Kane Biotech and the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Sign Extension of Cooperative Research and Development Agreement


WINNIPEG, Manitoba, July 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kane Biotech Inc. (TSX-V:KNE, OTCQB:KNBIF), (the “Corporation” or “Kane Biotech”) is pleased to announce a three year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) extension has been signed with the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) in Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

The primary objective of this collaboration on "Treatments to Prevent Biofilm Formation for Promoting Wound Healing" is to develop an antibiofilm-antimicrobial wound gel formulation and test the said gel formulation to address the needs of the United States Army Dental and Trauma Research Detachment's (USADTRD) programs and that can be readily translated into clinical testing for improving the outcomes of wounded casualties.

The mission of USADTRD is to provide military relevant research and solutions to treat and rehabilitate craniomaxillofacial trauma and prevent infectious disease. The USADTRD's Biofilm Impaired Wound Healing program focuses on providing algorithms to understand biofilm pathophysiology and test agents useful to treat not only dental biofilm (plaque) and combat wounds-associated biofilm infections, but also to provide antimicrobials for the control of dental plaque-associated oral infections.

Mark Ahrens-Townsend, President & CEO commented, “The extension of the CRADA with the U.S. Army is good news for Kane Biotech.  Work previously completed with the USAISR and USADTRD involving Kane Biotech’s DispersinB® anti-biofilm enzyme yielded promising results. Over the past 18 months Kane Biotech has made significant advances with DispersinB® in the areas of formulation, stability and at scale manufacturing levels. We are eager to see this opportunity move forward for both Kane Biotech and the U.S. Army.”

A study published in Current Microbiology1 “… provides the in vitro evidence to support the use of a novel combination of DispersinB® antibiofilm enzyme that inhibits biofilm formation and disperses preformed biofilm, and thus making the biofilm bacteria more susceptible to a broad-spectrum KSL-W antimicrobial peptide.”

“The combination of DispersinB® and KSL-W peptide showed synergistic antibiofilm and antimicrobial activity against chronic wound infection associated biofilm-embedded bacteria such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Staphylococcus epidermidis, Coagulase-negative Staphylococci (CoNS), and Acinetobacter baumannii. In addition, the wound gel formulation comprising DispersinB®, KSL-W peptide, and a gelling agent Pluronic F-127 showed a broad-spectrum and enduring antimicrobial activity against test organisms. Furthermore, as compared to commercial wound gel Silver-Sept™, DispersinB®-KSL-W peptide-based wound gel was significantly more effective in inhibiting the biofilm-embedded MRSA, S. epidermidis, CoNS, Vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, A. baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P<0.05).  Thus, this study provides promising evidence for the potential application of antibiofilm-antimicrobial DispersinB-KSL-W wound gel in chronic wound management.”

1 Antibiofilm and Antimicrobial Efficacy of DispersinB-KSL-W Peptide-Based Wound Gel Against Chronic Wound Infection Associated Bacteria - Current Microbiology (2014) 68:635–641

About Kane Biotech Inc.

Kane Biotech is a biotechnology company engaged in the research, development and commercialization of technologies and products that prevent and remove microbial biofilms.

The Corporation has a portfolio of biotechnologies, intellectual property (75 patents and patents pending, trade secrets and trademarks) and products developed by the Corporation’s own biofilm research expertise and acquired from leading research institutions. StrixNB™, DispersinB®, Aledex®, bluestem™, AloSera™, coactiv+™ and Kane® are trademarks of Kane Biotech Inc.   The Corporation is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "KNE" and on the OTCQB Venture Market under the symbol “KNBIF”.

For more information, please visit www.kanebiotech.com or contact:

Mark Ahrens-Townsend
President & CEO
Kane Biotech Inc.
+1 (204) 477-7592               ir@kanebiotech.com

Tirth Patel
Vice President - Investor Relations
Edison Advisors
+1 (646) 653-7035               tpatel@edisongroup.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This press release contains certain statements regarding Kane Biotech Inc. that constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities law. These statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks relating to the Corporation’s: (a) financial condition, including lack of significant revenues to date and reliance on equity and other financing; (b) business, including its early stage of development, government regulation, market acceptance for its products, rapid technological change and dependence on key personnel; (c) intellectual property including the ability of the Corporation to protect its intellectual property and dependence on its strategic partners; and (d) capital structure, including its lack of dividends on its common shares, volatility of the market price of its common shares and public company costs. Further information about these and other risks and uncertainties can be found in the disclosure documents filed by the Corporation with applicable securities regulatory authorities, available at www.sedar.com. The Corporation cautions that the foregoing list of factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. 

These risks and uncertainties should be considered carefully undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements.  Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Corporation cannot provide assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. The Corporation undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement.