BERKELEY, CA and VANCOUVER, BC–(Marketwired – September 15, 2016) – BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. (“BriaCell” or the “Company“) (TSX VENTURE: BCT) (OTCQB: BCTXF) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement (the “Agreement“) with RK Equity Advisors LLC and TrueNorth Lifesciences LLC (“RK TrueNorth“) for the provision of corporate advisory services. The Agreement is effective until September 30, 2017 and is subject to the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSXV“).
Pursuant to the Agreement, RK TruthNorth will assist BriaCell in engaging select members of the international investment community, with a focus on increasing awareness of BriaCell and its unique growth strategy. RK TrueNorth will also assist the Company with the commercialization of its product and other market opportunities.
In consideration of the services to be provided under the Agreement, BriaCell will pay RK TrueNorth a monthly retainer of US$5,000 and, subject to approval by the board of directors of BriaCell, will grant RK TrueNorth incentive stock options to acquire 800,000 common shares of the Company. The term of the incentive stock options granted will be 3 years from the date of grant, with an exercise price of CDN$0.25 per common share of the Company.
RK Equity Advisors and its team members have specialized in advising and financing non-US micro-cap companies for the past 14 years and have relationships with institutional investors globally representing almost $1 trillion of assets under management. Since inception in 2002, RK Equity Advisors has worked extensively with Canadian issuers.
Founded in 2011, TrueNorth Lifesciences works with Fortune 500 pharmaceutical & biotechnology manufacturers as well as highly innovative lifescience start-ups, providing strategic consulting & financial advisory services to support commercialization efforts throughout the product lifecycle. TrueNorth Lifesciences’ consulting services focus on areas related to lifescience commercialization, including health economics as well as pricing & market access solutions, launch readiness and portfolio optimization.
Commenting on the appointment, Dr. David Battleman of TrueNorth Lifesciences said, “We believe Briavax™ represents a potentially important advance in the treatment of late-stage, relapse / refractory breast cancer. The Phase I/IIa clinical data is quite compelling from both a safety and efficacy standpoint and we are eager to see these data replicated in future trials.” Howard Klein of RK Equity said, “We are excited to be partnering with BriaCell and TrueNorth to raise awareness of BriaCell with the institutional investment community.”
Dr. Saeid Babei, Chairman of BriaCell said, “Following our discovery in late March of a gene signature potentially explaining why the BriaVax cancer vaccine was exceptionally efficacious, and our appointments of a highly regarded Contract Research Organization and Lead Principal Investigator, BriaCell is excited to be officially starting its clinical trials this fall and starting to communicate our story and upcoming milestones more broadly.”
ABOUT BRIACELL
BriaCell is an immuno-oncology biotechnology company developing a more targeted, less toxic approach to cancer management. BriaCell’s mission is to serve late-stage cancer patients with no other treatment options.
Immunotherapy has come to the forefront of the fight against cancer, harnessing the body’s own immune system in recognizing and selectively destroying the cancer cells while sparing normal ones. Immunotherapy, in addition to generally being more targeted and less toxic than commonly used types of chemotherapy, is also thought to be a strong type of approach aimed at preventing cancer recurrence.
BriaVax™, the Company’s lead product, is a genetically engineered whole-cell vaccine derived from a human breast tumor cell line. This targeted vaccine is believed to generate strong antibody and T-cell responses, which in turn may boost the immune system to recognize and eliminate cancerous cells. The Company has already demonstrated encouraging clinical results, and is intent on building upon these results to further advance BriaVax™ through additional FDA-approved clinical trials in order to help cancer patients with no other options. The results of two previous FDA Phase I clinical trials have been encouraging in terms of both safety and efficacy in patients with advanced solid tumors (17 breast cancer, 1 ovarian cancer).
In some cases, patient survival was three to five times longer than would have been expected. For more information, please visit www.BriaCell.com
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the Company and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release. 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.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Except for the statements of historical fact, this news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation which involves known and unknown risks relevant to the Company in particular and to the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries in general, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. These risks are more fully described in the Company’s public filings available at www.sedar.com.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
For further information contact:
BriaCell Therapeutics Corp.
820 Heinz Avenue
Berkeley, CA 94710
Ms. Farrah Dean
Manager, Corporate Development
Phone: 1-888-485-6340
Email: farrah@BriaCell.com