AntoXa

Life-saving biodefense solutions

AntoXa awarded federal government contract for anti-nerve agent enzyme

GUELPH, Ontario, Canada, March 20, 2019 — AntoXa Corporation has been awarded a contract with the Government of Canada to continue work on production of plant-made butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), a protein that provides protection against toxic nerve agents such as sarin and soman.

The one-year contract, worth up to $329,395, with a possible extension for two more years, advances earlier collaboration between Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) and AntoXa’s parent company, PlantForm Corporation, and Drs. Warren Wakarchuk of Ryerson University and Alisdair Boraston of the University of Victoria.

The project will focus on evaluating multiple BuChE drug candidates and continue to develop and optimize the manufacturing process using PlantForm’s rapid, low-cost tobacco-plant-based vivoXPRESS® technology, said Ashley Meyers, AntoXa’s President and Chief Operating Officer.

“We’re pleased to continue our longstanding collaboration on BuChE with DRDC. The funding validates our medical countermeasures and highlights the growing need for an antidote to nerve agent exposure,” Meyers said.

“Events like the attempted assassination in Salisbury, England in 2018 and the repeated use of nerve agents in Syria underline the importance of our work to develop new approaches to protect against chemical terrorism agents.”

The contract brings the total value of contracts for the creation of stable glyco-modified Nicotiana benthamiana plant lines for the production of pharmaceutical proteins, and continued supply of recombinant butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) to DRDC, to nearly $1.3 million.

About AntoXa Corporation (www.antoxacorp.com)

AntoXa Corporation is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing medical countermeasures to protect military and civilian personnel from biological and chemical agents, as well as outbreaks of naturally occurring infectious diseases.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of PlantForm Corporation, AntoXa holds an exclusive licence to the vivoXPRESS® biopharmaceutical manufacturing platform to produce countermeasures for ricin, sarin, soman and Ebola Sudan, as well as other defence-related therapeutics.

vivoXPRESS® technology uses genetically engineered tobacco plants to produce biopharmaceuticals in less than six weeks at a significantly lower cost of goods compared to industry standard fermentation systems.

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For more information, please contact:

Ashley J. Meyers
President and COO, AntoXa Corp.
[email protected]
+905-852-0850

Stacey Curry Gunn
Director of Communications, AntoXa Corp.
[email protected]
+1 519-827-1131

Ashley J. Meyers appointed President and COO of AntoXa Corporation

Guelph, Ont., Canada, Dec. 20, 2018 — AntoXa Corporation announced today that Ms. Ashley J. Meyers has been appointed President and Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Ashley J. Meyers, President and COO of AntoXa Corporation.

Ms. Meyers has been a member of the Canadian biopharmaceutical company’s leadership team since the company’s inception. She brings more than 10 years of experience in drug research and development with a focus on recombinant proteins and production of these products for pre-clinical trials.

“We’re very pleased that Ashley will be taking the reins to lead AntoXa through the company’s next stage of growth and development,” said Dr. Don Stewart, AntoXa’s CEO and founding president. “She has been leading our medical countermeasures research and development programs since 2012 and has secured more than $2.2 million towards advancing these programs.”

Ms. Meyers will continue work to develop three key assets:

  • PhD9 anti-ricin antibody
  • BuChE, a countermeasure for sarin and soman nerve agents
  • biosimilar Herceptin to treat trauma in military personnel and civilians

In April, AntoXa was granted a license from Defence Research & Development Canada (DRDC), an agency of the Canadian Department of National Defence, to develop and produce an anti-ricin monoclonal antibody for sale in markets worldwide.

“Ashley’s leadership and expertise will be an important asset as AntoXa continues to build partnerships with investors and government agencies to bring these important drugs to market,” Stewart said.

Ms. Meyers completed a M.Sc. degree in protein engineering in plants from the University of Guelph under the supervision of Dr. J.Christopher Hall, PlantForm’s co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer and a member of the AntoXa Board of Directors. In addition to her work with AntoXa, she has over five years of experience as a project manager for government-funded contracts for PlantForm Corporation and is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

About AntoXa Corporation (www.antoxacorp.com)

AntoXa Corporation is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing medical countermeasures to protect military and civilian personnel from biological and chemical agents, as well as outbreaks of naturally occurring infectious diseases.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of PlantForm Corporation, AntoXa holds an exclusive licence to the vivoXPRESS® biopharmaceutical manufacturing platform to produce countermeasures for ricin, sarin, soman and Ebola Sudan, as well as other defence-related therapeutics.

vivoXPRESS® technology uses genetically engineered tobacco plants to produce biopharmaceuticals in less than six weeks at a significantly lower cost of goods compared to industry standard fermentation systems.

– end –

For more information, please contact:

Ashley J. Meyers
President and COO, AntoXa Corp.
[email protected]
+905-852-0850

Stacey Curry Gunn
Director of Communications, AntoXa Corp.
[email protected]
+1 519-827-1131

Ron Hosking appointed to AntoXa Corporation Board of Directors

Guelph, Ont., Canada, Nov. 28, 2018 — Ron Hosking, CPA, CA, has been appointed to the AntoXa Corporation Board of Directors, effective immediately.

Mr. Hosking is a chartered accountant with three decades of experience as a financial manager in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries. He is also Chief Financial Officer and a founder of PlantForm Corporation.

The appointment follows the death of James M. Rae in early November 2018. Mr. Rae served on the AntoXa Board of Directors since the company’s inception as a subsidiary of PlantForm Corporation. He also served for several years on PlantForm’s Board of Directors.

