Melbourne, Florida, December 11 - QuoNova LLC, which is 90% owned by XL TechGroup, Inc. (AIM: XLT), has achieved an important, early-stage milestone in the development of a new treatment for wound-related bacterial infections. QuoNova has also had two key patents allowed by the US Patent Office and is currently ahead of schedule in relation to the commercialisation plans for its paradigm-shifting approach to fighting the effects of bacteria.
QuoNova produces safe, efficacious agents in the global fight against infection and damage caused by microbial biofilms. QuoNova's business strategy is to develop and commercialize its proprietary Quorum Sensing Blocker ("QSB") platform and introduce a disruptive paradigm of "smart microbial control". QuoNova is targeting multiple multi-billion dollar markets including therapeutics, medical devices, consumer care, agriculture and several industrial applications.
Micro-organisms use chemical signal molecules to communicate and recognize population density (Quorum Sensing) in order to organize their social behaviour, and co-ordinate the production of virulence factors, such as the release of toxins and biofilm formation. Biofilms are complex matrices produced by colonies of micro-organisms, and are very difficult to eradicate as they protect themselves against the immune system or conventional treatments such as antibiotics or biocides. In the healthcare environment they contribute significantly to complications in lung disease and wound healing, to medical device-associated infections as well as to dental plaque and contact lens-associated infection. In the home and in industrial processes they are a major cause of contamination, corrosion and efficiency reductions.
QuoNova's QSB technology disrupts microbial communication systems and by so doing inhibits toxin production, prevents biofilm formation and promotes degradation of already established biofilms. Moreover, research to date indicates that QuoNova's QSB compounds are non-toxic and safe. QSB molecules do not kill micro-organisms, but instead influence their life style to maintain or return them to a state where they can be removed by intrinsic control mechanisms such as the immune system or by treatments much less aggressive than those currently available. This should significantly reduce or eliminate the processes that lead to the development of drug resistant organisms, and differentiates QSBs substantially from conventional antimicrobial approaches. QSB molecules will therefore initiate a new era in preventing the effects of microbial colonization, capable of overcoming the decreasing effectiveness of conventional treatments against biofilms and multi-resistant pathogens such as MRSA.
In collaboration with a leading university, QuoNova has generated initial animal model data demonstrating that colonisation of secondary burn wounds with clinically relevant bacteria is significantly reduced by application of its proprietary QSBs. Moreover, a marked synergy with silver sulfadiazine, a commonly used antibacterial preparation, has been observed. These promising early-stage results indicate that QSBs could offer a new, efficacious approach to supplement clinical means of improving wound healing. They also form the basis for progression into regulatory trials during 2008 as well as the basis for further patent filings.
QuoNova's allowed patents relate to selected claims filed in US patent applications 10/429,875 and 10/839,221. They cover composition of matter rights for key small molecule compounds used as QSB agents, which prevent the pathogenicity and deleterious effects, including biofilm formation, of micro-organisms in multiple situations from human health to industrial processes. QuoNova is continuing to strengthen the IP portfolio supporting its QSB platform with a series of pending applications that cover a variety of chemical compound classes demonstrating QSB activity, and methods of use for these compounds. This notice of allowance is the first of a series forming the foundation for the successful future commercialization of the QSB platform and bolsters QuoNova's ability to secure strong partnerships with industry leaders in the many sectors where the technology will find application.
Dr. Heiri Gugger, CEO of QuoNova, said: "QuoNova's scientific team is laying the core foundation with our now emerging broad IP portfolio to develop proprietary products and applications. The notice of patent allowance represents an important step towards securing a dominant position in this emerging field. QuoNova will build on this to develop its portfolio of own and partnered products from this disruptive platform technology, to maximize commercial return while minimizing development risk. We are also delighted that we have achieved an important proof of concept milestone in wound care. It gives us the opportunity to create a completely new therapeutic principle for the treatment of chronic wound infections."
