VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - July 21, 2014) - Sirona Biochem Corp. (TSX VENTURE: SBM) (SRBCF) (ZSB.F) today provided a business update.
Dear Shareholders and Investors,
As announced in our recent news release, I, Howard Verrico, have stepped in as CEO of Sirona Biochem. Although this change is significant, I have always maintained an active role in Sirona’s operations throughout its history making this an efficient transition. I can assure you we are moving along on all initiatives as planned. As founder, Chairman of the Board and a major shareholder I will personally ensure the responsibilities and deliverables of CEO are achieved. Under supervision of Sirona’s Board, the search, selection and appointment of a new executive management team member will occur as a priority task.
Financial:
In February 2014, we announced the completion of a $1.2M private placement. The original plan was to follow this up with a US led investment of approximately $4 million. This initiative was abandoned since terms did not meet our vision for the direction of our company. The management of the company was and is unwilling to settle for terms that we feel create risk to the current shareholder value.
We anticipate minimal financing needs over the next twelve to eighteen months. To avoid unnecessary dilution, we will continue to apply for government grants and loans where applicable rather than pursue an equity raise. Moreover, we are expecting further substantial milestone payments as well as initial royalty payments.
Our current institutional investors remain very supportive of our future growth strategy. We have recently been encouraged by strong interest from European investors which could bode very well for us going forward. In addition to that, we plan to further increase market awareness for Sirona in the next several months.
Strategy:
Sirona Biochem remains committed to a streamlined business strategy of chemistry, patent and license.
Our expertise remains in creating new chemical compounds (pharmaceutical and cosmetic) that have distinct advantages over existing technologies. Each compound that we create will be licensed to an industry-leading company who will be responsible for developing, manufacturing and selling the compound. In return, Sirona will receive licensing fees, milestone payments and ongoing royalty payments.
Through our platform technology, we have been able to diversify our risk across multiple projects, increase our portfolio size more quickly and continue to build our credibility and reputation as experts in the discovery of innovative therapeutics.
The Board of Directors is taking an increasingly active role in refining the company strategy and how it is implemented. Our Board has a diverse and valuable skill set which we are utilizing to the fullest extent.
Operations:
In March, we bolstered our France team with the addition of Claude Nivet. Claude’s official title is Laboratory Manager. This role was developed specifically to assist in growing operations and relieving our Chief Scientific Officer, Geraldine Deliencourt-Godefroy, of some of her non-scientific tasks. This will allow her to focus on innovation and management of the current pipeline.
Our current R&D focus is on the following:
• Assist Obagi/Valeant in the manufacturing and monetization of our skin lightener. Obagi/Valeant will be responsible for the formulation and sales of the compound;
•Develop the anti-aging library of compounds in anticipation of government funding and commencement of pre-clinical studies;
• Synthesize the anti-inflammatory compound for our Bloom Burton partnership.
As projects progress and resources become available, we will explore new areas where our technology will add significant value.
Current Business Development:
• At the end of April 2014, Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals began pre-clinical validation for Sirona Biochem’s second generation SGLT2 Inhibitor. To date, Sirona has received Wanbang’s initial licensing fee and the Chinese government’s innovation tax application has been approved. Wanbang has successfully hired an expert in pharmacology and toxicity to lead the project and compound synthesis has begun to ensure quantities of the compound will be available for all future clinical trials. Further updates from Wanbang will become available shortly.
• Obagi Medical Products is moving forward on Sirona Biochem’s skin lightening compound TFC-849. Obagi Medical Products is responsible for all development, manufacturing and sales of the compound and in return Sirona Biochem will receive licensing and milestone fees and ongoing royalty payments.
• Our Joint Venture with Bloom Burton and Co. is progressing nicely. Once the first compound is synthesized, it will enter early stage testing. Bloom Burton is Canada’s largest and most active healthcare-specialized investment banking firm. The goal of this joint venture is to conduct collaborative research to develop and commercialize new therapeutics in the areas of inflammation and infectious disease.
• Sirona’s Chief Scientific Officer recently attended industry meetings in New York City. The meetings were very successful and have generated multiple potential partnerships. We will provide updates regarding these opportunities on the next shareholder letter. Although we have a number of significant partnering initiatives fully executed and underway, we are continuing to explore new partnership opportunities and currently have multiple ongoing conversations with large Pharma and cosmetic companies around the world.
Our goal has always been for Sirona Biochem to become the global leader in the process of compound stabilization which leads to unlimited applications in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. The value of Sirona Biochem lies in its technology and we intend to put our resources behind this. At the end of the day, our common goal is to create shareholder value which is exactly what we work to accomplish every single day. Sirona is well positioned to take advantage of some of the major opportunities that are available to us and we are working diligently to take our company to the next level.
I sincerely appreciate the past support of our shareholders and ask for your future support as we move forward.
Best Regards,
Dr. Howard Verrico
CEO, Chairman of the Board
Sirona Biochem
About Sirona Biochem Corp.
Sirona Biochem is not a traditional biotech company. Sirona is a product-pipeline company with a proprietary technology platform developed at its laboratory facility in France. The company specializes in the stabilization of carbohydrate molecules, with the goal of improving compounds’ efficacy and safety. Sirona Biochem’s compounds are being developed for both pharmaceutical and cosmetic marketplaces and are patented as new chemical entities for maximum commercial protection and revenue potential. Newly developed compounds are licensed to leading companies around the world in return for licensing and milestone fees and ongoing royalty payments. TFChem, Sirona Biochem’s wholly-owned French laboratory is a recipient of multiple French national scientific awards and a European Union and French government grant. For more information please visit www.sironabiochem.com.
Contact:
For more information regarding this press release, contact:
Christopher Hopton
CFO
Sirona Biochem Corp.
Phone: 1.604.282.6064
Email: chopton@sironabiochem.com
