Jun 29, 2020 in Diagnostics, Press Releases

Infectious Disease Oral Biosensor Function Confirmed

Vancouver, Canada (June 29, 2020) – XPhyto Therapeutics Corp. (CSE:XPHY / FSE:4XT / OTC:XPHYF) (“XPhyto” or the “Company”) is pleased to announce that its diagnostic partner, 3aDiagnostics GmbH (“3a”), has confirmed active functionality of peptide biosensors that were incorporated into XPhyto’s oral dissolvable thin film (“ODF”) platform.

3a has developed peptide-based biosensor screening tests for bacterial and viral infectious diseases, including influenza A, scarlet fever, stomatitis, periimplantitis, and periodontitis. Additional pandemic-focused biosensors are in planning and development, specifically for COVID-19 (coronavirus), H1N1 (swine flu), and H5N1 (avian flu). Positive detection of the respective pathogen results in enzymatic release of an extreme (but safe) bitter compound. On April 20, 2020, the Company announced a definitive development, technology purchase and licence agreement with 3a for the development and commercialization of real-time, low-cost and easy-to-use screening tests using 3a’s pathogen specific biosensors and XPhyto’s oral dissolvable drug delivery platform.

3a has now confirmed successful enzyme activation of its peptide biosensor when delivered using XPhyto’s ODF platform; in addition, ODF embedded biosensor activation has been demonstrated for biologically relevant levels of pathogen specific enzymes.

“With this biosensor incorporation and the active functionality successfully demonstrated, XPhyto’s portfolio of ODF infectious disease screening tests are moving rapidly toward commercialization,” said Hugh Rogers, CEO of XPhyto. “Both 3a and Vektor Pharma TF GmbH, XPhyto’s wholly owned Germany subsidiary, are quickly and methodically executing the product development plan. We are extremely impressed with the progress made in a very short period of time.”

On June 10, 2020, XPhyto announced that 3a and their contract research collaborators received a €254,200 grant from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (“BMBF”). Proceeds of the grant are committed to the development and commercialization of enzyme activated biosensors for use in real-time, low-cost and easy-to-use oral screening tests for the rapid detection of influenza A virus and specific variants that are high-risk pandemic threats such as H1N1 and H5N1. The parties will continue to pursue additional opportunities for non-dilutive funding for infectious disease screening test development.