Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. Rebrands As Telesta Therapeutics Inc.

Bioniche Life Sciences Rebrands As Telesta Therapeutics

November 24, 2014

By Krystle Vermes, BioSpace.com Breaking News Staff

Canadian life sciences firm Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. announced today that it will be changing its name to Telesta Therapeutics Inc. This comes after the business revealed its shift toward late stage human therapeutics with near-term commercial potential.

As a result of this name change, the company will go from TSX:TST on the Toronto Stock Exchange to TSC:BNC. The ticker change will be automatic and seamless for all of the company’s investors. Previously issued securities remain fully legal and valid, according to Telesta.

"Our decision to implement this corporate rebranding comes on the heels of our achievements over the last 12 months to implement a concrete plan to focus our company on what we believe to be our core value driver - the commercialization of MCNA for the treatment of high-grade non-muscle invasive bladder cancer patients who have failed BCG therapy,” said Michael Berendt, chief executive officer and chief scientist at Telesta.

“This has meant the divestment of two non-core businesses, the sale of unproductive assets and the reduction of corporate overhead through a significant workforce reduction and global expenditure review," he said. "With many of those objectives achieved, it is now appropriate to move forward with a new brand and to be much more aggressive in our delivery of the new Telesta story and opportunity to our two key audiences - potential strategic and commercial partners and current and future investors."

In the coming weeks, Telesta is expected to announce the launch of a new website to reflect its recent changes.

Recent News on MCNA
Last week, Bioniche announced that it is on track to file for a Biologics License Application for MCNA, designed for the treatment of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. The goal is to file the BLA before the end of the first quarter of 2015. The company is also continuing to work with intellectual property advisors to move forward with the prosecution of its broad coverage of the MCNA patent family.

“At this point in time, the company expects to have strong patent coverage in all of the key global markets through to 2031,” Bioniche said in a statement. “In addition, as MCNA is a novel biologic, the Company will automatically benefit from 12 years of market exclusivity upon BLA approval in the United States under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act.”

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