designed and initiated by independent investigators within hospitals or other healthcare institutions. In such cases, we may not be able to acquire rights to all or any of the intellectual property generated by the studies or trials. For example, ownership of intellectual property that does not relate directly to the pharmaceutical-grade cannabis provided by us is often retained by the institution. As such, we are vulnerable to any dispute among the investigator, the institution and us with respect to classification and therefore ownership of any particular piece of intellectual property generated during the study or trial. Such a dispute may affect our ability to make full use of intellectual property generated by a preclinical study or clinical trial.

Where intellectual property generated by a study or trial is owned by the institution, we may be granted a right of first negotiation to obtain an exclusive license to such intellectual property. If we exercise such a right, there is a risk that the parties will fail to come to an agreement on the license, in which case such intellectual property may be licensed to other parties or commercialized by the institution.

We may not own intellectual property developed under joint venture arrangements.

Intellectual property generated, or that will be generated, under research and development activities conducted under certain of our joint venture arrangements may be owned by the joint venture entity and not by us. We may not be able to acquire exclusive rights to all such intellectual property, and we may be subject to disputes with our joint venture partners with respect to the ownership, use and exploitation of such intellectual property rights. Such disputes may lead to a breakdown of our relationship with our joint venture partner and termination of the joint venture.

Risks Related to Our Incorporation and Operations in Israel

Potential political, economic, and military instability in the State of Israel, where our senior management, our head executive office and production facilities are located, may adversely affect our results of operations.

The legislative power of the State of Israel resides in the Knesset, a unicameral parliament that consists of 120 members elected by nationwide voting under a system of proportional representation. From April 2019 until November 2022, Israel held five general elections as efforts to compose and approve a new government failed to find lasting success. As a result, many legislative matters were delayed. A coalition government was formed on December 29, 2022. In addition, proposed judicial reform has sparked widespread protests across Israel. The continued uncertainty surrounding future elections and the final outcome of the judicial reform in the country may continue and the political situation in Israel may further deteriorate. Actual or perceived political instability in Israel or any negative changes in the political environment, may individually or in the aggregate adversely affect the Israeli economy and, in turn, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, a number of armed conflicts have taken place between Israel and its neighboring countries. Any hostilities involving Israel or the interruption or curtailment of trade between Israel and its trading partners could adversely affect our operations and results of operations. Our facilities in Israel, including our production facilities, are within the range of the missiles and rockets that have been fired at Israeli cities and towns, including from Gaza sporadically since 2006, with escalations in violence during which there were a substantially larger number of rocket and missile attacks aimed at Israel. Such violence may damage peaceful and diplomatic relations between Israel and Egypt, and could affect the region as a whole. Civil unrest and political turbulence has occurred in some countries in the region, including Syria, which shares a common border with Israel, and is affecting the political stability of those countries. This instability and any outside intervention may lead to a deterioration of the political and economic relationships that exist between the State of Israel and some of these countries, and may have the potential to cause additional conflicts in the region. In addition, there are concerns that Iran, which has previously threatened to attack Israel, may step up its efforts to achieve nuclear capability. Iran is also believed to have a strong influence among extremist groups in the region, such as Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, and various rebel militia groups in Syria. These situations may potentially escalate in the future to more violent events, which may affect Israel and us. Any armed conflicts, terrorist activities or political instability in the region could adversely affect business conditions, could harm our results of operations, and could make it more difficult for us to raise capital. Parties with whom we do business may decline to travel to Israel during periods of heightened unrest or tension, forcing us to make alternative arrangements when necessary in order to meet our business partners face to face. In addition, the political and security situation in Israel may result in parties with whom we have agreements involving performance in Israel claiming that they are not obligated to perform their commitments under those agreements pursuant to force majeure provisions in such agreements. Further, in the past, the State of Israel and Israeli companies have been subjected to economic boycotts. Several countries still restrict business with the State of Israel and with Israeli companies. These restrictive laws and policies may have an adverse impact on our operating results, financial condition or the expansion of our business.

Our insurance does not cover losses that may occur as a result of an event associated with the security situation in the Middle East or for any resulting disruption in our operations. Although the Israeli government has in the past covered the reinstatement value of direct damages that were caused by terrorist attacks or acts of war, we cannot be assured that this government coverage will be maintained or, if maintained, will be sufficient to compensate us fully for damages incurred. Any losses or damages incurred by us could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our operations may be disrupted as a result of the obligation of Israeli citizens to perform military service.

Many Israeli citizens, including some of our executive officers, are obligated to perform up to 36 days, and in some cases longer periods, of military reserve duty annually until they reach the age of 40 (or older, for citizens who hold certain positions in the Israeli armed forces reserves) and, in the event of a military conflict or emergency situation, could be called to immediate active duty for extended periods of time. In response to increases in terrorist activity, there have been periods of significant call-ups of military reservists. It is possible that there will be similar large-scale military reserve duty call-ups in the future. Our operations could be disrupted by such call-ups, which may include the call-up of our employees, which could materially adversely affect our business. Additionally, the absence of a significant number of the employees of our Israeli suppliers and third-party subcontractors related to military service or the absence for extended periods of one or more of their key employees for military service may disrupt their operations which may subsequently disrupt our operations.

The rights and responsibilities of our shareholders are governed by Israeli law, which may differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders of U.S. corporations.

Since we are incorporated under Israeli law, the rights and responsibilities of our shareholders are governed by our amended and restated articles of association and Israeli law. These rights and responsibilities differ in some respects from the rights and responsibilities of shareholders of U.S.-based corporations. In particular, a shareholder of an Israeli company, such as us, has a duty to act in good faith and in a customary manner in exercising its rights and performing its obligations towards us and other shareholders and to refrain from abusing its power in us, including, among other things, in voting at the general meeting of shareholders on certain matters, such as an amendment to our articles of association, an increase of our authorized share capital, a merger and approval of related party transactions that require shareholder approval. A shareholder also has a general duty to refrain from discriminating against other shareholders. In addition, a controlling shareholder or a shareholder who knows that it possesses the power to determine the outcome of a shareholders vote or to appoint or prevent the appointment of an office holder of ours or other power towards us has a duty to act in fairness towards us with regard to such vote or appointment.

Provisions of Israeli law may delay, prevent or otherwise impede a merger with us, or an acquisition of us, which could prevent a change of control, even when the terms of such a transaction are favorable to us and our shareholders.

Israeli corporate law regulates mergers, requires tender offers for acquisitions of shares above specified thresholds, requires special approvals for transactions involving directors, officers or significant shareholders and regulates other matters that may be relevant to these types of transactions. For example, a merger may not be consummated unless at least 50 days have passed from the date that a merger proposal was filed by each merging company with the Israel Registrar of Companies and at least 30 days from the date that the shareholders of both merging companies approved the merger. In addition, a majority of each class of securities of the target company must approve a merger. Moreover, a full tender offer can only be completed if the acquirer receives at least 95% of the issued share capital; provided that, pursuant to an amendment to the Companies Law, a majority of the offerees that do not have a personal interest in such tender offer shall have approved the tender offer; except that, if the total votes to reject the tender offer represent less than 2% of our issued and outstanding share capital, in the aggregate, approval by a majority of the offerees that do not have a personal interest in such tender offer is not required to complete the tender offer, and the shareholders, including those who indicated their acceptance of the tender offer, may, at any time within six months following the completion of the tender offer, petition the court to alter the consideration for the acquisition (unless the acquirer stipulated in the tender offer that a shareholder that accepts the offer may not seek appraisal rights and the acquirer or the company published all required information with respect to the tender offer prior to the tender offer’s response date).

