TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - Aug. 1, 2012) - BioExx Specialty Proteins Ltd. ("BioExx" or the "Company") (TSX:BXI), the first company to commercialize a new and complete food-grade protein from a major global crop in 50 years, today announced that it has received the final scale-up engineering report from GEA Process Engineering Inc. for the Company's Saskatoon canola protein facility.
The report, which details the complete protein system and equipment requirements to operate at full scale, as well as layouts and project schedules, is based on months of rigorous pilot testing of key unit operations throughout the plant. Capital cost estimates have not changed materially from the preliminary report, and the range has been tightened to provide greater certainty. This intensive study was completed in three phases, inclusive of production capacity for the Company's Isolexx® and Vitalexx® products, and further reinforces the technical and economic feasibility of the Saskatoon plant. The report provides the framework for a turnkey scale-up project, to provide a highly automated, robustly engineered, continuous production environment with guaranteed performance metrics based on the piloting and testing completed.
The Company is also pleased to note that it continues to make progress on its strategic partnering initiative, and is presently in confidential discussions at various stages with four large multi-national corporations with strong footprints in nutrition and food ingredients businesses. Presently, discussions are oriented towards a direct investment in the Saskatoon plant scale-up and/or additional "greenfield" facilities, to create joint venture structures at the project level. Together with the potential judicious use of debt financing on such projects, the goal is to minimize dilution to shareholders of the public parent Company.
"We are pleased with the depth and breadth of the GEA work, and with the continued success of our efforts to drive scale-up risk down to a practical minimum", said Chris Schnarr, CEO of BioExx. "Our strategic partnering work continues to move forward, and although the pace of late has been challenged somewhat by summer schedules in Europe, we are very pleased with the quality of the corporations we are engaging and we remain committed to a positive outcome. As we have indicated in the past, we are working through this process with an appropriate sense of urgency, but we must exercise a measure of patience to optimize any transaction for our shareholders. Overall, we believe we have delivered very strong confirmation of the key fundamentals of this business, in terms of the efficacy of our technology, the quality of our products, and the strength and health of our markets, which taken together create what we believe is a very solid foundation for the future."
About GEA
GEA Process Engineering is a group of more than 40 process engineering companies specialized in process technologies, and is one of the world's market and technology leaders in 90 percent of its businesses. GEA Process Engineering develops, designs and markets production plants, systems and processes for the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and chemical industries. With a turnover of approximately EUR 1.3 billion in 2010 and close to 4,600 employees working in 40 countries, GEA Process Engineering is recognized as a world leader in industrial drying, concentration, liquid processing, powder processing and handling, and aseptic packaging. GEA has specific and relevant industry experience with concentration and spray drying of both animal and plant-based proteins.
About BioExx Specialty Proteins Ltd.
Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, BioExx is focused on the separation of oil and high-value proteins from oilseeds for global food, beverage, nutrition, and other markets. BioExx employs trade secret, patented and patent-pending technologies that utilize significantly lower temperatures than conventional oilseed processing, in order to enable the improved separation of proteins from oilseeds. BioExx believes that these processes cumulatively have the potential to make a valuable contribution to global food and protein supply while maintaining an environmentally sustainable footprint.
To find out more about BioExx Specialty Proteins Ltd. (TSX:BXI), please visit www.bioexx.com.
The statements made in this press release include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. These statements relate to future events or future performance and reflect management's current expectations and assumptions. A number of factors could cause actual events, performance or results to differ materially from the events, performance and results discussed in the forward-looking statements, such as the economy, generally, competition in its target markets, the demand for BioExx's products, the availability of funding, the efficacy of its technology, and the anticipated costs of BioExx's plant construction and operation. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and BioExx does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. Actual events or results could differ materially from BioExx's expectations and projections.