Bioasis Announces Publication Validating its xB³ ™ Platform Technology for CNS Therapeutics

GlobeNewswire

Publishing date:

Jun 03, 2021

NEW HAVEN, Conn., June 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — BIOASIS TECHNOLOGIES INC. (TSXV:BTI; OTCQB:BIOAF), (the “Company” or “Bioasis”), a pre-clinical, research-stage biopharmaceutical company developing its proprietary xB3 ™ platform technology for the delivery of therapeutics across the blood-brain barrier (“BBB”) and the treatment of central nervous system (“CNS”) disorders in areas of high unmet medical need, including brain cancers and neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the publication of research validating the ability of the company’s xB3 ™ platform to cross the intact blood-brain barrier and its localization in variety of brain cell types.

Professor Wilfred Jefferies together with scientists from both the Jefferies Laboratory and Bioasis used multiple approaches to help pinpoint and then evaluate Bioasis’ xB3 ™ platform technology by investigating its ability to traverse the BBB. This research shows that the xB3 ™ platform can cross intact BBB and enter intracellular organelles within neurons, glia and microglia in the brain.  The research conducted by Singh, et al., “Discovery of a Highly Conserved Peptide in the Iron Transporter Melanotransferrin that Traverses an Intact Blood Brain Barrier and Localized in Neural Cells,” was published in the Frontiers in Neuroscience on June 2nd, 2021.

The data presented in this publication provide evidence for the utility of xB3 ™ peptide (previously known as MTfpep) as a platform technology for delivery of recombinant and chemically conjugated drug across the BBB. This study characterizes the utility of xB3 ™ in brain delivery where the BBB remains intact and thus offers new avenues for potential focused treatments in variety of neuropathologies that are currently refractory to existing therapies.

Dr. Wilfred A. Jefferies, Professor at University of British Columbia, and the leader of the project stated, “This research was carried out over many years and describes the discovery of the minimally active region within melanotransferrin that retains the capability of transendothelial transport across the blood brain barrier in both in vitro blood brain barrier models and in vivo blood brain barrier transcytosis in mammals. This human MTf peptide appears to be unusual as it is extremely highly conserved among many mammals but differs in comparison to peptides in evolutionarily conserved human proteins, transferrin or lactoferrin, that do not appreciably cross the blood brain barrier. Furthermore, it is fascinating that upon entering the brain, the MTf peptide distributes into many cell types in the CNS including neurons, microglia and glia where it enters specific organelles, including endosomes and lysosomes.”

“These data further validate the utility of our xB3 ™ platform technology to achieve delivery of therapeutic compounds across the BBB at levels that may help treat a variety of CNS diseases. This data is consistent with the previous studies where our technology successfully delivered enzymes, antibodies and siRNA across the BBB with demonstrated efficacy in both the brain and the periphery in settings as diverse as brain cancers, neuropathic pain and lysosomal storage disorders,” said Dr. Deborah Rathjen, Executive Chair of the Board, Bioasis.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Bioasis Technologies Inc.

Deborah Rathjen, Ph.D., Executive Chair of the Board