Additionally, if any of our shareholders acquires, holds, or has control of or direction over 5% or more of our outstanding shares or a person obtains control of a 5% or more holder of our Ordinary Shares, without procuring the prior approval from the IMCA or other relevant regulatory authority, the licenses issued to us by the IMCA to conduct our cannabis-related activities in Israel may be suspended or revoked. Under our amended and restated articles of association, if any person acquires, holds, or has control of or direction over more than 4.99% of our outstanding Ordinary Shares at any time without receiving prior approval from the IMCA or other relevant regulatory authority, then in light of the provisions of the license granted to the Company by IMCA, the Company will have the right to decide whether to forfeit the shares without consideration, and/or to declare that come of the shares held by that shareholder shall be dormant so that following the process of forfeiture and/or declaration of such shares being dormant, such shareholder shall no longer be an interested party of the Company, which decision shall be made by the Company’s Board of Directors.

Furthermore, Israeli tax considerations may make potential transactions unappealing to us or to those of our shareholders whose country of residence does not have a tax treaty with Israel exempting such shareholders from Israeli tax. For example, Israeli tax law does not recognize tax-free share exchanges to the same extent as U.S. tax law. With respect to mergers, Israeli tax law allows for tax deferral in certain circumstances but makes the deferral contingent on the fulfillment of numerous conditions, including a holding period of two years from the date of the transaction during which sales and dispositions of shares of the participating companies are restricted. Moreover, with respect to certain share swap transactions, the tax deferral is limited in time, and when such time expires, the tax becomes payable even if no actual disposition of the shares has occurred.

These and other similar provisions could delay, prevent or impede an acquisition of us or our merger with another company, even if such an acquisition or merger would be beneficial to us or to our shareholders.

We may not be able to enforce covenants not to compete under applicable laws, and therefore we may be unable to prevent our competitors from benefiting from the expertise of some of our former employees. In addition, employees may be entitled to seek compensation for their inventions irrespective of their agreements with us, which in turn could impact our future profitability.

We generally enter into non-competition agreements with our employees and key consultants. These agreements prohibit our employees and key consultants, if they cease working for us, from competing directly with us or working for our competitors or clients for a limited period of time. We may be unable to enforce these agreements under the laws of the jurisdictions in which our employees work and it may be difficult for us to restrict our competitors from benefitting from the expertise our former employees or consultants developed while working for us. For example, Israeli courts have required employers seeking to enforce non-compete undertakings of a former employee to demonstrate that the competitive activities of the former employee will harm one of a limited number of material interests of the employer which have been recognized by the courts, such as the secrecy of a company’s confidential commercial information or the protection of its intellectual property. If we cannot demonstrate that such interests will be harmed, we may be unable to prevent our competitors from benefiting from the expertise of our former employees or consultants and our ability to remain competitive may be diminished. Under the Israeli Patent Law, 5727-1967 (the “Patent Law”), inventions conceived by an employee during the scope of his or her employment with a company and as a result thereof are regarded as “service inventions,” which belong to the employer, absent a specific agreement between the employee and employer giving the employee service invention rights. The Patent Law also provides that if there is no agreement between an employer and an employee with respect to the employee’s right to receive compensation for such “service inventions,” the Israeli Compensation and Royalties Committee, a body constituted under the Patent Law, shall determine whether the employee is entitled to remuneration for his or her service inventions and the scope and conditions for such remuneration. Although our employees have agreed to assign to us service invention rights, as a result of uncertainty under Israeli law with respect to the efficacy of waivers of service invention rights, we may face claims demanding remuneration in consideration for assigned inventions. As a consequence of such claims, we could be required to pay additional remuneration or royalties to our current and former employees, or be forced to litigate such claims, which could negatively affect our business.

Investors may have difficulties enforcing a U.S. judgment, including judgments based upon the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws, against us or our executive officers and directors, or asserting U.S. securities laws claims in Israel.

None of our directors or officers are residents of the United States. Most of our directors’ and officers’ assets and our assets are located outside the United States. Service of process upon us or our non-U.S. resident directors and officers and enforcement of judgments obtained in the United States against us or our non-U.S. directors and executive officers may be difficult to obtain within the United States. We have been informed by our legal counsel in Israel that it may be difficult to assert claims under U.S. securities laws in original actions instituted in Israel or obtain a judgment based on the civil liability provisions of U.S. federal securities laws. Israeli courts may refuse to hear a claim based on a violation of U.S. securities laws against us or our officers and directors reasoning that Israel may not be the most appropriate forum to bring such a claim. In addition, even if an Israeli court agrees to hear a claim, it may determine that Israeli law and not U.S. law is applicable to the claim. If U.S. law is found to be applicable, the content of applicable U.S. law must be proved as a fact, which can be a time-consuming and costly process. Certain matters of procedure will also be governed by Israeli law. There is little binding case law in Israel addressing the matters described above. Israeli courts might not enforce judgments rendered outside Israel, which may make it difficult to collect on judgments rendered against us or our officers and directors. See “Enforceability of Civil Liabilities.”

Because a certain portion of our expenses is incurred in currencies other than NIS, our results of operations may be harmed by currency fluctuations and inflation.

Our reporting and functional currency is the NIS, but some portion of our operational expenses are in U.S. dollars, Euros and Canadian dollars. As a result, we are exposed to some currency fluctuation risks. We may, in the future, decide to enter into currency hedging transactions to decrease the risk of financial exposure from fluctuations in the exchange rate of the currencies mentioned above in relation to the NIS. These measures, however, may not adequately protect us from adverse effects.

Our operations may be affected by negative labor conditions in Israel.

The threat of strikes and work stoppages occur relatively frequently in Israel. If Israeli trade unions threaten strikes or work stoppages and such strikes or work stoppages occur, those may, if prolonged, have a material adverse effect on the Israeli economy and on our business, including our ability to deliver our products and to receive raw materials from our suppliers in a timely manner.

Risks Related to Ownership of Our Ordinary Shares

There is no guarantee that our Ordinary Shares will earn any positive return in the short term or long term.

A holding of our Ordinary Shares is speculative and involves a high degree of risk and should be undertaken only by holders whose financial resources are sufficient to enable them to assume such risks and who have no need for immediate liquidity in their investment. A holding of our Ordinary Shares is appropriate only for holders who have the capacity to absorb a loss of some or all of their holdings.

Dual listed shares may be exposed to increased volatility.

The Company’s listing on each of the TASE, TSX and Nasdaq may increase volatility due to the ability to buy and sell Ordinary Shares in three places, different market conditions in different capital markets, and different trading volumes. This may result in less liquidity on each exchange, different liquidity levels, and different prevailing trading prices.

If any person acquires, holds, or has control of or direction over 5% or more of our outstanding shares or any person obtains control of a holder of 5% or more of our shares, without procuring the prior approval from the IMCA, the licenses issued to us by the IMCA to conduct our cannabis-related activities in Israel may be suspended or revoked. Under our amended and restated articles of association, if any person acquires, holds, or has control of or direction over more than 4.99% of our outstanding ordinary shares at any time without receiving prior approval from the IMCA, the ordinary shares held by that person in excess of such limit will automatically become dormant shares.

The directives and guidelines issued by the IMCA and the terms of the licenses issued to us by the IMCA to conduct our cannabis-related activities (“IMCA Licenses”), impose certain requirements that prohibit any person from directly or indirectly acquiring, holding or maintaining control of or direction over 5% or more of our issued share capital and voting power without first obtaining the prior approval of the IMCA (the “Approval Requirement”). The terms of our IMCA Licenses provide that the IMCA Licenses may be suspended or revoked in the event of a breach of the Approval Requirement.

We have implemented measures in our amended and restated articles of association in order to mitigate the risk of a contravention of the Approval Requirement and a resulting risk of expiry of our IMCA Licenses. Under our amended and restated articles of association, if any person acquires, holds, or has control of or direction over more than 4.99% of our outstanding Ordinary Shares at any time without having complied with the Approval Requirement, then in light of the provision of the license granted to the Company the IMCA, the Company will have the right to make the Decision through its Board of Directors. These measures are designed to ensure that the number of Ordinary Shares acquired or held by any person, or over which a person has the authority to exercise direction or control, is at all times no more than 4.99% of the issued and outstanding Ordinary Shares unless such holder has obtained prior approval from the IMCA.

