Radient Technologies Inc. Announces Collaboration on the Development of Anti-Viral Products and Files Patent Application Covering Cannabinoid Based Compositions for the Mitigation and Protection from Viruses

EDMONTON, Alberta, May 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Radient Technologies Inc. (“Radient” or the “Company”) (TSX Venture: RTI; OTCQX: RDDTF), a commercial manufacturer of high quality cannabinoid-based ingredients, formulations and products, announces that it has filed a provisional patent application covering the use of a combination of cannabinoids, terpenes and zinc (the “Formulations”) as a means of preventing infection of coronavirus, mitigating the symptoms of coronavirus, and lowering infectiousness of Covid-19 patients, with the goal of reducing hospitalizations and intensive care unit requirements. Additionally, the Company announces that it will lead a collaboration with two US based groups, IntuitiveX (“IntuitiveX”) and ipCapital Group (“ipCapital”), to explore the development of new anti-viral products using the Formulations.

The Company is not making any express or implied claims as to the effectiveness of the Formulations or its ability to mitigate the symptoms of, eliminate, cure or contain Covid-19 (or SARS-2 Coronavirus), and there can be no assurance that the Formulations will be effective or reach commercial production. The Company plans to collaborate with IntuitiveX and ipCapital to develop a process and timeline for the development of the Formulations.

Patent Application

The Company has filed a provisional patent application with the US Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) that covers the Formulations as a means of preventing infection of, mitigating the symptoms of, and lowering infectiousness of viral respiratory infections, including Covid-19, in patients.

“Filing this patent application with the USPTO gives us an international priority date that will allow us to nationalize in other selected jurisdictions in the future, including, for example, Canada, Europe and Asia,” said Dr. Steven Splinter, Chief Technology Officer of Radient.

Collaboration

The Company announced that it will be collaborating with ipCapital, IntuitiveX and a third party contract research organization to be determined with a goal of developing, clinically testing and marketing cannabinoid based products that are targeted at lessening and/or eliminating the effects of Covid-19 in patients.

“We are excited to announce this important initiative, which brings together our team of experienced research scientists along with scientific, regulatory and technology expertise that each of these groups possess. We believe this collaboration will greatly assist with the development pathway for the Formulations,” said Denis Taschuk, Chief Executive Officer of Radient.

The Company, ipCapital and their advisors have done a review of existing scientific literature that has focused on the use of cannabinoids and/or zinc compounds for anti-inflammatory and anti-viral indications.  The Company believes there is sufficient scientific evidence from its review to support exploring the efficacy of the Formulations. As previous research work has been done by other groups on the use of cannabinoids or zinc for anti-viral purposes, the Company will be looking to validate that work through its own efforts with the specific viral target for this project. It is expected that Radient’s dedicated innovation laboratory will lead the product development and the Company’s proprietary processing technology will be used to produce the high-purity cannabinoids required for this product.

Dr. Anna Bakowska-Barczak, Director of Formulations and Product Development at Radient will oversee the formulation development for patient studies.  She has over 15 years of process/product development, formulation, and regulatory experience. She currently leads Radient’s formulation and product development team and has developed and continues to develop a broad range of proprietary cannabinoid-based product formulations for both medical and consumer markets.  Dr. Bakowska-Barczak is a recognized expert in formulation and product development for food and nutraceutical markets, including cannabis. She holds Engineering and Master Degrees in Food Science and received her Ph.D. in Food Science in 2005. She has authored or co-authored over 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications and is the inventor of 13 patent applications.

The Company has developed significant cannabinoid expertise as a result of its research efforts of the last three years.  During this time the Company built up its scientific team to include over 25 in house scientists and engineers and has invested over $5 million on its research, process development and intellectual property portfolio.  The Company has developed, during this time, a number of proprietary formulations that it hopes will form the base of the development of a final formulation(s) for this Covid-19 program. As well, the Company believes that it has the necessary equipment to develop and manufacture the necessary product formulations for patient studies including analytical testing of the composition of the formulations. 

