VANCOUVER, British Columbia, June 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AREV NANOTEC BRANDS INC. (CSE: AREV) (OTC: AREVF) (“AREV”) is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Harold C. Smith to its Scientific Advisory Board.
Dr. Harold Smith is the founder, CEO, and president of OyaGen, Inc. (“OyaGen”), a biotechnology company developing therapeutics for infectious diseases and cancer. Dr. Smith also is a full professor of biochemistry and biophysics at the University of Rochester, School of Dentistry and Medicine.
Mike Withrow, CEO, stated, “We are pleased to have Dr. Smith join our Scientific Advisory Board. He adds another dimension of knowledge and ability to our growing SAB via his vast experience in life sciences and drug development. His expertise complements our therapeutics, distribution, pharmaceutical distribution/acquisition, and drug discovery platforms.”
“Harold Smith is a unique talent given his technical acumen, orientation and his understanding of problem solving the ‘Business of basic research and medical Sciences’. Dr. Smith has led successful, internal capital rounds as well as directed several major government grants, including significant awards of non-dilutive funding from the National Institutes of Allergies and Infectious Disease, Division of AIDS, National Institutions of Health ('NIH'), for research and development programs. OyaGen has recently licensed its antiviral lead SARS-CoV-2 therapeutic candidate, TNX3500, to Tonix Pharmaceutical Holdings Corp for development and commercialization. He will be a strong asset on the AREV SAB,” stated Kevin Phelps, Board Chairman of OyaGen and a Director of AREV. Under Dr. Smith’s leadership, OyaGen has discovered and patented first-in-class lead (Irino-L) that enables innate immunity against HIV as a treatment with curative potential for HIV/AIDS. In addition, OyaGen’s laboratory, platform of cell and gene engineering technologies, and broad technical knowhow has enabled the development of a cancer drug discovery platform based on gene editing enzymes.
Dr. Smith said, “This is a very exciting and welcome opportunity to participate in the ideation of therapeutics addressing global healthcare needs. I am looking forward to contributing to the Scientific Advisory Board and help drive the critical thinking on testing to quantify the potential physiological benefits of therapeutics in development using biochemical and immunological endpoints. The pairing of AREV’s commercialization goals with my many years of biomedical experience will be a powerful combination for developing and commercializing new therapeutics.”
OyaGen is located in Rochester, New York, in a state-of-the-art laboratory within the Rochester BioVenture Center.
The company has issued 150,000 stock options to Directors, Officers and Consultants of the Company at a price of $0.17 for a period of 5 years from the issued date. These options will vest immediately.
For further information, contact Mike Withrow, arevlifesciences@gmail.com 778-929-6536. For more information visit www.arevlifesciences.com
On behalf of the Board,
Mike Withrow
CEO & Director