There can be no assurance that the IMCA will consider these provisions of our amended and restated articles of association as sufficient to prevent the lapse of our IMCA Licenses in the event that a person exceeds the 4.99% limit in breach of the Approval Requirement. The directives and guidelines issued by the IMCA imposing limitations on the holdings of shares in license holders and certain other aspects of the Israeli cannabis laws have recently undergone changes and the restrictions applicable to license holders remain subject to interpretation. At this time, only limited guidance is available regarding the application thereof and, in particular, with respect to a publicly traded company. In the event a person exceeds the 4.99% limit or a person obtains control of a 5% or more holder of our Ordinary Shares, including whether passively, incrementally, or by any other means, without having complied with the Approval Requirement, the IMCA may take the position that our IMCA Licenses have automatically lapsed as a result. The suspension or revocation of the IMCA Licenses could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Further, there can be no assurance that the necessary approvals from the IMCA or other relevant regulatory authority for any of the above matters will be obtained in a timely manner, or at all. These provisions could delay, prevent or impede the acquisition of our shares, even if such an acquisition would be beneficial to us or to our shareholders.

The Company’s management has a substantial ownership interest; public stockholders may have no effective voice in the Company’s management.

The Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Alexander Rabinovich, holds directly, or through indirect beneficial ownership, in excess of twenty-six (26%) of the Company’s voting power and, with other executive officers, directors and their affiliates, Company insiders hold directly, or through indirect beneficial ownership, in the aggregate, approximately twenty-eight percent (28%) of the Company’s outstanding Ordinary Shares. As a result, these persons will have substantial control over the operations of the Company, including the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions such as acquisitions and approval of matters requiring stockholder approval. This concentration of ownership could also have the effect of delaying or preventing a third party from acquiring control of the Company at a premium.

Our management and a limited number of major shareholders have a substantial ownership interest, and the availability of the Company’s Ordinary Shares to the investing public may be limited.

Due to the high concentration of ownership of the Company’s Ordinary Shares among the Company’s executive officers, directors and a limited number of major shareholders, the availability of Intercure’s Ordinary Shares to the investing public could be limited, which could negatively impact the trading price of Intercure’s and affect the ability of minority stockholders to sell their shares. Future sales by executive officers, directors and their affiliates of all or a portion of their shares could also negatively affect the trading price of our Ordinary Shares.

If securities or industry analysts do not public research or reports about our business, or if they downgrade our Ordinary Shares, the price of our Ordinary Shares could decline.

The trading market for our Ordinary Shares depends, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysists. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade our stock or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our Ordinary Shares would likely decline. In addition, if our results of operations fail to meet the forecast of analysts, the price of our Ordinary Shares would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease to coverage of our company or fail to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our Ordinary Shares could decrease, which might cause the price and trading volume of our Ordinary Shares to decline.

Your percentage ownership in us may be diluted by future issuances of share capital, which could reduce your influence over matters on which shareholders vote.

Our board of directors has the authority, in most cases without action or vote of our shareholders, to issue all or any part of our authorized but unissued shares, including Ordinary Shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding warrants and options. Any further issuances will result in immediate dilution to existing shareholders and may have an adverse effect on the value of their shareholdings. Issuances of additional shares would reduce your influence over matters on which our shareholders vote.

We have not paid dividends on our ordinary shares and, therefore, unless our traded securities appreciate in value, our investors may not benefit from holding our securities.

We have not paid any cash dividends on our ordinary shares since inception. We do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our ordinary shares in the foreseeable future. Moreover, the Companies Law imposes certain restrictions on our ability to declare and pay dividends. As a result, investors in our ordinary shares will not be able to benefit from owning these ordinary shares unless their market price becomes greater than the price paid by such investors and they are able to sell such ordinary shares. We cannot assure you that you will ever be able to resell our ordinary shares at a price in excess of the price paid.

Our U.S. shareholders may suffer adverse tax consequences if we are characterized as a passive foreign investment company (“PFIC”), for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

We will be treated as a PFIC for U.S. federal income tax purposes in any taxable year in which either (i) at least 75% of our gross income is “passive income” or (ii) on average at least 50% of our assets by value produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income. Passive income for this purpose generally includes, among other things, certain dividends, interest, royalties, rents and gains from commodities and securities transactions and from the sale or exchange of property that gives rise to passive income. Passive income also includes amounts derived by reason of the temporary investment of funds, including those raised in a public offering. In determining whether a non-U.S. corporation is a PFIC, a proportionate share of the income and assets of each corporation in which it owns, directly or indirectly, at least a 25% interest (by value) is taken into account. Based on our analysis of our income, assets, and operations, we do not believe that we were a PFIC for 2022. Because the PFIC determination is highly fact intensive, there can be no assurance that we will not be a PFIC for 2022 or for any other taxable year. If we were to be characterized as a PFIC in any taxable year, a U.S. Holder (as defined below in “Material Tax Considerations—Certain United States Federal Income Tax Considerations”) may incur significantly increased U.S. income tax on gain recognized on the sale or other disposition of our ordinary shares and on the receipt of distributions on our ordinary shares to the extent such gain or distribution is treated as an “excess distribution” under the U.S. federal income tax rules and such holder may be subject to burdensome reporting requirements. Further, if we are a PFIC for any year during which a U.S. Holder holds our ordinary shares, we generally will continue to be treated as a PFIC for all succeeding years during which such U.S. Holder holds our ordinary shares. A U.S. Holder may be able to alleviate some of these adverse tax consequences by timely making a “qualified electing fund” (“QEF”), election or a “mark-to-market” election. It is not expected that a U.S. Holder will be able to make a QEF election because we do not intend to provide U.S. Holders with the information necessary to make a QEF election.

U.S. Holders are urged to consult their own tax advisors regarding the application of the PFIC rules. For more information, see “Material Tax Considerations—Taxation of U.S. Holders—Passive Foreign Investment Company.”

Risk Related to Russian and Ukraine

In February 2022, Russian military forces launched significant military action against Ukraine, and sustained conflict and disruption in the region is likely. The war in Ukraine and the surrounding region could lead to disruption, instability, and volatility in global markets, increase inflation and further disrupt supply chains, which may materially and adversely affect our business.

As a result of actions taken by Russia in Ukraine, actions have been taken by other countries and organizations, including new and stricter sanctions by Israel, Canada, the European Union and the U.S. against officials, individuals, regions, and industries in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. While Intercure has no operations in, and does not rely on raw materials or revenue generated by, Russia or Ukraine, and it is difficult to anticipate the effect the sanctions announced to date may have on Intercure, and any further sanctions imposed or actions taken by Israel or other countries, the effect of current or further economic sanctions may reduce our sales and earnings or otherwise have an adverse effect on our operations.

Intercure Ltd. is an Israeli public corporation incorporated on the 20^th of November 1994 under the Israeli Companies Law. Our shares are listed for trading on the TSX under the symbol “INCR:U” and on TASE under the symbol “INCR”

We currently own all of the issued and outstanding shares of Canndoc and Pharmazone, and a majority interest of the issued and outstanding shares of Cannolam and other holdings in additional pharmacies and trade houses. Unless otherwise specified, references in this section to “we”, “our” and “us” refer to the business of Intercure and its subsidiaries. Unless otherwise specified, references in this section to “we”, “our” and “us” refer to the business of Intercure and its subsidiaries.

