PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
Devonian Health Group Announces the Formation of a Scientific Advisory Board with mandate to assist in the development of Cannabinoïds-based pharmaceutical products.
QUEBEC, April 10, 2019 – Devonian Health Group Inc. (“Devonian” or the “Corporation”) (TSXV: GSD), a clinical stage botanical pharmaceutical corporation focused on developing a unique portfolio of botanical prescription drugs and cosmeceutical products, announced today that it has formed a Scientific Advisory Board comprised of experts in botany, chemistry, immunology, infectious diseases, drug discovery and development. This Scientific Advisory Board will assist Devonian’s Research and Development team in the development of cannabinoïds-based pharmaceutical drugs.
The appointees are Dr. Louis Flamand, PhD, MBA (Laval University), Dr. Suha Jabaji, PhD (McGill University), Prof. Francois Malouin, PhD (Université de Sherbrooke), and Dr. John Trant, PhD (University of Windsor).
“We are honored to welcome these leading Canadian experts to our new Scientific Advisory Board. The expertise they bring to our team will be invaluable in guiding us through the development of cannabinoids-based pharmaceutical drugs,” said Dr. André P. Boulet, PhD., President & CEO of Devonian.
“We believe that cannabinoids-based products could be developed as pharmaceutical drugs either under the normal drug development pathway, as New Chemical Entities (NCE) or under the Botanical Drug Regulation. Under the Botanical Drug Regulation, plant materials, algae, macroscopic fungi, or combinations thereof can be developed as a prescription drug1. Such products benefit of the combined effects of the components called the ‘‘entourage effects’’. The botanical drug’s special features require consideration and adjustment during regulatory review process. The US-Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a Guidance for Industry-Botanical Drug Products1 to take into consideration these features and to facilitate development of new prescription medicines from botanical sources. Devonian’s core strategy is to develop drugs, including cannabinoïds, within the Botanical Drug Regulatory pathway.,” added Dr Boulet.
The Corporation also announces the filing of an application in order to obtain a Cannabis Research Licence from Health Canada.
Dr Louis Flamand, PhD, MBA
Louis Flamand, PhD, MBA, is a full professor and chair of the department of microbiology-infectious-disease-immunology at the Faculty of medicine, Université Laval and senior researcher in the division of infectious and immune diseases at the CHU de Quebec research center-Université Laval. Before joining Laval university, Dr Flamand obtained his PhD in virology from the University of Montreal and post-doctoral training that the National Institutes of Health and at the Institute of Human Virology (Maryland, USA). He received his MBA in pharmaceutical management from Université Laval. He is also member of the HHV-6 Foundation scientific advisory board since 2006. Dr Flamand has experience in pre-clinical development. Throughout his career, Dr Flamand has received several competitive scholarship awards and continuous funding support from several funding agencies for his work in virology. Dr Flamand is the author of more than 90 peer-reviewed publications and is lead Editor of the book “Human Herpesviruses HHV-6A, HHV-6B & HHV-7: Diagnosis and Clinical Management” 3rd edition.
Dr Suha Jabaji, Ph.D.
Dr Suha Jabaji, PhD. is a molecular plant pathologist. She obtained her PhD from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. At the rank of full Professor in Plant Science, McGill University, her scientific contributions are recognized at the national and international levels. She has published 90 plus-refereed scientific reports and delivered more than 200 scientific presentations at scientific conferences. The creativity, relevance, and significance of her research results impacting sustainable agriculture is recognized by invitations to speak in symposia and conference presentations at scientific meetings, and serving on national and international editorial boards and grant panels. Her research expertise focuses on functional genomics and metabolomics of plant fungal pathogens and beneficial microbes that boost the plant’s immune system against biotic and abiotic stress has attracted International researchers to spend time in her lab for training. Her research program is funded by provincial, federal grants as well as industrial collaborative grants and contracts. She has mentored more than 100 graduate and postgraduate students in the field of Plant-microbe interactions. Among her current research themes is the development of effective antimicrobials for the hemp and Cannabis industries, and understanding their mode of action in order to increase their efficiencies. Between 2005-2015, she was appointed as the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education of the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (FAES), McGill where she oversaw the research activities of more than 90 staff at FAES. She currently serves as Past-President of the International Rhizoctonia Subject Matter Committee whose mandate is to coordinate international effort towards effective communication among scientists working on the economic soilborne fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia and promote exchange of resources and ideas among scientists.