“We are deeply saddened by Jim’s passing,” said Don Stewart, CEO of AntoXa and PlantForm Corporation. “He will be greatly missed as a friend and colleague who made significant contributions to both PlantForm and AntoXa through his strategic counsel and years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. His vision provided the impetus for establishing AntoXa as a subsidiary focused on medical countermeasures to biological and chemical threats, a legacy that will help make the world a safer place.”

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For more information,

Don Stewart
CEO, AntoXa Corporation
[email protected]
+416-452-7242

Stacey Curry Gunn
Director of Communications, AntoXa Corp.
[email protected]
+1 519-827-1131

AntoXa Corporation granted Defence R&D Canada license for novel, plant-made anti-ricin antibody

GUELPH, Ont., Canada, April 16, 2018— AntoXa Corporation has obtained a license from Defence Research & Development Canada (DRDC), an Agency of the Canadian Department of National Defence, to develop and produce an anti-ricin monoclonal antibody for sale in markets worldwide.

The licensing agreement follows work AntoXa and the J.C. Hall laboratory at the University of Guelph conducted with DRDC to develop and produce the plant-made antibody PhD9 as a medical countermeasure for ricin exposure, a program that has received more than $600,000 (CAD) from the Government of Canada since 2014.

“We anticipate market entry for the PhD9 anti-ricin antibody within two to three years, a timeline that is dependent on raising the necessary funds for scale up and other activities necessary to obtain regulatory approvals,” said Ashley Meyers, AntoXa Chief Technical Officer.

“This antibody will be produced in the vivoXPRESS® plant-based manufacturing system licensed from PlantForm Corporation, which uniquely addresses the critical need for cost-effective, large-scale production of antidotes for ricin and other potential terrorism threats.”

Ricin is a naturally occurring protein from the castor-bean plant, Ricinus communis. It is extremely toxic to humans when inhaled or injected and is listed as a Category B threat agent by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention due to its ease of production, worldwide availability, relative stability and extreme lethality. There is currently no approved antidote against ricin poisoning. It acts very quickly and leaves a short window for administering therapeutic antibodies.

The PhD9 antibody drug candidate prevents ricin from penetrating cells. DRDC conducted in vitro and in vivo studies that found the plant-made version of the antibody showed therapeutic efficacy against ricin intoxication. The findings were presented at the Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics Conference in December 2015.

Next steps for the commercialization of PhD9 are transitioning to large-scale GMP manufacturing, product characterization, animal safety and efficacy studies, and a Phase 1 human clinical trial. Medical countermeasures do not require Phase 2 and Phase 3 human efficacy trials for ethical reasons, therefore the path to regulatory approval is shorter than for other pharmaceuticals.

About AntoXa Corporation (www.antoxacorp.com)

AntoXa Corporation is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing medical countermeasures to protect military and civilian personnel from biological and chemical agents, as well as outbreaks of naturally occurring infectious diseases.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of PlantForm Corporation, AntoXa holds an exclusive licence to the vivoXPRESS® biopharmaceutical manufacturing platform to produce countermeasures for ricin, sarin, soman and Ebola Sudan, as well as other defence-related therapeutics.

vivoXPRESS® technology uses genetically engineered plants to produce biopharmaceuticals in less than six weeks at a significantly lower cost of goods compared to industry standard fermentation systems.

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For more information, please contact:

Don Stewart
President and CEO, AntoXa Corp.
[email protected]
+1 416-452-7242

Stacey Curry Gunn
Director of Communications, AntoXa Corp.
[email protected]
+1 519-827-1131

Study shows antibody’s efficacy against ricin

AntoXa is working with Defence Research & Development Canada (DRDC) to develop and produce a plant-made antibody, PhD9, to protect against ricin exposure, a program that has received more than $400,000 (CDN) from the Government of Canada since 2014.

Ricin is a naturally occurring protein from Ricinus communis. It is extremely toxic to humans when inhaled or injected and is considered a high bioterrorism risk for the public. Ricin is listed as a Category B threat agent by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention due to its ease of production, worldwide availability, relative stability and extreme lethality.

There is currently no antidote against ricin poisoning. It acts very quickly and leaves a short window for administering therapeutic antibodies.

The PhD9 antibody drug candidate developed by DRDC and produced using AntoXa’s vivoXPRESS® system prevents ricin from penetrating cells. DRDC conducted in vitro and in vivo studies that found the plant-made version of the antibody showed therapeutic efficacy against ricin intoxication that was comparable to hD9 produced using mammalian cell technology. The findings were presented at the Antibody Engineering and Therapeutics Conference in December 2015.

“We’re very encouraged by the initial study results for the plant-produced anti-ricin antibody,” said Dr. Don Stewart, AntoXa President and CEO. “We believe that plants hold the key to cost-effective, large-scale production of antidotes for ricin and other potential bioterrorism threats.”

 

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Plant-made biopharmaceuticals for a safer world. AntoXa Corporation is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing medical countermeasures to protect military and civilian personnel from biological and chemical agents that might be used in terrorist attacks, as well as outbreaks of naturally ...
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vivoXPRESS® MANUFACTURING SYSTEM
The plant-based vivoXPRESS® manufacturing platform offers several advantages over the mammalian and bacterial cell culture systems used to produce most recombinant protein pharmaceuticals. Here’s how it works.

BioPharming Info Centre

Biopharming, also known as plant molecular farming, refers to the use of genetically modified plants to produce a wide range of pharmaceuticals and industrial products. See our Biopharming Info Centre to Learn more about the science and history of using plants to produce complex therapeutic proteins.