EDMONTON, ALBERTA–(Marketwired – Sept. 13, 2016) – Ceapro Inc. (TSX VENTURE:CZO) (“Ceapro” or the “Company”), a growth-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of active ingredients for healthcare and cosmetic industries, announced today that the Company has received allowance from the Canadian Patent Office for Canadian Patent Application Serial No. 2,794,960 entitled, “Supercritical Fluid Treatment of High Molecular Weight Biopolymers.” Upon issuance, this patent which was filed as part of the International Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) will provide intellectual property protection through 2036.
Gilles Gagnon, M.Sc., MBA, President and CEO of Ceapro, stated, “The notice of allowance from the Canadian patent office for our PGX technology is a significant addition for our robust intellectual property portfolio surrounding our unique and disruptive enabling technology.”
The Company’s Pressurized Gas eXpanded (PGX) technology is a novel spray drying technique for processing water-soluble biopolymers and can produce numerous morphologies of biopolymers ranging from fine fibers to granular powder, which are highly water soluble. Because PGX operates at lower temperatures than conventional spray drying, it also enables the incorporation of thermosensitive bioactives. The allowed patent claims cover methods related to the production, impregnation and microencapsulation of micro- and nano-particles, agglomerates and fibers from high molecular weight water-soluble biopolymers applying supercritical fluid technology utilizing PGX.
PGX processing of biopolymers results in powders with large specific surface area facilitating easier handling, dispersion, and dissolution in water much faster than powders of the same biopolymers prepared by prior art techniques, which is key to high molecular weight biopolymers used in cosmetic industries and the successful commercial scale production of Ceapro’s pharmaceutical grade powder formulation of beta glucan. The Company has also successfully used PGX to impregnate micro- or nanoparticles with a bioactive material, including a highly porous biopolymer matrix of beta glucan impregnated with Coenzyme Q10. This impregnated beta glucan has the potential for use in nutraceuticals, functional food ingredients, and even as a drug delivery vehicle.
In addition to utilizing PGX for production of Ceapro’s cosmeceutical value-driver beta glucan, the Company has in-licensed its proprietary PGX enabling technology for worldwide use in all industries and all applications and is developing PGX at the commercial scale level. The construction of Ceapro’s new 30,000 square-foot bio-processing extraction manufacturing facility in Edmonton, Alberta, now includes an expanded production area specifically designed to house a commercial and demonstration scale PGX skid. The completion of Ceapro’s new bio-processing extraction manufacturing facility is expected to be completed in Q3 2016.
“Since we in-licensed PGX, we have been conducting research with samples received from various multi-national companies in a broad range of industries, all resulting in positive lab scale level production. Given the encouraging end-products we have seen from analyzing these samples, we believe our expansion investment in the new facility to include in-house commercial PGX production is an important step forward for Ceapro,” added Mr. Gagnon.
“Broadening PGX’s exclusivity into North America is timely as this enables us to move forward in earnest with our business development strategy, facilitating and advancing our discussions with potential partners, all of which is integral to our growth strategy,” concluded Mr. Gagnon.
About Pressurized Gas eXpanded Liquid Technology (PGX)
The Company’s patented Pressurized Gas eXpanded (PGX) is a unique and disruptive technology with several key advantages over conventional drying and purification technologies that can be used to process biopolymers into high-value, nano-sized polymer structures and novel bio-nanocomposites. PGX is ideally suited for processing challenging high-molecular-weight, water-soluble biopolymers. It has the ability to make ultra-light, highly porous polymer structures on a continuous basis, which is not possible using today’s conventional technologies. PGX was invented by Dr. Feral Temelli from the Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science of the University of Alberta (U of A) along with Dr. Bernhard Seifried, now Senior Researcher at Ceapro. The license from U of A provides Ceapro with exclusive worldwide rights in all industrial applications.
About Ceapro Inc.
Ceapro Inc. is a Canadian biotechnology company involved in the development of proprietary extraction technology and the application of this technology to the production of extracts and “active ingredients” from oats and other renewable plant resources. Ceapro adds further value to its extracts by supporting their use in cosmeceutical, nutraceutical, and therapeutics products for humans and animals. The Company has a broad range of expertise in natural product chemistry, microbiology, biochemistry, immunology and process engineering. These skills merge in the fields of active ingredients, biopharmaceuticals and drug-delivery solutions. For more information on Ceapro, please visit the Company’s website at www.ceapro.com.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Source: Ceapro Inc.
Jenene Thomas
Jenene Thomas Communications, LLC
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Advisor
T (US): 908-938-1475
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