Jul 31, 2017 | Announcements, News, TruLeaf
New indoor vertical farming technology from Nova Scotia promises fresher, local produce year-round, going from seed to plate in just over a week.
Truro NS/Toronto ON (July 31, 2017) – GoodLeaf Farms (GoodLeaf) of Truro, Nova Scotia is pleased to announce its locally-grown microgreen products will be available year-round in select Atlantic Superstores stores across the Maritimes – even during the harshest winter months.
Using technology created by its parent company TruLeaf Sustainable Agriculture Ltd., GoodLeaf is pioneering a new, indoor, vertical farming system that uses LED lights and reclaimed rainwater to grow ultra-fresh produce in as little as one week, without the use of pesticides. Built with the highest degree of sustainability in mind, the process uses up to 90% less water than traditional farming methods and can be harvested, packaged and available for sale on store shelves within a day.
“We know our customers are looking for exceptional produce, grown locally wherever possible, which is why we are such huge supporters of local and regional suppliers,” said Mark Boudreau, Director, Corporate Affairs, Loblaw Companies Ltd. “Having fresh local vegetables year round in the Maritimes would have been impossible a decade ago. We’re excited about today’s launch, and proud of our role working with TruLeaf over the past few years to bring this innovative farming technology to our Atlantic Superstore customers.”
GoodLeaf Farms has been embraced by local wholesalers and restaurants who were drawn to the incomparable quality, consistency and freshness of GoodLeaf products. Today’s announcement at Atlantic Superstore, however, marks the first consumer launch with Loblaw in the Maritimes.
“We are thrilled to be bringing a new era of freshness to Atlantic Canadian consumers,” said Gregg Curwin, President & CEO, GoodLeaf Farms. “We grow our produce in tightly-controlled environments to the very highest standards in the industry. It’s a difference you can truly taste – our products are bursting with flavour and nutrition. And by dramatically reducing the time and energy needed to grow produce, it really is a new way to eat responsibly.”
About GoodLeaf
GoodLeaf Farms is the exclusive Canadian licensee of the TruLeaf Smart Plant System® – a revolutionary indoor farming system that enables it to grow fresh produce year-round, even in the harshest winter months. As a pioneer in indoor, vertical farming, GoodLeaf has become a favourite among restaurants and wholesalers who have grown to depend on GoodLeaf for fast, fresh and local
produce that meets the highest standards for quality and taste.
For more
information on GoodLeaf Farms, please visit www.goodleaffarms.com.
For more information, please contact:
GoodLeaf Farms
Greg Veinott, Manager of Research and Commercialisation
Ph: 902-843-5160
Email: [email protected]
Loblaw Companies Ltd.
Mark Boudreau
Ph: (902) 802-8687
Email: [email protected]]]>
Jul 17, 2017 | Neck Tronics Inc., News
See original story here
Bill Smith believes he’s developing the best product available for strengthening neck muscles, and that it will be even better thanks to a deal he just signed with SimWave Consulting of Kanata, Ont.
Smith is a Bridgewater chiropractor who has used his professional knowledge to develop Neck Tronics, whose product helps athletes and people recovering from injury to strengthen the neck.
Last month, he announced that Neck Tronics has formed a partnership with SimWave Consulting, a specialist in augmented reality and virtual reality. The idea is that the new product — which will go through human trials in the two months — will help strengthen the neck, and the AR-VR component will help the user use the product and understand its benefits.
“We’re developing a product for strengthening the neck,” said Smith in a phone interview last week. “There are a lot of products out there to strengthen the neck but . . . we believe that we have the best product that’s out there.”
Smith said the Neck Tronics product is attacking a huge market because there are so many people suffering from whiplash or concussion. Studies have shown that athletes reduce the risk of concussion if they strengthen their neck muscles, so Neck Tronics is developing a preventive tool to help avoid one of the blackest marks against modern sports — the risk of head trauma.
Whiplash and concussions cause physical pain for individuals and families, and massive pain for the economy, said Smith. Adding in lost productivity, the cost of rehabilitation and other factors, he said, whiplash costs the economy $25 billion to $40 billion a year in the U.S. and Canada, and with concussions the figure is closer to $60 billion.
The Neck Tronics device will help sports trainers, coaches and athletes assess the strength of an individual’s neck and then work to bolster the muscles between the shoulders and skull. And for people with injuries, it will help with the rehabilitation process. Smith, who came up with the idea about three-and-a-half years ago, said there is a huge benefit to having a visual component in the product, and that is why he partnered with SimWave.
“At SimWave, we have been working on the forefront of VR/AR technology since 2013 and have seen many new and interesting implementations of the technology across a multitude of industries,” said SimWave CFO Adam Caitness in a statement. “We are proud to be able to collaborate our efforts in the AR/VR field with a medical provider to create a new and exciting product that is much needed.”
Smith has received some grant money and is now raising equity to finance the growth of Neck Tronics. He’s raised about $200,000 in a round he hopes will reach $550,000 soon.
He plans to take the product to market as a strength device for athletes and has already had interest from rugby organizers, as well as those in hockey and football. Introducing Neck Tronics as a product for athletes will avoid the lengthy regulatory process associated with medical devices, so it could be on the market in November.
Meanwhile, the company is also applying to have Neck Tronics approved as a Class II medical rehabilitation product with the Food and Drug Administration in the U.S. and Health Canada. If successful, Smith hopes to have the product in rehab centres by the third quarter of 2018.]]>
Jul 12, 2017 | IMV Inc., News
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HALIFAX, Nova Scotia, July 12, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Immunovaccine Inc. (TSX:IMV) (OTCQX:IMMVF), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company, today announced a significant achievement in its personalized cancer medicines program. Immunovaccine scientists have successfully formulated 14 neoepitope cancer peptides into one single DepoVax formulation. In preclinical testing, the resulting personalized cancer vaccine demonstrated the ability to generate specific killer T cell responses against cancer peptides. Immunovaccine has filed a patent application covering this novel DepoVax-based rapid formulation process. The supporting data for the patent includes what the Company believes to be one of the first documented reports of 14 different neoepitope peptides synthesized into a single formulation.