We (more specifically through Canndoc) are a pioneer in the production (including the breeding, cultivating and processing), manufacturing and distribution of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products for medical use. For more than 15 years, we have been a leader in the licensed production and distribution of cannabis and cannabis-based products throughout Israel, one of the first countries with a governmentally-sanctioned regime for the production, manufacturing and distribution of cannabis for medical use. Our goal is to be a global leader in the production and distribution of high-quality pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and cannabis-based products to patients in all territories that permit and regulate the distribution of cannabis for medical use, including Israel, and the European Union

Notwithstanding our plans for growth, we will operate only in countries where cannabis may be legally used for medical purposes and permitted under all applicable laws. Despite being authorized for medical and adult use by many U.S. states, we do not, nor do we plan to, produce, process or distribute cannabis in the United States while it remains a controlled substance with no currently accepted medical use under U.S. federal law.

We were an early leader in the global medical-use cannabis market and we were one of the first licensed producers of cannabis for medical use in Israel, where medical use of cannabis has been permitted and regulated since 2008. Our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products are manufactured using processes that are certified and in compliance with the IMCA, standards, including IMC-GMP standards, which are substantially similar to the Good Manufacturing Practice of the European Union (“EU-GMP”) standards. GMP certification is an internationally recognized standard that is the primary quality standard that pharmaceutical companies must meet in their production processes. Leveraging our more than 15 years of experience, we have developed production methods for consistent batches with well-defined cannabinoid profiles by following strict protocols, utilizing proprietary cannabis genetics and leveraging our scalable climatized greenhouse technology. All of our products are analyzed by IMCA-certified laboratories using established testing procedures that ensure standardized cannabinoid compound ratios and potency, or cannabinoid profiles.

We believe that our future growth is dependent upon our ability to further develop and commercialize our extensive know-how regarding the production of high-quality pharmaceutical-grade cannabis and on our success in implementing our plans to increase our production capabilities and to expand our global distribution network, enabling us to distribute our products in Israel, and the European Union.

Our production facility located in the Southern Kibbutz, with a gross area of 1.7 million square feet. This facility is currently operating in its first phase of development which uses 300,000 square feet of the available space and produces seven tons of cannabis annually. Assuming that the Southern Kibbutz is fully operational at its maximum capacity and all regulatory approvals are received, full operation of its facility will allow us to produce 88 tons of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis per year. We plan to bring our facilities located in the Southern Kibbutz to their full operational capacity subject to increased demand for our products, finalization of export regulations from Israel and the import regulations to the European Union and other regulatory approvals that are required for the expansion of production. We do not have any specific plans regarding the expansion of our capacity at facilities located in the Southern Kibbutz at this time.

In addition, we also operate the Northern Kibbutz, a production facility with a gross area of 55,000 square feet, which can produce up to three tons of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis per year. We have the option to expand our production area in this facility to a total of approximately 160,000 square feet, which would increase our total production capacity to up to 10 tons of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis per year.

In Israel, we distribute our products through licensed retail pharmacy locations, where patients may fill their prescriptions on site or have our products delivered directly to their residence. To diversify and expand our global production and distribution capabilities to meet current and future demand in our target markets, we have entered into agreements to establish joint ventures, supply and distribution arrangements in the European Union and Canada with local producers and distributors that have significant distribution networks. As of the day of this annual report none of our products have been distributed through any of our distribution partnerships, we anticipate that we will be able to commence distributions after meeting local regulatory requirements and desired price range. While some of the distribution agreements we signed with partners in both Canada in both the European union are no longer valid we are always in the lookout for new strategic agreements with partners in the target markets.

We plan to have our products distributed globally under the “CANNDOC” brand, produced by us or through our partnerships, and manufactured under GMP standards. As of the date of this Annual Report, our products have not yet been distributed through our partnerships. Our ability to do so is impacted by various regulatory matters, as regulatory permits and licenses are currently required for the import, export and distribution of cannabis products in the jurisdictions where we operate. As such, the regulatory regime present in these jurisdictions has a direct impact on our business and our ability to grow it.

Through our subsidiaries, we operate the first and leading chain of private pharmacies focused on medical cannabis in Israel which includes twenty-seven pharmacies and stores across Israel, the UK and Austria under different brands, including Givol™, Max Pharm and Cookies. The remaining seven are at various stages of development; while some operate like regular pharmacies selling prescription and over-the-counter medicines, others are still under construction or awaiting regulatory approval. We are in the process of obtaining licenses for these additional seven pharmacies and stores.

Out of the twenty-seven pharmacies and stores, twenty already possess permits and licenses for distributing medical cannabis. The remaining seven are at various stages of development; while some operate like regular pharmacies selling prescription and over-the-counter medicines, others are still under construction or awaiting regulatory approval. We are in the process of obtaining licenses for these additional seven pharmacies and stores.

During the reported period, we have added 6 pharmacies to this list located in major cities across Israel, which are now in different stages of development, while some are open and do business like regular pharmacies selling other prescription drugs, and OTC medicines, some are still in stages of construction. 

We have not completed any clinical trials using cannabis or cannabis-based products to date. We have received IMCA feasibility approval to initiate nine clinical trials and have commenced one phase 3 clinical trial. We initiated a phase 3 clinical trial in a leading Israeli medical center to study our product’s influence on cognitive and adjacent capabilities on children who are on the autistic spectrum. Patients’ recruitment for the trial was initiated but was stopped due to COVID-19 challenges, and it is uncertain when and if it will be reinitiated. It’s worth noting that our clinical studies program experienced significant setbacks in 2020, and 2021 as a result of COVID-19, and at this point, we remain uncertain as to when the studies will be initiated. Additionally, due to significant delays in our clinical program timeline and changes in market conditions, we are currently considering the possibility of canceling the clinical program as it may no longer be relevant to our current operations.

On February 9, 2021, we entered into an amended and restated merger agreement (the “Arrangement Agreement”) with Subversive Real Estate Acquisition REIT LP, a limited partnership established under the Limited Partnerships Act (Ontario) and a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) (“Subversive LP”). As a SPAC, Subversive had limited operational activity. As of December 31, 2020, its material assets consisted of USD $226 million in cash and securities held in escrow with no material liabilities. Pursuant to the Arrangement Agreement, on April 23, 2021 our subsidiary acquired all of the outstanding Units of Subversive LP, in exchange for our ordinary shares by way of a plan of arrangement (the “SPAC Transaction”). Concurrently with the SPAC Transaction, Subversive LP conducted a non-brokered private placement of 5.0 million Limited Partnership Units for an aggregate amount of $50 million. At the closing of the SPAC Transaction, which occurred on April 23, 2021, the Company issued 15,650,280 ordinary shares to Subversive LP unit holders, including those that participated in the concurrent private placement. 5,243,616 of our ordinary shares were allocated as part of the SPAC Transaction and are subject to forfeiture unless the Company’s ordinary shares are listed on NASDAQ and obtain a target weighted average price per share of $13.00 (subject to appropriate adjustments) for any five (5) consecutive trading days during the thirty (30) trading days after the shares are traded on Nasdaq. The funds raised from the SPAC Transaction, after redemptions, and the private placement equaled USD $56 million (excluding transaction-related expenses).

Intercure has 16 direct subsidiaries:

Our Strengths

We believe our key competitive strengths include the following:

We have been a pioneer of cannabis for medical use for over 15 years. We have been producing cannabis for medical use since 2008 and are one of the first licensed producers and distributors of cannabis and cannabis-based products in Israel. We were the first to import cannabis for medical use into Israel for distribution in the Israeli market and we were the first to export cannabis for medical use to a country in the European Union.

Our products and processes meet the highest standards required by regulators for the whole value-chain of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis. We were one of the first cannabis companies in Israel to supply products that meet the GMP standards established by the IMCA. Our facilities and the production processes implemented in them are certified under the IMC-GAP standards and comply with the Good Agriculture Collection Practices (“GACP”) following an audit made by an EU-GMP-certified entity. Finally, our distributors, including pharmacies, store and distribute our products using facilities and processes that meet the IMC-GDP standards. Our products comply with the highest standards, and we believe our products will be competitive in any medical-use cannabis market.