Prof François Malouin, PhD
François Malouin is professor (microbiology) at the Department of biology at the Faculty of sciences of Universite de Sherbrooke since 2000. He is a microbiologist that has more than 30 years of academic and industrial experience in drug discovery for use in humans and food-producing animals. Prof Malouin obtained a doctoral degree (Ph.D.) in Medical Sciences (Medical Microbiology) at the University of Calgary (1988) and did postdoctoral training in the anti-infective research group at Lilly Research Laboratories (Eli Lilly & Co., Indianapolis, USA) from 1988 to 1990. Prof Malouin was also Assistant professor of microbiology at the Faculty of medicine of Université Laval in Quebec City where he had a Fellowship from the Medical Research Council of Canada (1990-1994). He was then recruited by biotechnology companies, first Microcide Pharmaceuticals, Inc., then a sister company, Iconix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Silicon Valley, California, USA) from 1994 to 2000, where he was Associate Director of technology development for the discovery of new therapeutic targets and antibiotics. He was also a co-founder of Ulysses Pharmaceuticals (Sherbrooke, QC). Currently at U. de Sherbrooke, his research projects aim at exploiting virulence genes for the development of new antibiotics, vaccines and non-antibiotic alternatives for applications in human and animal health. He is co-author of >100 scientific publications and co-inventor of more than 20 patents (delivered or pending). ). Prof. Malouin was a member and president of the institutional patent committee at Université de Sherbrooke from 2009 to 2017.
“Medicinal plants have been used for centuries for treating various types of illnesses including treatment of infectious diseases. A richness of new chemical entities remains unexploited to this day and cannabinoid-rich products represent such an untapped source of bioactive phytomolecules to address the current crisis of antibiotic resistance”. Said Prof Malouin.
Dr John Trant, PhD
Dr. John Trant received his PhD from the University of Ottawa in 2012 in making antifreeze glycopeptides under the supervision of Dr. Robert Ben. After postdoctoral work with Dr. Tomas Hudlicky (natural product synthesis, Brock) and Dr. Elizabeth Gillies (polymer and nanoscience, Western) he began his own group at the University of Windsor in 2016. The Trant group is focused on bringing the tools of synthetic chemistry to bare on unsolved problems in biomedicine and materials science. The group has active research in molecular and microbiology, natural product and peptide synthesis, and computational chemistry and biochemistry. The group conducts interdisciplinary research with collaborators from around Canada and the World in drug development, analytical chemistry, computational chemistry as well as leading research programs in undergraduate research pedagogy, and laboratory safety. The group has attracted over $2 million in research and infrastructure funds in the first three years of the lab, and currently comprises seven post-doctoral fellows, five graduate students and thirty-one undergraduate researchers.
‘We are exceptionally excited to move forward in this collaboration with Devonian Health Group to advance the health of Canadians’. Said Dr Trant.
About Devonian
Devonian Health Group Inc. is a late stage botanical pharmaceutical corporation with novel therapeutic approaches to targeting unmet medical needs. Devonian’s core strategy is to develop prescription botanical drugs from plant materials and algae for the treatment of inflammatory-autoimmune diseases including but not limited to ulcerative colitis and atopic dermatitis. Based on a foundation of over 15 years of research, Devonian’s focus is further supported by a US-FDA set of regulatory guidelines favouring a more efficient drug development pathway for prescription botanical drug products over those of traditional prescription medicines. Devonian is also involved in the development of high-value cosmeceutical products leveraging the same proprietary approach employed with their pharmaceutical offerings. Devonian Health Group Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Québec, Canada where it owns a state-of-the art extraction facility with full traceability ‘from the seed to the pill’. Acquired in 2018, Altius Healthcare Inc., its commercialization partner, brings opportunities for further diversification and growth potential. Devonian is traded publicly on the TSXV Exchange (TSXv:GSD).
For more information, visit www.groupedevonian.com.
References
- Botanical Drug Development, Guidance for Industry. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), December 2016.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements about Devonian’s objectives, strategies and businesses that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements are “forward-looking” because they are based on our current expectations about the markets we operate in and on various estimates and assumptions. Actual events or results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements if known or unknown risks affect our business, or if our estimates or assumptions turn out to be inaccurate. Such risks and assumptions include, but are not limited to, Devonian’s ability to develop, manufacture, and successfully commercialize value-added pharmaceutical and dermo-cosmeceutical products, the availability of funds and resources to pursue R&D projects, the successful and timely completion of clinical studies, the ability of Devonian to take advantage of business opportunities in the pharmaceutical and dermo-cosmeceutical industries, uncertainties related to the regulatory process and general changes in economic conditions. You will find a more detailed assessment of the risks that could cause actual events or results to materially differ from our current expectations in Devonian’s prospectus dated April 21st, 2017 under the heading “Risk Factors” related to Devonian’s business. As a result, we cannot guarantee that any forward-looking statement will materialize. We assume no obligation to update any forward-looking statement even if new information becomes available, as a result of future events or for any other reason, unless required by applicable securities laws and regulations.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contact:
Dr. André P. Boulet, PhD
President and Chief Executive Officer
Devonian Health Group Inc.
Telephone: (514) 248-7509
e-mail: apboulet@groupedevonian.com