NanoViricides, Inc. (OTC BB:NNVCD)
(the "Company") reported today that Milton Boniuk, MD, the Caroline F.
Elles Chair Professor of Ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine,
and a Director of the Company has invested a total of $7 Million in the
Company during the 2013 calendar year. Dr. Boniuk was the single largest
investor with $3 Million in the recently concluded registered direct
offering. Previously, he had invested $4 Million in the Company’s
convertible debenture financing concluded in February, 2013. Professor
Boniuk has also invested in the Company in earlier rounds of financing.
He made these investments both personally as well as from his charitable
foundation and other interests. Professor Boniuk joined the Company’s
Board as an independent director in May, 2013, at the request of the
Company’s executives. He says that his confidence in the Company has
only continued to grow as he sees the Company’s management and execution
now from a closer perspective.
When asked why he has made these investments, he explained that “As I
became familiar with the technology and the various on-going programs
that the Company has, it became apparent that the potential was nothing
short of amazing. Dr. Diwan explained to me how it would be possible to
create a novel drug against a previously unknown virus in a matter of
weeks. The NanoViricides team has demonstrated this capability by
creating potential drug candidates for the MERS human Coronavirus in
just a few weeks. I was impressed by the business acumen of the senior
management as demonstrated by their ability to bring in six commercially
important drug candidates in the Company’s pipeline, in a relatively
short time frame. I was also impressed by their receiving orphan drug
designation for the dengue/dengue hemorrhagic fever drug candidate, the
interest shown by the British Government Agency in a collaboration on
MERS and H7N9, as well as the progress they’ve made in the construction
of the new R&D and cGMP pilot production facility. Although I have known
Dr. Seymour professionally for many years, I was introduced to the
Company by my sister, Vivien Boniuk, MD, also an ophthalmologist, who
had performed the animal studies on the Company’s drug candidates for
adenovirus and herpes virus infections of the eye.”
The Company further reports that Dr. Vivien Boniuk was the very first
investor in the Company, and has continued to be a major investor all
along.
NanoViricides Pipeline
NanoViricides is developing broad-spectrum anti-influenza drugs as part
of its rich drug pipeline. The Company believes that its FluCide™ drug
candidates will be effective against most if not all influenza viruses,
including the H7N9 bird flu, H3N2 or H1N1 epidemic viruses, H5N1 bird
flu, seasonal influenzas, as well as novel influenza viruses. This is
because FluCide is based on the Company’s biomimetic technology,
mimicking the natural sialic acid receptors for the influenza virus on
the surface of a nanoviricide® polymeric micelle. It is important to
note that all influenza viruses bind to the sialic acid receptors, even
if they rapidly mutate. The FluCide drug candidates have already shown
strong effectiveness against H1N1 and H3N2 influenza viruses in highly
lethal animal models. The injectable FluCide drug candidates have shown
1,000X greater viral load reduction as compared to oseltamivir
(Tamiflu®), the current standard of care, in a highly lethal influenza
infection animal model. The Company believes that these animal model
results should translate readily into humans.
NanoViricides has also developed an oral drug candidate against
influenza. This oral version is also dramatically more effective than
TamiFlu in the animals given a lethal influenza virus infection. This
oral FluCide may be the very first nanomedicine that is effective when
taken by mouth.
In addition, NanoViricides has developed drug candidates against Dengue,
HIV/AIDS, Herpes, and Ocular Viral Diseases that have shown strong
effectiveness in relevant animal and/or cell culture models.
About
NanoViricides:
NanoViricides,
Inc. (www.nanoviricides.com)
is a development stage company that is creating special purpose
nanomaterials for viral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide® class
of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus
particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against
a number of viral diseases including H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu,
seasonal Influenza, HIV, oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the
eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue
fever, and Ebola virus, among others.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the
Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events
could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein
and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release,
and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the
Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements
since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which
could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of
activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation
to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any
reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially
from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new
information becomes available in the future. Important factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's
expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are
disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents
filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is
not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include
the following: demonstration and proof of principle in pre-clinical
trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development
of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory
approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the
successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market
acceptance of our products.
FDA refers to US Food and Drug Administration. EMA refers to the
European Union’s office of European Medical Agency.
Copyright Business Wire 2013