AREV Signs Definitive Collaborative Development Agreement with Voynich Biosciences and Invites Richard van Breemen PhD to SAB
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, July 29, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — AREV NANOTEC BRANDS INC. (CSE: AREV) (OTC: AREVF) (“AREV” or the “Company”) announces that the Company has entered into a collaborative development agreement with Voynich Biosciences, Inc. (“Voynich”) that further advances AREV’s flagship initiative, the next-generation Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (“RUTF”), SUS-TAINN™. Voynich is an early-stage, privately-held, phytomedicinal discovery company headquartered in Hawaii and strategically located to facilitate collaboration with the National Tropical Botanical Garden and with laboratory operations adjacent to the Linus Pauling Institute (“LPI”) of Oregon State University (“OSU”), a globally recognized leader in advancing therapeutic initiatives addressing human nutrition.
AREV, in collaboration with Voynich, will be pursuing definitive partnerships with government and non-governmental organizations to ensure the successful delivery of SUS-TAINN to the most seriously affected areas. The RUTF market was valued at USD $363.72 Million in 2019 and is projected to reach USD $807.89 Million by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 10.5% from 2020 to 2027 according to a recent UNICEF report on RUTFs. The collaborative agreement between AREV and Voynich enhances an existing cooperative effort for tangible innovation in combating global food insecurity and nutritional deficits leading to Severe Acute Malnutrition (“SAM”) and starvation, clinically defined as inanition, particularly among vulnerable populations presenting co-morbid conditions and co-infections.
This agreement between AREV and Voynich is intended as a first step in formalizing a long-term development collaboration. While no new entity is created, the agreement establishes a management committee of equal numbers of nominees from each company to make decisions for the collaboration. Each company also commits to providing equal resources to the enterprise. AREV has contributed USD $50,000 and Voynich has provided equal value in kind. The companies have committed to negotiate in good faith to enter into a longer term and more substantive collaboration but if they are unable to reach agreed terms, this agreement sunsets with each party departing the collaboration in a negotiated manner and with equal value, if any, from their development work together.
UNICEF procures an estimated 75% to 80% of the global demand for RUTFs, accepted by UNICEF to treat 3.5 million children. Despite the high-volume demand through UNICEF, the agency still only covers 25% of the global estimated number of children suffering from malnutrition. RUTFs that are procured by governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and United Nations (UN) agencies cover an additional 5 to 10%. Consequently, approximately 65 to 70% of the children of the world suffering from severe wasting, have no access to therapeutics. In turn, a significant number of children under age 5 suffering from SAM have been treated with RUTFs. RUTFs that are procured by governments, non-governmental organizations, and United Nations agencies cover an additional 5 to 10%. Consequently, approximately 65 to 70% of the children in resource poor settings are vulnerable to severe wasting.
Mike Withrow, CEO of AREV, commented, “The expertise of both Dr. Noller and Dr. van Breemen in this collaboration with Voynich enables the Company to accelerate its entry to market throughout AREV’s development pipeline. We look forward to Dr. van Breemen joining Dr. Noller on the AREV Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which would enormously enhance the Company’s current capacities.” Mr. Withrow continued, “This collaboration strengthens AREV’s research and development on its flagship product, SUS-TAINN, which is positioned to become a clinical intervention disrupting the stagnant therapeutic marketplace in treating severe acute malnutrition or SAM, which is characterized by severe wasting, also known as marasmus, kwashiorkor, and marasmus kwashiorkor, epithelial delamination, enteropathy, and moderate acute malnutrition or MAM, that will account for an estimated $800 million by 2027.” The World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines recommend the use of RUTFs in the Updates on the Management of Severe Acute MALNUTRITION in Infants and Children.
Data by The University of Cincinnati and Florida International University and the University of Southern California presented at the 11th International AIDS Society Conference on HIV Science (“IAS 2021”) provided validation of the clinical premise of AREV’s SUS-TAINN RUTF which demonstrates definitive correlations of malnutrition and antiviral resistance and disease progression in diverse adult and pediatric populations. In addition to the scientific validation at the IAS 2021 conference, the AREV-Voynich lead collaborative therapeutic, SUS-TAINN’s clinical premise is supported by a March 2021 report published by UNICEF. This clinical evidence suggests an increase in disease progression in patient populations that lack access to therapeutic nutritional support which further serves to reduce the effectiveness of any treatment regimen.
“SUS-TAINN is differentiated from other RUTFs currently available in the market as it addresses the clinical disparities in the most vulnerable populations by focusing on the mechanisms of action clinically identified by inanition”, stated Dr. Jay S. Noller, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Voynich Biosciences. Dr. Noller has been a pioneer in the agricultural sector, providing more than 20 years of leadership at OSU, extending through multiple food commodity enterprises on an international basis reaching programs at over 40 institutions. Dr. Noller serves on AREV’s SAB and is a member of the Crop Science Society of America, Infectious Disease Society of America, and International AIDS Society. Also leading Voynich is Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Richard van Breemen, PhD, the Linus Pauling Endowed Chair of Pharmaceutical Sciences and former Director of the Linus Pauling Institute at OSU. Dr. van Breemen, with a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, co-founded the UIC/NIH Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research.
SUS-TAINN’s formulation contains vital nutritional elements to ensure conditions such as malnutrition can be minimized and that antiviral therapies can be administered with effectiveness. SUS-TAINN will be highly cost effective “per unit” due to superior efficiency, lighter than all current competitive product offerings and thus less costly to transport. The interest in non-peanut based RUTFs is increasing, particularly from countries where peanuts are not a staple food in local diets. To increase the treatment of severely wasted children that have not had access to treatment, UNICEF has encouraged the validation and access to alternative RUTF formulations such as SUS-TAINN.
For further information, contact Mike Withrow, arevlifesciences@gmail.com 778-929-6536. For more information visit arevlifesciences.com
On behalf of the Board,
Mike Withrow
CEO & Director
About AREV NanoTec Brands Inc.
AREV is an early-stage life science discovery enterprise dedicated to delivering solutions to public health through discovery, collaborations in the life science industry, and pathogen remediation. AREV is invested in commercial innovations in phytomedicinal discoveries of small molecule antivirals and for related neglected chronic co-morbidities and innovations human nutrition including the late-stage development of a Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) and an Enteral Formula targeting the long-term effects of chronic infection. AREV is dedicated to designing and delivering innovation in rational drug design, driven by presenting global epidemiological characteristics of multiple challenges to international human and animal health. AREV is a member of both BIOTECanada and The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).
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