Strategic Partnerships. We have entered into long-term exclusive strategic partnerships with leading companies of the industry. We have exclusive long-term partnerships with Tilray, Organigram, Charlotte’s Web and Cookies. These partnerships provide us with product sources and access to our partner’s facilities. This allows us to increase our global footprint and provide access to increased raw material if we need it to meet demand. Together with our local and EU production and distribution channels, we are able to create a dynamic international supply chain for our GMP-branded products.

Expansion into the CBD market. Our strategic partnership with the number one global leader in hemp extracts, Charlotte’s Web, was the first partnership we undertook in the CBD space. This agreement includes long-term exclusive distribution rights of Charlotte’s Web’s products in Israel and further non-exclusive distribution rights in the European market. This strategic partnership entails research and development, new product development in Israel, the supply of raw material for Israeli industrialists and manufacturing in Israel and Europe. The noted partnership is subject to the receipt of the required regulatory approvals and the removal of CBD from the Israeli Dangerous Drug Ordinance (“DDO”). Although the delisting of CBD from the illegal substance list has been a topic of discussion among various government officials in Israel, the recent change in government in December 2022 has resulted in the uncertainty of when, or if, the legislation will proceed.

We have developed rigorous, cultivation and harvest protocols to ensure consistency, quality and efficiency as we increase the scale of our operations globally. We pride ourselves on consistently delivering high-quality products with precise chemical compositions using scalable and efficient production techniques. We have leveraged our extensive production experience and proven protocols while expanding our production capabilities at our sites in Israel. We have entered into agreements to establish joint ventures, supply and distribution arrangements in the European Union and Canada with local producers and distributors that have significant distribution networks. We have developed production techniques that enable us to maintain a low-cost structure as we further scale our operations. We currently utilize climatized greenhouses instead of more costly indoor facilities in order to produce GMP-certifiable products at a lower cost.

We are developing a global distribution network. We distribute pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products in Israel (using authorized distributors that are IMC-GDP certified) to 100% of the pharmacies in Israel that are authorized to distribute cannabis products. In addition, through our subsidiaries, we operate the first and leading chain of private pharmacies focused on medical cannabis in Israel which includes twenty-seven pharmacies and stores across Israel the UK and Austria under different brands including Givol™, Max Pharm and Cookies. Out of the twenty-seven pharmacies, twenty already possess permits and licenses for distributing medical cannabis. The remaining seven are at various stages of development; while some operate like regular pharmacies selling prescription and over-the-counter medicines, others are still under construction or awaiting regulatory approval. We are in the process of obtaining licenses for these additional seven pharmacies

We have entered into a supply agreement with a licensed producer and distributor in Denmark and a distribution agreement with a pharmaceutical distributor in Germany. On April 4, 2021, we entered into a collaboration agreement with an Austrian entity for the purpose of distributing Canndoc products and other co-branded products as part of our strategic partnerships in Luxembourg and Austria. We have also entered into a collaboration agreement with a licensed EU-GMP pharmaceutical distributor that has a license to import cannabis into the United Kingdom for medicinal purposes. While the success of these partnerships depends on a number of factors, including in some instances the passage of favorable amendments to the laws regarding the import and export of cannabis, we believe that we are well positioned to quickly monetize these partnerships once they become operational. However, due to changes in market conditions and quality levels, certain partnerships have become less relevant to the company. As a result, we have undertaken a thorough review of our partnerships and have decided to reassess and potentially discontinue those that no longer meet our strategic objectives. For example, we recently ended our partnership with the Danish company. This strategic decision reflects our ongoing commitment to focus on partnerships that align with our core business and will help us achieve our long-term growth objectives.

We are a market leader in research and innovation within our industry. We engage in the research of agricultural techniques to improve the yield of cannabis plants and our production of various cannabinoids. Our research and development programs have also involved the development of high-quality protocols and elite genetics. Further, to ensure the quality and reliability of our products as well as the optimization of methods to provide more effective products, we engage in a series of analyses regarding our products.

We have a highly experienced leadership team. We believe our management team is amongst the most knowledgeable and experienced in the cannabis industry and consists of pioneers in the cannabis space, including our founder and president who is globally recognized as an expert cultivator of cannabis. As a long-term operator in this industry, our team has been at the forefront of assisting governments to develop regulations around the production and distribution of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis.

We focus on operational excellence. We have developed a quality management system that has enabled us to meet pharmaceutical-grade production standards while achieving and maintaining profitability. We believe that as we continue to grow, we will leverage our technologies and knowledge to optimize our operational efficiency while maintaining the highest level of safety and quality.

Our Strategies

Our goal is to be a global leader in the production and distribution of high-quality pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products to patients in all territories that permit and regulate the distribution of cannabis for medical use. To achieve this goal, we plan to implement the following strategies:

Focus only on high-quality cannabis products. We focus solely on high-quality pharmaceutical-grade cannabis for the treatment of medical conditions. Given our sole focus, we have accumulated more years of experience than most of our competitors in producing consistent pharmaceutical-grade cannabis under the highest quality standards. We believe that we have a head start to become a dominant player in this industry on a global level and will be competitive in all markets, including those with the strictest regulatory standards. In addition, subject to applicable local laws, we believe that our expertise and distribution capabilities have positioned us well for dominating the recreational cannabis and CBD market in Israel once, and if, Israeli regulations permit the sale of recreational cannabis and CBD products.

Focus only on territories that are fully-regulated medical-use cannabis markets. We believe that focusing on markets that have fully-regulated medical-use regimes provides us with legal certainty for our operations and enables us to leverage our high standards to gain an advantage when competing in these markets. We plan to leverage these benefits to expand our global footprint, maintain our reputation, strengthen our brand and broaden our access to capital.

Build a leading global brand. Our plan is to distribute all products produced by us, our joint ventures and our partners under two main global “Cookies” and “CANNDOC” brand and our sub-brands (including, “Indoor”, “Diamonds”, “Stars”, “Utopia”, “Cali”, and “Humboldt”)) in order to build global brand awareness of and loyalty to our pharmaceutical-grade products. We design our packaging to have a look and feel that is consistent with other prescribed medicines to reflect the pharmaceutical-grade quality of our products. Our packaging displays ratios of specific cannabinoid compounds and the required disclosures for the relevant jurisdiction of distribution. We believe this strategy will instill physician and patient confidence in us, leading to a greater adoption of our products.

Establish distribution networks in all territories with full regulation of the medical-use cannabis industry. In addition to our distribution networks in Israel, we are establishing distribution channels for our products in all fully-regulated markets, including Germany, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. Although to date none of our products have been distributed through any of our distribution partnerships, we anticipate that we will be able to commence distributions after meeting local regulatory requirements. We anticipate that these distribution channels will be established by way of joint ventures and distribution agreements with local licensed distributors to address both the current and anticipated demand for medical use cannabis. We have also established relationships with the distributors of pharmaceutical products in markets where we expect cannabis for medical use will become fully regulated in the near future. Establishing distribution capabilities with local partners will allow us to be an early mover and ultimately a leader in these future markets.

Optimize our supply by diversifying production capabilities and maintaining inventory to meet demand. We are continuing to expand our production capabilities in Israel. To ensure that we have a sufficient supply of product available to enter the European Union market, including the German market, in the near term. Although our products are not currently produced in any European Union countries, we plan to implement a worldwide footprint to optimize our management of supply based on cost of production and to ensure that we have a consistent supply for the markets that we are targeting.

Maximize operational efficiency. We made a strategic decision to outsource manufacturing and distribution operations to IMC-GMP and IMC-GDP certified third parties in 2016, when new Israeli regulations significantly increased the costs of these functions. Beginning in 2020, with the acquisition of Cannolam, we expanded our business model to include distribution capabilities through our network of pharmacies. As we scale our operations and expand into larger markets outside of Israel, our management team plans to explore the commercial and operational benefits of returning to a vertically integrated model, including our ability to control the entire value-chain, from our genetics to the distribution of our branded products to pharmacies. We believe that our prior experience operating throughout the entire value chain enables us to achieve our goal of maximizing operational efficiency, whether vertically integrated or not, while maintaining our high quality.