For further information:
| XL TechGroup Inc. |
|
| John Scott / Harold Gubnitsky | Tel: +1 321 409 7403 |
| hgubnitsky@xltg.com | www.xltechgroup.com |
| Chris Munden, Director of Investor Relations | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7720 |
| cmunden@xltg.com |
For media enquiries:
| Abchurch Communications | |
| Heather Salmond / Gareth Mead | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 |
| gareth.mead@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com |
Notes to Editors
About QuoNova LLC
QuoNova was formed as a Delaware LLC in December 2006 by XL TechGroup, with QuoNova Europe, GmbH formed in 2007. The company was founded with the expressed mission of modulating and controlling the behavior of bacteria, with a particular focus on combating biofilms. QuoNova’s founding technology platform is a series of proprietary compounds containing QSBs. QuoNova has since been engaged in the identification, selection and development of compounds for specific applications. XL TechGroup owns 90% of QuoNova.
Heiri Gugger, Ph.D - CEO
Heiri joined XL TechGroup in April 2007 as the CEO of QuoNova LLC. He has over twenty-five years’ experience in growing high-tech and life sciences companies from within and through M&A transactions. He has extensive global corporate management experience at both small public and large multinational companies. Prior to his appointment at QuoNova, Heiri was President and CEO of Icoria, Inc. (NASDAQ: ICOR), which he transformed from a functional genomics agricultural research services company into a healthcare biomarkers company anchored in systems biology. Before, in his capacity as President of Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc. Heiri served on that company’s several biotechnology units in the US and served as Vice-Chairman of the American Crop Protection Industry Association. Since 1999 he has served on the Board of the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, where is a member of the Executive and Nominating Committee. Heiri holds a Ph.D in Chemistry from the University of Bern, Switzerland and was an IBM World Trade Postdoctoral Fellow in Applied Physics.
Aldo Ammendola, Ph.D - CSO
Aldo is the founder of QuoNova's QSB technology and joined QuoNova LLC as CSO in June 2007. He spent his academic years studying biology and microbiology, before starting and leading drug discovery projects, including the QSB project at 4SC AG. He worked at 4SC for five years in different positions, as Project Leader Anti-bacterials, Manager Pipeline Projects and Manager Business Development. Since then he has gained experience in many strategic and operational aspects of life science industrial practice from his position of Senior Consultant, Life Sciences, at Capgemini Consulting, before joining QuoNova. Aldo is based at QuoNova’s German subsidiary in Munich/Martinsried and holds a degree in Biology from the University of Freiburg, Germanyand a Ph.D in Microbiology from the Technical University of Munich, Germany.
Jonathan Turner, Ph.D - Managing Director
Based in Germany, Jon’s main activities at XL TechGroup comprise the identification, evaluation and acquisition of novel technologies for the generation of new companies in the XL TechGroup pipeline, as well as management responsibilities which are currently focused on QuoNova. Jon brings over twenty years’ senior management experience at some of the leading pharmaceutical companies in the world. His industrial career began at Schering AG where, as Departmental Head CNS Research, he had responsibility for major collaborative and internal drug discovery efforts in Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. He moved to business development as Global Director, Discovery Alliances at AstraZeneca PLC, focusing on respiratory and inflammatory diseases and most recently was Corporate Head, Business Development at Boehringer Ingelheim, with responsibility for product acquisitions in the clinical phase across all major indications. Jon has a Bachelor of Science degree and a Ph.D in Neurophysiology from the University of St Andrews, Scotland.
About XL TechGroup
XL TechGroup is in the business of significant value creation. Working with major international corporate and technology partners such as AES, Procter & Gamble and leading universities, XL TechGroup first identifies global unmet market needs and then targets and exploits these by the systematic creation of successful, disruptive technology businesses. These new companies are built from scratch, and are then managed, developed and funded by XL TechGroup through to the point of a trade sale or a stock market listing.
XL TechGroup’s unique and proven methodology selects the best opportunities in order to create one-to-two new companies annually, where each company is expected to achieve a realisable valuation of at least US$400 million within four years from its creation. It is XL TechGroup’s aim to deliver significant shareholder distributions at the final exit from each company or from other liquidity events.
XL TechGroup’s companies to date are:
XL TechGroup has also established GenXL LLC as a joint venture to capture the value of those prospects that do not fully meet XL TechGroup’s US$400 million, four year criteria but still demonstrate considerable potential worth. Over and above XL TechGroup’s core business model, GenXL is reviewing a significant flow of opportunities from both XL TechGroup and GEN3 in order to generate new companies, standalone product lines and technology licensing opportunities or an appropriate mix of these.
For further information, see www.xltechgroup.com.
QuoNova™ LLC was established in December 2006 by XL Tech Group, Inc.