“We believe that the ability to effectively combine a high number of diverse peptides without manufacturing limitations represents an important milestone in the deployment of personalized neoepitope immunotherapies,” said Frederic Ors, Immunovaccine’s Chief Executive Officer. “Being able to do it so quickly and efficiently should provide an opportunity to develop truly personalized therapies on a scale that could, in our opinion, truly impact the way in which bespoke medicines are used in today’s treatment landscape.”
This breakthrough evolved as part of the Company’s DPX-NEO program, which aims to develop patient-specific immunotherapies targeting neoepitopes (the mutated proteins, and potential targets of an immune response, produced by a patient’s own tumors.) The methodology under this patent application can include peptides with a wide range of physical and chemical characteristics—including those that are insoluble. Immunovaccine believes that this novel process combines the ease and speed of manufacturing with other advantages inherent in DepoVax formulations, including long-term formulation stability, as well as the potential to elicit a strong and specific T cell response maintained for a year or more.
Neoepitope vaccines have demonstrated significant potential in the realm of personalized medicinesi,ii. However, the complexity and potential expense of advancing these patient-specific vaccines includes substantial challenges for development and large-scale deployment. Intensive work is required to identify patient-specific peptide epitopes, and synthesize them rapidly into a single formulation. In addition, when the neoepitope peptides are selected from patients, investigators have not always been able to include many optimal candidates due to manufacturing limitations of the technology required to synthesize a single formulation.
Immunovaccine believes that the DepoVax-based formulations demonstrate the ability to address these limitations as they do not limit the target peptides to highly soluble peptides. This flexibility should enable investigators to optimize the choices of immunogenic targets access a broader range of candidates.
“Developing a suitably immunogenic delivery system that can accommodate multiple potential targets is one of the most significant challenges faced by this type of therapy, and while we are thrilled to have found a potential solution to this limitation, we believe that the implications of this formulation process can go well beyond the neoepitope space,” said Marianne Stanford, Vice President, Research, at Immunovaccine. “We see future applications of the DepoVax multiple peptide formulation using a high number of tumor-associated antigens in one immuno-oncology agent, or multiple targets for an infectious disease within one vaccine. We are excited to explore the potential applications of this technology.”
About DepoVax Technology
The technology underlying DepoVax formulations suspends vaccine components in an oil diluent that prevents their release at the site of injection. This process forces immune cells to take up these components in an active process, delivering them directly to immune organs such as the lymph nodes. DepoVax formulations have undergone extensive testing in more than 60 preclinical and seven clinical studies. In clinical trials, these formulations have consistently demonstrated the ability to generate robust T and B cell responses, and durable immune responses.
Immunovaccine had previously announced a DPX-NEO collaboration with UConn Health, and is in active discussions with additional industry partners to expand the program.]]>
Jul 5, 2017 | Encyt Technologies, News
See original story here
Encyt Technologies, Inc., a leading biotech cancer research organization based in Nova Scotia, Canada, recently filed a series of patents for novel treatments to reverse resistance to immunotherapy using checkpoint inhibitors.
According to Dr. William Harless, MD/PhD, and Encyt CEO: “ENCYT has been studying the expression pattern of a number of distinct cytokines following cancer treatments such as surgery and chemotherapy. Based on these patterns, we have been experimenting with therapeutic strategies to block this response as a rational treatment approach to cancer. Working with our collaborating scientists at Queen’s University, we are excited to report that our proprietary therapeutic approach has proven to be very successful at mitigating the development of drug resistance and metastasis in a very difficult to treat human pancreatic cancer cell line implanted into a heterotopic mouse xenograft model.” Dr. Harless went on to explain, “We think our current therapeutic approach may also prove effective as an adjuvant therapy with immunotherapy. This treatment can reverse a mesenchymal phenotype that is often predictive of resistance to these checkpoint blockers. Furthermore, three of the key oncogenic signaling pathways up-regulated in cancer patients who are resistant to checkpoint inhibitors are targeted using our therapeutic approach.”
Immunotherapy treatments with checkpoint blockers have proven to be game changing cancer treatments in a number of different cancers. But only a minority of patients will respond to these treatments, and most patients who initially respond to these treatments eventually become resistant. ENCYT has filed an additional two patents to protect their novel therapeutic strategy as an adjuvant treatment approach that might allow more patients to benefit from these often highly effective cancer treatments.
Encyt is currently seeking regulatory approval from Health Canada to conduct a clinical trial testing our therapeutic approach for the treatment of advanced Pancreatic Cancer. Please follow the company’s continued progress at www.encyt.net
About Encyt Technologies, Inc.
Encyt Technologies, Inc. is an early stage cancer research organization focused on developing novel therapies for the treatment of cancer. The company has developed novel approaches to blocking post-treatment metastatic cancer stem cell proliferation, drug resistant phenotype development and adjunct Immunotherapy enhancement therapies. The company was founded in 2014 and is based in Nova Scotia, Canada. Encyt is funded by a small group of private investors and has received additional funding support from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (“ACOA”), the National Research Council of Canada (“NRC”), and other private philanthropic organizations.
FORWARD-LOOKING DISCLAIMER
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements and information, as defined within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and is subject to the Safe Harbor created by those sections. This material may contain statements about expected future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Encyt Technologies, Inc. to be materially different from the statements made herein.]]>
