Nuvilex, Inc., an international biotechnology company providing cell and gene therapy solutions for the treatment of diseases, has acquired the exclusive worldwide rights to use the cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology for the development of treatments for diabetes from SG Austria Pte. Ltd.
Nuvilex has secured $1.5 million in funding through the sale of restricted stock to accredited investors at a fixed price of $0.15 per share, a premium to the current market price per share, to complete this acquisition. One million dollars of the funds will be used for this acquisition. The balance of the funds will be used for ongoing preparations for Nuvilex's phase III clinical trials in pancreatic cancer.
Nuvilex's decision to make the acquisition stems, in large part, from the results of "proof-of-principle" studies in which cells that produce insulin were transplanted into diabetic animals. The diabetic animals had much higher than normal levels of glucose in their bloodstream and had a difficult time controlling their glucose levels, just as humans with diabetes do. In animals provided with the encapsulated cells, their blood glucose levels normalized and remained stable for the duration of one six-month study, indicating the encapsulated cells produced insulin in response to their higher than normal blood glucose levels. The cellulose-based capsules seem to have prevented the encapsulated cells from being attacked by the diabetic animals' immune systems, even in the absence of immunosuppressive drugs. Therefore, the encapsulated cells appear to have acted as an artificial or replacement pancreas.
Patricia Gruden, the chairman and CFO of Nuvilex, commented, "On behalf of my fellow Board members, I would like to thank both Dr Ryan and Dr Crabtree for their countless hours of hard work in securing this potentially world-changing, cutting-edge technology. We have now secured rights to technology that has the potential to change the manner in which diabetes will be treated in the future. According to a report by Transparency Market Research, entitled 'Global Diabetes Devices Market and Diabetes Drugs Market -- Industry Scenario, Trends, Analysis, Size, Share and Forecast, 2011 - 2018,' the global diabetes market for therapeutic devices and drugs is expected to reach US $114.3 billion by 2018. Nuvilex's plan is to become the world-wide leader in this market."
The president and CEO of Nuvilex, Dr Robert F Ryan, stated, "We are pleased to have secured this critical financing that has now enabled us to acquire the worldwide rights for the cellulose-based, live-cell encapsulation technology for the development of diabetes treatments. This acquisition is a major step in the continuing evolution of Nuvilex as a biotechnology company focused on live-cell encapsulation for the treatment of cancer and diabetes."
Nuvilex is a biotechnology company with the rights to a novel cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology that will be used as a platform upon which treatments for several types of cancer, including advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer, and diabetes may be built.