IntuitiveX, a Seattle, Washington based life sciences advisory firm that has a long work-ing history with ipCapital, and is closely associated with one of Seattle’s leading hospitals, will act as a service provider. It will lead the efforts associated with testing, regulatory approvals and additionally, incorporate their advanced monitoring capabilities allowing for rapid collection and evaluation of data.

ipCapital Group, a leading Intellectual Property(“IP”) consulting firm, based in Williston, Vermont, has been assisting the Company with its IP strategy for two years and will lead the IP and innovation strategy for the project.

“We are happy to be part of this collaboration to advise on the IP strategy and the IP development,” says John Cronin, Managing Director of ipCapital. Together, the three companies, and through their networks, have strong product development, clinical and regulatory expertise.  Additionally, the Company expects to support its patient study activities by adding a third party contract research organization to assist in the design, execution and evaluation of results of patient studies required.

The group will be working to develop new anti-viral products, initially targeted at Covid-19, that the group hopes will provide mitigation in the form of reduction of symptoms leading to fewer hospitalizations and reduced ICU requirements. “Our goal is to combine two over-the-counter anti-inflammatory/anti-viral mitigators that are already well appreciated in research: cannabinoids and zinc,” said Dr. Splinter. “There is a body of evidence that cannabinoids and their receptors influence viral pathogenesis, viral replication and of course the immune system itself.  Further, other research has shown the inhibitory effect of zinc on viruses that attack the respiratory tract, including for example rhinovirus.  We believe that the combination could potentially be an effective anti-viral treatment.”

The Company envisions starting patient studies with residents of long term care facilities, currently expected to be in the Seattle, Washington area, in order to test the efficacy of the Formulations both on high risk staff as well as nursing home patients. Radient is also considering exploring the use of the Formulations to mitigate ongoing symptoms of certain post Covid-19 survivors, notably those with continued pulmonary fibrotic disease. No such patient studies have been scheduled as of yet, and there is no certainty that any such patient studies will be scheduled.

Key milestones for the project would include 1) completion of final formulations including dosing determination, 2) patient study design including identification of test sites and study leaders, 3) regulatory approval of study and 4) execution of study with evaluation of results.

About Radient 

Radient Technologies is a commercial manufacturer of high quality cannabinoid based formulations, ingredients and products. Utilizing a proprietary extraction and downstream processing platform that recovers up to 99% of cannabinoids from the cannabis plant, Radient develops specialty products and ingredients that contain a broad range of cannabinoid and terpene profiles while meeting the highest standards of quality and safety. Please visit www.radientinc.com for more information.

About IntuitiveX

IntuitiveX is a life science consultancy and incubator created to help entrepreneurs and startups transform their ideas from concept to commercialization. IntuitiveX has a team of business, legal, clinical, scientific and intellectual property domain experts with over 50+ years of combined experience who provide a full spectrum of services to entrepreneurs and startups.

About ipCapital

ipCapital, celebrating 22 years in business, with over 1000 clients, serving >15% of the F500 and hundreds of medium and small businesses using its interdisciplinary team of consultants and advisors and programmers who are all focused on maximizing clients’ financial results. ipCapital combines its world-class human capital with its proprietary AI based tools and methodologies around innovation, invention, and Intellectual Property.

SOURCE: Radient Technologies Inc.

Contact for Radient: Investor Relations: ir@radientinc.com

Contact for Intuitive-X: Simon Robinson: srobinson@intuitive-x.com

Contact for ipCapital: Seth Cronin: scronin@ipcg.com

Forward Looking Information:
This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements regarding the Company’s ability to obtain approvals for its patents, the Company’s expectations with respect to the efficacy of the Formulations, the Company’s ability to develop and commercialize anti-viral products, the Company’s ability to effectively study the use of the Formulations, including through patient studies, the Company’s collaboration with ipCapital and IntuitiveX and the Company’s future plans. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “plans”, “expects” or “does not expect”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “goal”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates” or “does not anticipate”, or “believes”, or variations of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will be taken”, “occur” or “be achieved”. Forward-looking information is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Radient, as the case may be, to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Although Radient has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Radient does not undertake to update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.

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