* Protein produced above 90 pct purity
* Sees yield meeting or exceeding target on continuous ops
* Shares up 11 pct
Sept 7 (Reuters) - Canada's BioExx Specialty Proteins Ltd <BXI.TO> said on Tuesday it produced commercial-scale canola protein isolates on its first end-to-end production run of its Saskatoon facility, sending its shares up 11 percent in early trade.
The agrifood company said the protein isolate, with purity above 90 percent, was produced using each of the three full-scale commercial sections of the BioExx plant, including pressing, extraction, and protein processing.
BioExx has been directing its efforts to become the first to commercially produce and market high-purity proteins for human consumption from canola, a variant of rapeseed, which is used mainly for its oil.
"This production run was significant because it confirms our thesis that the scale-up risk from pilot plant to commercial plant was minimal," analyst Michael Goldberg at Stonecap Securities said in a note.
The company, which also makes canola oil and canola meal, said protein yields were lower than on the prior run due to some product losses resulting from a modification to equipment settings, but expects yield to meet or exceed targets on continuous operations.
Shares of the Toronto-based company, which have gained about 62 percent since it raised funds in August last year for the production of canola protein, touched a high of C$2.42 Tuesday morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Gowri Jayakumar in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)