TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - November 11, 2009) - Bio-Extraction Inc. (TSX VENTURE: BXI)(“BioExx” or “the Company”) is pleased to announce that it has filed a significant new patent application allowing for the production of Protein Concentrates (up to 70% purity) from oilseed meal produced in conventional, higher-temperature, processing facilities. While this technology would not be used in the specialty low-temperature processing facilities to be constructed and operated by BioExx, this does represent an opportunity for BioExx to leverage its intellectual property through licensees to rather simply and significantly increase the value of the meal produced in existing conventional facilities. This value increase is enabled by the ability to process conventional meal, which is primarily sold as lower value animal feed, to produce Protein Concentrates which may sell for three to five times the price of meal.
The initial licensing focus of the Company will be on canola and rapeseed meal markets. With 2007/08 crop year global production of conventional canola and rapeseed meal at 27.7 million metric tonnes (source: USDA), this represents a potentially significant and complementary new source of passive licensing revenue for BioExx over the medium to long term, in addition to the revenues from its core business of owning and operating high-value protein isolate production facilities.
Due to the fundamental limitations created by high temperature canola and rapeseed processing, the Protein Concentrates produced by this new method would be suitable only for use in specialty feed markets, and not suitable for the human-food Protein Isolate markets which are the core business and key focus of BioExx. It is not possible with this technology to produce the higher-value BioExx Protein Isolates, which are a completely different product, with much higher purity, solubility, and a significantly different amino acid profile. Although this new patent-pending process was created as an offshoot of the BioExx development work in that area, when these novel methods were modified for extension to standard toasted meal as an input, a high quality Protein Concentrate was created. The product shows a strong nutritional profile, suitable for specialty feed applications, with low anti-nutritional factors and a mix of soluble and insoluble protein.
BioExx believes that the new process technology may be made available as a relatively simple retrofit onto the back end of conventional canola processing facilities, and with a capital and operating cost profile that would drive an attractive return on investment for licensees. Without compromising its efforts on the primary business of constructing and operating additional and larger facilities to produce high-value protein isolates, BioExx plans to spend the next year working confidentially with selected licensees to fully develop this unique new technology, with a targeted initial commercialization within the next 24 months. Licensing in this manner is also intended to enable deployment and revenue generation without any significant additional capital expenditure by BioExx.
“While we are very excited about this new development, we have no intention of letting it impair our very strong progress or our timetable for protein isolate production in Saskatoon. Given that our team was able to complete this project in less than six months and at minimal cost, we see it as indicative of the broad reach of potential advancements that can and will be achieved through the application of our unique and growing portfolio of intellectual property,” said BioExx CEO, Chris Carl. “Our team remains firmly committed to and highly confident in the successful commercialization of our protein isolate production in Saskatoon in mid Q1 2010, and all work in that regard is proceeding well and according to plan.”
Patent Portfolio Update
BioExx also recently filed two additional patent applications that are directly related to the specialty proteins to be produced at BioExx facilities, bringing the total number of patents issued and pending to ten.
The increasingly broad patent portfolio that BioExx has developed protects its very unique and proprietary processes and products. The scope of this portfolio now covers:
-- Protection of scalable, economic low temperature extraction methods -- Protection of unique solvent combinations to effect such extractions -- Protection of unique solvent separation and recovery methods -- Protection of unique methods of producing protein concentrates, protein isolates and hydrolyzed protein extracts from oilseeds -- Protection of the unique products resulting from the foregoing processes
The BioExx protein patent claims also cover rapeseed, mustard seed, soy, and flax and hence are not limited to canola protein.
The BioExx process that is being deployed for commercial protein isolate production does not use high temperatures or process additives that cannot be fully removed from the end products, and specifically does not use salt solutions, in any form, at any stage in the process. The processes and products that BioExx has developed have undergone extensive scientific and legal review, including substantial product testing, to confirm their unique properties and assessment of freedom to operate in the marketplace.
About Bio-Extraction Inc.
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, BioExx is a leading technology and industrial processing company focused on the extraction of oil and high-value proteins from oilseeds for the global food, beverage, and nutrition markets. BioExx’s patented technology allows for the use of significantly lower temperatures than conventional methods in extracting the active ingredients and oils from oilseeds, resulting in higher yields and higher-quality meal, oils and proteins. BioExx’s low energy requirements, environmentally sound process, and high-yield production have the potential to make a valuable contribution to global food and protein markets. BioExx operates a commercial scale facility in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and has a mission to construct additional and larger processing facilities on a global basis. To find out more about Bio-Extraction Inc. (TSX VENTURE: BXI), please visit www.bioexx.com.
“The statements made in this press release include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management’s current expectations and assumptions. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements, such as the economy, generally, competition in its target markets, the demand for BioExx’s products, the availability of funding, the efficacy of its technology, and the anticipated costs of BioExx’s plant construction and operation. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and BioExx does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from BioExx’s expectations and projections.”
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.
Contacts:
Bio-Extraction Inc.
Chris Schnarr
Chief Financial Officer
(416) 588-4442 x111
cschnarr@bioexx.com
Investor Relations:
Scott Koyich
President, Brisco Capital Partners
(403) 262-9888
scott@briscocapital.com