Pioneer in Islet Transplantation, Dr. James Shapiro, Joins Sernova Corp. Scientific Advisory Board

LONDON, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - September 21, 2010) - Sernova Corp. (TSX VENTURE: SVA), is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. James Shapiro, MD, Ph.D. FRCS (Eng.) FRCSC, to the Corporation's Scientific Advisory Board. In 2000, Dr. Shapiro led the team responsible for developing the Edmonton Protocol which was a major advancement in the treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes and now the current standard of care for Islet Transplantation.

"The experience and clinical expertise of Dr. Shapiro will be invaluable to Sernova as it continues to plan its clinical trials program." noted Dr. Philip Toleikis, President & CEO of Sernova Corp.

Dr. Shapiro, a world-renowned transplantation scientist and clinician is Director of the Clinical Islet Transplantation Program at the University of Alberta where he oversees the largest clinical islet transplant program in the world.

Dr. Shapiro's research contributions have been principally focused on improving outcomes of clinical islet transplantation. Under his leadership, an extensive network of international collaborations has been developed to study islet function, and to monitor for tolerance and autoimmune reactivity in the islet recipients receiving immunosuppression. He is Principle Investigator on a number of US National Institutes for Health (NIH) and Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF)-funded clinical trials, including clinical testing of co-stimulation blockade in islet transplantation and he led an international multicentre trial of the Edmonton Protocol.

"I am very impressed with the preclinical assessment of Sernova's Cell Pouch System™ and look forward to its clinical application," Said Dr. Shapiro.

Dr. Shapiro has been the recipient of many awards, including a Hunterian Medal from the Royal College of Surgeons of England, the Gold Medal in Surgery from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and the Governor General's Gold Medal. He is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal from the Governor General of Canada.

He sits on the Editorial Board of the journal Transplantation and Diabetes Therapeutics and Technology, and is an active reviewer for several journals including Nature Medicine, Transplantation, and The British Journal of Surgery.

"The Sernova team is honored by this enormous opportunity to work with such an eminent scientist and leader in the islet transplant field. We are looking forward to having Dr. Shapiro's involvement in the ongoing development of our clinical and regulatory strategy for the Cell Pouch System™, added Dr. David White, Chairman of Sernova's Scientific Advisory Board.

Sernova's Cell Pouch System™ is a scalable medical device providing a natural "organ-like" environment for therapeutic cells. Once implanted under the skin, it develops into a tissue-engineered pancreas when infused with islets. The natural environment established by the Cell Pouch System™ is expected to conserve cell number, and promote natural function thereby increasing cell survival, while significantly increasing the number of treatable patients beyond those with severe disease.

About Sernova

Sernova Corp. is a Canadian-based health sciences company focused on product development and commercialization of innovative proprietary platform medical technologies in the cell therapy arena such as the Cell Pouch System™ to provide a safe and efficacious environment for therapeutic cells and Sertolin™, a technology which, when combined with cell therapy, may protect therapeutic cells without the need for patients to take anti-rejection drugs.

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