Our Products

Our product portfolio consists of differentiated pharmaceutical-grade cannabis product brands. We develop our product brands to treat a wide variety of medical conditions and optimize results across a diverse population of patients. We believe patients choose our products because we are known for producing pure, precise and predictable pharmaceutical-grade products.

We believe that cannabinoids, terpenes and other bioactive compounds create beneficial therapeutic results when they work in synergy, an effect known as the “entourage effect.” We do not create our cannabinoid profiles by combining isolated cannabinoid compounds from various sources. Instead, we utilize breeding and cultivation techniques to create stable and consistent levels of target cannabinoid profiles within each plant.

Our current portfolio of products is characterized by well-defined and reproducible cannabinoid profiles, formulated for stability, which are currently available in dried inflorescences or liquid oil form. Each of our products is derived from cannabis that is bred and cultivated in accordance with applicable GAP standards and manufactured under applicable GMP standards.

Cannabinoid Profiles

Our products are differentiated by profiles that reflect specified ratios and concentrations of the two principal cannabinoids in pharmaceutical-grade cannabis: CBD and THC. There are currently more than 100 identified cannabinoids, and we measure and analyze their concentrations in our products. We plan to measure and analyze any new cannabinoids that are identified in the future.

We take a scientific approach to our product development. Cannabis strains, selected for their biochemical composition, are systematically bred, cultivated and processed to produce a specific profile. Our products are tested using established laboratory testing procedures that ensure standardized cannabinoid ratios and potency.

As the landscape of the medical-use cannabis industry continues to evolve with the rapid pace of research and discovery, we continue to experiment with developing new and unique ratios of cannabinoids and other bioactive compounds for use in our products. We believe that our extensive genetic bank will give us an advantage in developing new products with optimal cannabinoid profiles.

Delivery Formats

We offer products in established delivery formats that facilitate the absorption of active compounds in a patient’s body.

Our current portfolio of cannabis-based products for distribution in Israel includes the following delivery formats:

We plan to evaluate other markets, including Canada, and develop products using delivery formats that address patient needs and preferences and comply with applicable regulatory requirements. With the development of scientific research and regulatory momentum, we may develop products in the future that use other delivery formats, such as capsules or patches. We plan to continue to develop formulations and delivery methods to achieve targeted delivery and sustained release.

We invested in launching and creating demand for our product brands, including by co-branding certain of our products with our exclusive partners. Our packaging displays ratios of specific cannabinoid compounds and the required disclosures for each relevant jurisdiction of distribution.

Below are pictures of the packaging for our branded pharmaceutical-grade products that are distributed in Israel. Our packaging for products to be sold in Germany and other jurisdictions will be similar, but will reflect the applicable regulatory requirements in those territories.

Our Operations

With over 15 years of operations, we have gained significant experience and know-how throughout the entire value chain of producing and distributing cannabis and cannabis-based products for medical use. We strive to ensure that the materials and processes that go into the production and manufacturing of our products comply with the highest standards.

Our current production operations include 355,000 square feet of growing and production area which together can produce up to 10 tons per year. Assuming our facilities are fully developed and operate at their maximum capacity, and all regulatory approvals are received, our operations allow for a maximum production capacity of over 100 tons of high-quality medical cannabis. This system enables us to be flexible and efficient, and to meet the standards required to execute commercial exports from Israel and to serve growing demand in Israel and around the world.

In addition, through strategic partnerships with leading license producers, we may have access to additional high quality medical cannabis on demand. For a more detailed description of our facilities, please see Item 4.D “Property, Plant and Equipment” below.

Breeding

Our primary goal is to produce consistently, under the strictest standards, the highest-quality inflorescences from the cannabis plant, which we use as the raw material for our pharmaceutical-grade cannabis-based products. We focus on breeding genetic profiles that maximize production yields and maintain stable and consistent cannabinoid profiles.

We engage in the human-directed evolution of cannabis populations through the selective breeding and nurturing of various species of the cannabis plant. To achieve this, we leverage our extensive patient use and experience database to select and breed specific genetic profiles with the goal of isolating unique traits that may lead to improved patient outcomes.

Over the course of more than 15 years and numerous plant generations, we have bred a wide assortment of cannabis strains covering a variety of cannabinoid profiles. We have developed a proprietary genetic bank, covering dozens of unique cannabinoid profiles, from which we extract growth batches for our current breeding facility. Our breeding is conducted in incubation rooms that are separately housed and therefore isolated from the rest of our cannabis production facility.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, we applied and received full protected breeding rights on five of our strains. We are still in the process of applying for more protected breeding rights while we expend and stabilize our genetic bank and we intent to apply for protective rights in any jurisdiction in which such rights may be registered. See “Intellectual Property.”

Cultivation and Processing

In order to maintain a high degree of consistency across our production batches, we carefully optimize all elements of the cultivation process, including the light spectrum, temperature, humidity, radiation, irrigation, air circulation and soil-less substance in which our plants are grown. Cultivation is not conducted in outdoor areas or in the open soil. At our cultivation facilities, we nurture and cultivate production batches as clusters of single-genus cannabis inflorescences that are genetically identical, cultivated under the same protocols and harvested at the same time. The cannabis batches are isolated in pots and are tested by licensed third-party laboratories to ensure their quality and consistency.

Currently, there are three methods for cultivating cannabis: outdoors, in greenhouses and indoors. Cultivation in an outdoor environment, including cultivation in a typical greenhouse, introduces variables that may affect the quality and consistency of the resulting product. For this reason, outdoor and traditional greenhouse growing techniques do not meet the standards required for pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products. Consequently, these methods are not applicable to our target industry. Indoor cultivation may occur in a controlled environment that enables the production of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis in compliance with applicable standards.

Through years of research and development, we have developed a unique climatized greenhouse approach incorporating the best of modern cultivation techniques and processes that meet the IMC-GAP standards while taking advantage of the cost efficiencies associated with utilizing the natural environment. Our climatized greenhouse technology is an improvement on the traditional greenhouse that enables compliance with the requirements for the production of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis. The climatized greenhouse technology enables us to control fully all aspects of the climate and other conditions affecting the cultivation of our cannabis crops. A key element of optimizing production yields while maintaining a standardized outcome is precision-based crop maintenance, which requires consistent inputs of irrigation and fertilization while controlling for diseases and pests. We control the first two inputs mainly through a centralized irrigation control center that utilizes modern sensors to monitor and regulate the daily quantity of water and fertilizer administered to each production batch. Our climatized greenhouses cost less, both in terms of costs for construction and operating expenses, and require less time to implement than wholly-indoor facilities, enabling us to scale up our crop size swiftly. For these reasons, our climatized greenhouses provide a cost efficient cultivation method while still enabling us to produce pharmaceutical-grade cannabis products that comply with GMP standards and this is our preferred cultivation method where it makes business sense.

We produce and package bulk product in our facilities, by harvesting the bloomed flower, trimming excess leaves, drying and curing inflorescences, and packaging the processed inflorescences into bulk quantities.

In addition, since we adhere to the IMC-GAP and IMC-GSP standards, it has established a compliance regime to meet its regulatory requirements. A quality assurance manager must sign off on each product batch that is released from our cultivating facilities which subsequently undergoes a physical inspection by the head of quality assurance. Any changes in the quality assurance process or to the cultivation facility must be authorized by the head of quality assurance and documented. The facilities are also subject to seven inspections per year from a third party inspector and four inspections per year by the head of quality assurance. Lastly, the cultivation sites are also subject to yearly inspections for GACP compliance by a third party for the EU-GMP certificate.

