Ottawa, ON / TheNewswire / February 3 2017 – Avivagen Inc. (TSXV: VIV, OTC Pink: CHEXF), a life sciences company commercializing products intended to replace the antibiotics added to livestock feeds, announces a project to establish proof-of-concept for a first human health application of its technology ‒ with the help of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Government of Canada’s premier research organization supporting industrial innovation, the advancement of knowledge, technology development, and fulfilling government mandates.

 

The project will evaluate the efficacy of OxC-beta™ Technology (“OxC-beta”) in an established research model of an infectious disease of humans. Work will be conducted by NRC experts at its facilities based upon a jointly developed protocol and is expected to be completed in 2017.

 

Dr. James (Jamie) Nickerson, Avivagen’s Director of Product Validation, commented on the project and its objectives, “We are pleased to be working with NRC on this project to establish a proof-of-concept for use of OxC-beta for a first potential human application – likely as a preventative intervention or as part of a therapeutic regimen. OxC-beta has demonstrated safety and effectiveness across more than a dozen livestock trials and those results lead us to believe that it will also prove to be important to human health and well-being. The results of this project should help to provide such evidence.”

 

“Antibiotic drug resistance in bacteria is a major concern that could affect the health of Canadians as previously curable infections may become untreatable and spread through the community,” said Dr. Lakshmi Krishnan, Program Leader in Human Health Therapeutics at the National Research Council of Canada. “We have a long-standing expertise in infectious disease research and are pleased to collaborate with Avivagen on this innovative project which will evaluate the potential of OxC-beta to provide additional effective human health treatments.”

 

Avivagen is not disclosing the specific disease target at this time to help ensure the patentability of this potential new application for OxC-beta™ technology. The disease target is one of the top 18 urgent, serious or concerning drug-resistance threats listed by the United States Centers for Disease Control (the “CDC”). On average, the resistant bacteria listed by the CDC infect more than 100,000 patients in the U.S. every year.

 

Avivagen intends to summarize the results of the project following its completion and after the filing of any patent application supported by a positive proof-of-concept.

About Avivagen

Avivagen Inc. is a life sciences company that has developed a scientifically-proven product for replacing antibiotics in livestock feeds and to otherwise benefit human and animal health. Avivagen is based in partnership facilities of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) - in Ottawa, Ontario and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. For more information, visit www.avivagen.com.

 

About OxC-beta™ Technology and OxC-beta™ Livestock

OxC-beta™ Technology is derived from Avivagen discoveries about carotenoids, compounds that give certain fruits and vegetables their bright colors and is a non-antibiotic means of maintaining optimal health and growth. OxC-beta™ Livestock is a proprietary product shown to be effective and economic in replacing the antibiotics commonly added to livestock feeds.  OxC-beta™ Livestock is currently registered and available for sale in the Philippines, Taiwan and Thailand.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon the current expectations of management. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties associated with the business of Avivagen Inc. and the environment in which the business operates. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions “aim”, “anticipate”, “appear”, “believe”, “consider”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “if”, “intend”, “goal”, ”helps”, “hope”, “likely”, “may”, “plan”, “possibly”, “potentially”, “pursue”, “seem”, “should”, “whether”, “will”, “would” and similar expressions. Statements or assumptions about the project or the relevance of potential results, whether the project will result in new intellectual property, the timing of project completion, intentions for disclosure of results, statements about the NRC or CDC, the uses of the technologies described in this news release, including their importance to animal or human health, their novelty, safety, efficacy or affordability, or other statements or opinions of management or the NRC, are all forward looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. Such Avivagen risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, whether Avivagen: will be able to maintain existing proofs-of-concept in animals or establish new ones in humans or other animal species; completes trials with results sufficient to support patents, regulatory approvals and commercial sales; can maintain its existing patents and trademarks, achieve new patent and trademark allowances and enforce its claims; can maintain and obtain relevant regulatory and government approvals to market and sell OxC-beta; can establish and maintain commercial relationships that result in sales; can maintain its working capital position and sufficient funding to achieve corporate goals; and can maintain its ability to continue as a going concern. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.  Except as required by law, Avivagen assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.

 

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

 

For more information:                      
Avivagen Inc. , Cameron Groome, CEO & President 
100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6
Head Office Phone: 613-949-8164           

Website: www.avivagen.com

 

Renmark Financial Communications Inc.

Bettina Filippone – bfilippone@renmarkfinancial.com

Tel: (416) 644-2020 or (514) 939-3989 – www.renmarkfinancial.com

 

Copyright© 2017 Avivagen Inc., OxC-beta™ is a trademark of Avivagen Inc.