Ceapro Inc. Announces R&D Funding to Support PGX Technology Project

– PGX Technology further recognized as a disruptive technology

– Additional support paves the way for the manufacturing of pharmaceutical-grade yeast beta glucan (YBG)

EDMONTON, Alberta, Nov. 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ceapro Inc. (TSX-V: CZO; OTCQX: CRPOF) (“Ceapro” or the “Company”), a growth-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of active ingredients for healthcare and cosmetic industries, today announced they are receiving advisory services and up to $480,000 in funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) to support Ceapro’s project entitled, “Boosting innovation capacity of Pressurized Gas eXpanded Technology (PGX) towards pharmaceutical applications.”

This project follows previous work supported by NRC IRAP where Ceapro successfully upgraded its Edmonton-based demonstration PGX plant and developed several biopolymer blends like alginate-yeast beta glucan-CoQ10 as well as a pure powder formulation of yeast beta glucan, which is now being studied as a potential inhalable therapeutic for fibrotic lung diseases including COVID-19 conditions.

This additional support from NRC IRAP will allow Ceapro to further develop the patented PGX Technology to increase its innovation capacity by designing the first pharmaceutical PGX processing unit along with bioactive impregnation and loading units. These new units will be used to generate active pharmaceutical ingredients like yeast beta glucan needed for stability studies and clinical human trials required to confirm its immune-boosting benefits while also tackling post-COVID-19 conditions such as pain, depression, sleep disorders, anxiety, and lung fibrosis.

“We are very grateful to NRC IRAP for their unwavering support,” said Gilles Gagnon, M.Sc., MBA, President and CEO of Ceapro. “In line with our stated strategy to expand our business model towards becoming a high-end Life Science company, this support will allow Ceapro to design and initiate the construction of the first pharmaceutical-grade PGX system that we believe will produce tomorrow’s active pharmaceutical ingredients.”

About Pressurized Gas eXpanded Liquid Technology (PGX)

Ceapro’s patented Pressurized Gas eXpanded (PGX) technology is a unique and disruptive technology with several key advantages over conventional drying and purification technologies that can be used to process biopolymers into high-value, fine-structured, open-porous polymer structures and novel biocomposites. PGX is ideally suited for processing challenging high-molecular-weight, water-soluble biopolymers. It has the ability to make ultra-light, highly porous polymer structures on a continuous basis, which is not possible using today’s conventional technologies. PGX was invented by Dr. Feral Temelli from the Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science of the University of Alberta (U of A) along with Dr. Bernhard Seifried, now Senior Director of Engineering Research and Technology at Ceapro. The license from U of A provides Ceapro with exclusive worldwide rights in all industrial applications.

About Ceapro Inc.

Ceapro Inc. is a Canadian biotechnology company involved in the development of proprietary extraction technology and the application of this technology to the production of extracts and “active ingredients” from oats and other renewable plant resources. Ceapro adds further value to its extracts by supporting their use in cosmeceutical, nutraceutical, and therapeutics products for humans and animals. The Company has a broad range of expertise in natural product chemistry, microbiology, biochemistry, immunology and process engineering. These skills merge in the fields of active ingredients, biopharmaceuticals and drug-delivery solutions. For more information on Ceapro, please visit the Company’s website at www.ceapro.com.

For more information contact:

Jenene Thomas
JTC Team, LLC
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Advisor
T (US): +1 (833) 475-8247
E: czo@jtcir.com

This press release does not express or imply that the Company claims its product has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain the SARS-2-CoV-2 (COVID-19) at this time.

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