Cultivation

Our production system (wholly-owned or through partnerships) currently consists of two active facilities in Israel, owned and operated by the Company. Through our partnerships, we have access to production facilities that, assuming that the facilities are fully operational at their maximum capacity and all regulatory approvals are received, can produce over 100,000 kilograms of high-quality medical cannabis per year.

Israel

We have established two partnerships with kibbutzim in Israel for the purpose of breeding, cultivation and harvesting of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis. Our partnerships in Israel are subject to certain risks relating to land uses, see “Risk Factors”.

The Northern Kibbutz

As noted above, we have rights to our production facility in northern Israel through a joint venture with Beit HaEmek Kibbutz, a kibbutz located in the northern region of Israel (the” Northern Kibbutz”). Our relationship with The Northern Kibbutz is governed by a partnership agreement (the “Northern Kibbutz Agreement”, establishing the “Northern Kibbutz Partnership”), entered into in May 2015. We hold 70% of the voting rights and rights to profits and losses of this partnership and the Northern Kibbutz holds the remaining 30% of such rights. The operation of the venture is done by an unregistered corporation according to the Northern Kibbutz Agreement. The Parties entered into an amendment agreement, pursuant to which and subject to the IMCA approval and the approval of the Israeli tax authorities, the operations of the Northern Kibbutz will be transferred to an “Agricultural Cooperative Organization” owned by the parties as mentioned above (70% Canndoc and remaining 30% of the Kibbutz). As of the date of this Annual Report, the application for such an amendment is pending IMCA approval. During this time period and regardless of the outcome of the noted approvals, the parties agreed that the operations will continue as usual.

Under the terms of the Northern Kibbutz Agreement, the Northern Kibbutz will make the facility available for use by the partnership. The Northern Kibbutz has rights to lease the site, which it holds pursuant to a lease, dated April 26, 1990, between the Northern Kibbutz and the Israel Land Administration (the “Land Administration”). The initial term of the lease is forty-nine (49) years, ending on September 30, 2038 and the term is automatically renewed for an additional forty-nine (49) years subject to the terms of the lease. The Land Administration may cancel the lease with regard to areas of the site where protected natural resources are found. The Land Administration also has the right to pass, or allow another to pass, through the site, in the site or over the site, water, drainage, sewage or gas pipes, electric and telephone poles, electric and phone cables, or similar rights of way. The Northern Kibbutz has the right to make a claim for damages that occur as a result of the granting of such rights of way.

The Northern Kibbutz Agreement contains customary representations and warranties, ownership, confidentiality, noncompete, indemnification and insurance provisions. The Northern Kibbutz Agreement has an initial term of five years, with the addition of three extensions spanning five years each, which are automatically renewed, subject to compliance by the parties with the terms and conditions of the Northern Kibbutz Agreement. The Northern Kibbutz is entitled to terminate the Northern Kibbutz Agreement for any reason whatsoever, by giving an advance notice of the earlier of 18 months, or until such time where we find an alternate growing location and obtain the necessary approval from the appropriate regulatory authority to operate at such a location. We are entitled to terminate the Northern Kibbutz Agreement for any reason whatsoever, by giving an advance notice of three months. If we terminate the Northern Kibbutz Agreement, absent good cause, the Northern Kibbutz will be entitled to compensation in the amount of NIS 200,000. The Northern Kibbutz will not be entitled to retain any inventory of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis or products, nor any documents.

The Southern Kibbutz

As noted above, we have also entered into an agreement with Kibbutz Nir-Oz, a kibbutz located in the southern region of Israel (the “Southern Kibbutz”), to establish a large-scale production facility in southern Israel, which will also utilize climatized greenhouses and operate in tandem with our facility in northern Israel. Our relationship with the Southern Kibbutz is governed by a partnership agreement (the “Southern Kibbutz Agreement”, establishing the “Southern Kibbutz Partnership”), entered into in April 2019. We hold 74% of the voting rights of this partnership and the Southern Kibbutz holds the remaining 26% of such rights. The Kibbutz will be eligible to 26% of the profits of the partnership, once it starts generating revenue.

Under the terms of the Southern Kibbutz Agreement, the Southern Kibbutz has agreed to make the approximately 540,000 square feet of land plus operational facilities available for use by the Southern Kibbutz Partnership during the term of the Southern Kibbutz Agreement. We also have the option to expand the land made available up to approximately 1 million square feet or a total of approximately 1.7 million square feet including operational facilities, which option must be exercised before April 2024. The Southern Kibbutz has rights to lease the site, which it holds pursuant to a lease, dated June 22, 2016, between the Southern Kibbutz and the Land Administration.

The Southern Kibbutz Agreement contains customary representations and warranties, ownership, confidentiality, noncompete, indemnification and insurance provisions. The Southern Kibbutz Agreement requires the consent of the Southern Kibbutz for certain decisions, including approval of (v) the sale of the entire assets of the Southern Kibbutz Partnership or a material part thereof or the transfer of a material business operation of the Southern Kibbutz Partnership to any other person or corporation; (w) dilution of rights or holdings of the Southern Kibbutz in the Southern Kibbutz Partnership or any other action that might affect the rights of the Southern Kibbutz; (x) change in the business of the Southern Kibbutz Partnership, including the place of its business, entry into a sphere of activity that is not part of the business of the Southern Kibbutz Partnership or termination of an existing business operation of the Southern Kibbutz Partnership, and (y) transactions between the Southern Kibbutz Partnership and related parties. The Southern Kibbutz Agreement has an initial term of ten years, with an option to extend the term for an additional ten years. This extension option is automatically renewed, subject to compliance by the parties with the terms and conditions of the Southern Kibbutz Agreement. Each party to the Southern Kibbutz Agreement is entitled to terminate the Southern Kibbutz Agreement only in the event of an uncured breach, insolvency of the other party or force majeure event. Upon expiration of the term, the Southern Kibbutz will retain all fixtures and we shall not be entitled to any reimbursement for any investment or appreciation attributed to the facility or its land.

Under the terms of each of the Israeli Partnerships, we have agreed to provide growing materials and equipment for the production of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis. We maintain ownership of the genetic bank and the climatized greenhouses used on the respective properties. We own the equipment used during the cultivation process, including equipment for lighting, temperature, humidity, radiation, and irrigation control, extraction facilities, and other equipment necessary for complying with the IMC-GAP standards. The operations of the partnership are carried out by our employees and we receive a fee from the partnership for the use of our employees.

The Israeli Partnerships have no right in any of our other activities, including the processing of cannabis or any collaborations between us and our other partners within or outside of Israel. The profits of each partnership are divided between us and our respective Israeli partner according to our and their respective percentage holdings in the partnership.

The facilities located in the Southern Kibbutz are one of the largest medical cannabis production sites in Israel and in the world, covering a total area of approximately 1.7 million square feet. This facility is currently operating in its first phase of development which uses 300,000 square feet of the available space and produces 7 tons of cannabis annually. Assuming that we exercise our option to expand the available land such that the Southern Kibbutz is fully operational at its maximum capacity and all regulatory approvals are received, full operations of its facility will allow us to produce 88 tons of pharmaceutical-grade cannabis per year. The development of the southern site is carried out in a modular manner in accordance with the regulatory developments concerning the export of medical cannabis from Israel.

Further, in December 2020, we received a permanent license from the IMCA for our facilities located in the Southern Kibbutz for the handling and possession of dangerous drugs under Sections 6 and 7 of the Israeli DDO. The license permits us to breed and cultivate cannabis plants and process inflorescences and plants under IMC-GAP-quality conditions, subject to customary limitations.

We plan to bring our facilities located in the Southern Kibbutz to their full operational capacity subject to increased demand for our products, finalization of export regulations from Israel and the import regulations to the European Union and other regulatory approvals that are required for the expansion of production. We do not have any specific plans regarding the expansion of our capacity at facilities located in the Southern Kibbutz at this time.

