Aphria Signs Deal With PAX Labs For Cannabis Vape Products

(RTTNews) - Canadian cannabis company Aphria Inc. (APHA, APHA.TO) said it is among the four cannabis companies that have signed an agreement with San Francisco-based PAX Labs for cannabis vape products. PAX Labs makes app-controlled vaporization technologies for cannabis flower and concentrates.

The deal will enable Aphria to provide cannabis extracts in pods designed for use with the PAX Era device and platform. The PAX Era is a pen-and-pod system for cannabis concentrates. Shares of Aphria gained more than 5 percent in Friday's trading session.

Aphria said it plans to introduce PAX pods for both adult-use consumers and medical patients, pending anticipated changes to the Cannabis Act to permit the sale of cannabis extracts for vaporization.

The PAX Era device will be available in Canada later this year, in accordance with the legislation of cannabis extracts, edible cannabis and cannabis topicals.

"As Aphria continues to drive the evolution of the industry, we are thrilled to partner with a technology leader like PAX to provide a new avenue for consumers to integrate cannabis into their lives. We are excited to bring our premium cannabis extracts from Solei, RIFF and our flagship medical cannabis brand, Aphria, to the PAX Era device and platform," said Irwin Simon, Interim CEO of Aphria.

Aphria said it estimates vapes and concentrates will represent almost 30 percent of the entire Canadian adult-use market by 2021.

Separately, PAX Labs said that four cannabis companies Aphria, Aurora Cannabis Inc. (ACB, ACB.TO), OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (OGI), and Supreme Cannabis Company, Inc. (FIRE.TO) have signed on as PAX Era brand partners.

The deal will allow these four cannabis companies to offer their products in pods compatible with the PAX Era device. PAX Labs has already sold more than 500,000 Era devices for oil concentrates in the U.S.

"We have been working hard to ensure Canadian consumers will be able to enjoy quality cannabis concentrates in a convenient pod-format. That is why we are excited to launch our immersive PAX Era experience with quality products from four powerhouse cannabis companies - Aphria, Aurora, Organigram and Supreme Cannabis," said Tim Pellerin, Canadian General Manager of PAX Labs.