International

Denmark

In May 2020, we entered into a strategic supply agreement (the “EU Agreement”) with a company incorporated in Denmark (the “EU Partner”). According to the agreement, the EU Partner will supply an aggregate of 11,700 kilograms of quality EU-GMP-standard medical cannabis products to us for a period of 3 years. The EU Agreement provides that the EU Partner, who is the owner of an advanced cultivation and manufacturing facility in Denmark that is approved by the EU-GMP-standard and holds all the licenses and permits required for cultivating, manufacturing, distributing and marketing the products sold to us. The EU Partner will be responsible for the entire cultivation and production process and for the logistical process of transporting and packaging the sold products according to our requirements. We will be responsible for marketing and distribution efforts through our own efforts and through our distribution partnerships in the EU. The EU Partner will be entitled to a share of the profits from sales of the products distributed through our distribution network. This facility is operational and as of the date of this Annual Report, we are in the process of finalizing licenses to import our products from Denmark into Germany pursuant to the EU Agreement. Notwithstanding the importing and exporting of the products, the sale of the products pursuant to the EU Agreement has not commenced as of the date of this Annual Report and this activity does not have a material impact on our finances. During 2021, the Company completed the registration process for several products cultivated through the Company’s partnership in Denmark, which products are now registered in Germany under the Federal Institute for Drugs and Medical Devices (BfArM) and are authorized for sale in Germany. Although we made significant efforts to register the products and obtain approval to import them from Denmark to Germany, the products developed by the Danish partner failed to meet the quality standards threshold due to schedule delays, and changes in the target market conditions. Since the Danish partner was unable to execute any sales under the partnership so far, the parties are now considering the continuation of the relationship between them.

Manufacturing

Prior to 2016, we operated throughout the entire value-chain to produce our products for medical use. When new Israeli regulations, which increased manufacturing costs, were adopted in 2016, we made a business decision to outsource the extraction and packaging services of our final product to manufacturers that had obtained certification, including GMP certification, under the new Israeli regulations. We currently use a GMP-certified manufacturers in Israel to produce our products and we are exploring our options to diversify our manufacturing through our global partnerships. We plan to always manufacture our products under conditions that meet the applicable GMP standards, whether in our own facilities or in third-party facilities across all geographies. We continue to explore the costs and benefits of our contract manufacturing relationships against the costs and benefits of conducting those activities in house.

Exclusive Partnerships

We have entered into the following partnerships, all of which provides us with exclusive relationships to distribute the noted products within certain geographical areas. While the partnership are at various stages in their development, we have yet to fully operationalize any of them and currently only operate in Israel (although, Organigram Tilray, and Fotmer are our key suppliers and we have a vast variety of customers (licensed pharmacies) which include Super Pharm, although we do not depend on a single specific customer. Our products are distributed via Novolog, SLA and our owned trade houses, which are all licensed distributors in accordance with the New Regulations. Management believes that these existing partnerships will allow Intercure to be well positioned following the resolution of certain regulatory matters and the partnerships becoming fully operational, but there is no assurance that this will take place, see “Applicable Laws and Regulations” and Item 3.D. “Risk Factors”.

Cookies

Cannolam entered into an exclusive license agreement with Cookies in 2019 by which Cannolam has the exclusive rights to use the Cookies brand in Israel. Cannolam opened a Cookies branded pharmacy in Jerusalem and one in Be’er Sheva was approved to sell medical cannabis in the third quarter of 2022.

In April 2021, we expanded our partnership with Cookies by entering into a letter of intent to expand the Cookies brand into Europe. According to the letter of intent, we will establish joint ventures in European countries that focus on cultivating, manufacturing, and distributing Cookies branded products. In addition, we are cultivating Cookies branded products at our southern facility in Israel which we also plan will supply Cookies products to Cookies stores throughout Europe. Sales of Cookies branded products are subject to obtaining all regulatory approvals in Europe, including export permits and product registration in certain territories.

Further, we entered into a multi-year agreement with Cookies in December 2021 to establish Cookies stores and medical cannabis pharmacies in Austria and the United Kingdom, subject to local regulations. Our first store in Austria opened its doors in the second quarter of 2022 while our first store in the UK is expected to be open in the third quarter of 2023 due to delays caused by local regulations.

Tilray

Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY) (“Tilray”) is a global pioneer in the research, cultivation, production, and distribution of cannabis and cannabinoids, currently serving patients and consumers in 16 countries spanning five continents.

In December 2019, we established a strategic collaboration with Tilray for the purpose of providing us with access to existing and potential markets in Tilray’s operating territories. The collaboration between Tilray and us consists of a set of agreements with Tilray Portugal Unipessoal Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tilray, pursuant to which, Tilray will import GMP-quality medical cannabis products from us (the “Tilray Agreements”). Tilray’s facility in Portugal has an annual maximum production capacity of 25 metric tons of cannabis.

Pursuant to the Tilray Agreements, during a 12-month period that ended on December 31, 2020, we have an option to purchase from Tilray’s production facility in Portugal, and import into Israel, up to 2,500 kilograms of packed dried inflorescence (GMP-quality medical cannabis) based upon agreed prices and quality standards. We plan to manufacture and transform these imported materials to Canndoc’s GMP-branded products. Final products will be distributed by Canndoc’s distribution channels to all pharmacies in Israel. In January 2020, we successfully completed the first ever commercial import of medical cannabis into Israel and have subsequently successfully completed several commercial shipments into Israel while launching the “CanndocDiamonds” family of products.

Further, pursuant to the Tilray Agreements, we may sell to Tilray, and export out of Israel, up to 5,000 kilograms of inflorescence cannabis, which will be distributed by Tilray under a co-brand and based upon agreed prices and quality standards for a 12-month period that ended on December 31, 2020. The Tilray Agreements contain a provision requiring that our products comply with the EU-GMP Standard. They are conditioned upon our ability to obtain a permit from the state of Israel to export the inflorescence cannabis out of Israel. In December 2020, we completed the first commercial export of our products, which consisted of several dozen kilograms, to the European Union as part of the Tilray Agreements.

In December 2021, we learned that Tilray Portugal had sold 500 kilograms of products to another Israeli company, which we believed violated the exclusivity provision in the agreement between us and Tilray Portugal. We exchanged correspondence with Tilray and Tilray Portugal in which we asserted that Tilray Portugal had violated the exclusivity provision and further asserted that our exclusivity rights remain in full force and effect. We are still in an ongoing dispute with Tilray and Tilray Portugal on this matter and we are actively evaluating our legal rights and options, including potential legal action. Although the Israeli company responsible for violating our exclusivity agreement has declared bankruptcy, we are still pursuing compensation for the breach.

In August 2020, we entered into an agreement with Aphria for the import of bulk cannabis products from Aphria’s facility in Canada into Israel. Pursuant to the agreement, we agreed to purchase from Aphria’s production facility in Canada, and import into Israel, up to 3,000 kilograms of “bulk” quality medical cannabis for a period of two years. After the expiry of the initial period, the agreement provides the option to import up to 6,000 kilograms of additional product from Aphria for two additional periods of two years each under the same terms and conditions as during the initial period. We manufacture and transform the imported product from into Canndoc’s GMP-branded product and final products are distributed by Canndoc’s distribution channels to all pharmacies in Israel. In November 2020, we successfully imported our first shipment of the noted products from Aphria into Israel and successfully launched the “Canndoc Stars” family of products. In May, 2021, Tilray and Aphria announced the closing of a merger between the two companies, continuing as Tilray.

Organigram

Organigram, Inc. (NASDAQ: OGI) (TSX: OGI), is a leading licensed producer of cannabis.

In June 2020, we entered into a contractual relationship with Organigram for the purpose of collaborating to develop, import and export medical cannabis products in the state of Israel and across Europe (the “Organigram Agreement”). Organigram’s facility located in New Brunswick has a potential annual capacity of 70 tons.