Ceapro Inc. Announces Publication of Positive Results for a PGX Processed Drug Delivery System for Accelerated Burn Wound Healing

– Results from successful drug-impregnation of PGX liquid processed alginate hydrogel scaffolds further bolsters Ceapro's efforts to develop innovative delivery systems composed of new chemical complexes –

– Study indicates that PGX-alginate can provide a unique set of properties useful for accelerating the wound healing process –

EDMONTON, Alberta, June 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ceapro Inc. CZOCRPOF ("Ceapro" or the "Company"), a growth-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of active ingredients for healthcare and cosmetic industries, today announced that results from a collaborative project with McMaster University researchers have been accepted for publication in the international, peer-reviewed journal, Acta Biomaterialia in an article titled "Drug-Impregnated, Pressurized Gas Expanded Liquid-Processed Alginate Hydrogel Scaffolds for Accelerated Burn Wound Healing."

Gilles Gagnon, M.Sc., MBA, President and CEO, commented "We are pleased to have been accepted for publication in the internationally renowned journal, Acta Biomaterialia, and for the work that the McMaster University researchers along with the research team at Ceapro has conducted. Our proprietary PGX technology continues to demonstrate its broad utility and potential in developing novel formulations that potentially allow delivery of bioactives through different modes of administration. This research not only further bolsters our confidence, but unlocks many opportunities for product development solving areas of unmet need and drives us to continue innovating topical/transdermal delivery systems using our new chemical complexes developed leveraging our pioneering PGX technology."

The research project utilized Ceapro's proprietary Pressurized Gas eXpanded liquid (PGX) technology to produce very high surface area (~200 m2/g) alginate scaffolds and describe a method for loading the scaffolds with ibuprofen (via adsorptive precipitation) and crosslinking them (via calcium chelation) to create a hydrogel suitable for wound treatment and hydrophobic drug delivery.

The high surface area of the PGX-processed alginate scaffold facilitates >8 wt% loading of ibuprofen into the scaffold and controlled in vitro ibuprofen release over 12-24 hours. In vivo burn wound healing assays demonstrate statistically significant accelerated healing with ibuprofen-loaded PGX-alginate/calcium scaffolds relative to both hydrogel-only and untreated controls, demonstrating the combined benefits of ibuprofen delivery to suppress inflammation as well as the capacity of the PGX-alginate/calcium hydrogel to maintain wound hydration and facilitate continuous calcium release to the wound. The published results demonstrated that the use of PGX technology to produce highly porous scaffolds with increased surface areas, followed by adsorptive precipitation of a hydrophobic drug onto the scaffolds, offers a highly scalable new method of creating medicated wound dressings with high drug loadings.

"These positive results from this research project demonstrated that PGX-alginate can provide a unique set of properties useful for accelerating the wound healing process and represents a scalable method of producing medicated macroporous hydrogel-based wound dressings with improved performance over conventional dressings," stated Dr. Hoare, Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering at McMaster University. "We anticipate this strategy to be highly adaptable to other water-soluble polymers and scCO2-soluble drugs, making it possible to produce other types of drug-impregnated scaffolds for wound healing or other applications in which the delivery of a hydrophobic drug from a hydrogel is functionally beneficial. We look forward to continuing our work with Ceapro and leveraging the PGX technology to help Ceapro advance new products to meet existing and emerging therapeutic needs."

Ceapro is currently engaged in an ongoing extensive research program with McMaster University under Dr. Hoare's leadership. The research program was initiated with McMaster University in March 2016 and is focused on the development and application of highly tunable porous biopolymer and smart polymer scaffolds using Ceapro's PGX technology.

This research project is financially supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) through the Strategic Project Grant (STPGP479042-15).

About Pressurized Gas eXpanded Liquid Technology (PGX)

Ceapro's patented Pressurized Gas eXpanded (PGX) technology is a unique and disruptive technology with several key advantages over conventional drying and purification technologies that can be used to process biopolymers into high-value, fine-structured, open-porous polymer structures and novel biocomposites. PGX is ideally suited for processing challenging high-molecular-weight, water-soluble biopolymers. It has the ability to make ultra-light, highly porous polymer structures on a continuous basis, which is not possible using today's conventional technologies. PGX was invented by Dr. Feral Temelli from the Department of Agricultural, Food & Nutritional Science of the University of Alberta (U of A) along with Dr. Bernhard Seifried, now Senior Director of Engineering Research and Technology at Ceapro. The license from U of A provides Ceapro with exclusive worldwide rights in all industrial applications.

About McMaster University

McMaster University, one of four Canadian universities listed among the Top 100 universities in the world, is renowned for its innovation in both learning and discovery. It has a student population of 23,000 and more than 175,000 alumni in 140 countries.
About the National Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (NSERC)

NSERC invests over $1 billion each year in natural sciences and engineering research in Canada. Our investments deliver discoveries, valuable world-firsts in knowledge claimed by a brain trust of over 11,000 professors, world-leading researchers in their fields. Our investments enable partnerships and collaborations that connect industry with discoveries and the people behind them. Researcher-industry partnerships established by NSERC help inform R&D, solve scale-up challenges and reduce the risks of developing high potential technology. Our investments provide scholarships and hands-on training experience for the next generation of science and engineering leaders in Canada, more than 30,000 postsecondary students and post-doctoral fellows.

About Ceapro Inc.

Ceapro Inc. is a Canadian biotechnology company involved in the development of proprietary extraction technology and the application of this technology to the production of extracts and "active ingredients" from oats and other renewable plant resources. Ceapro adds further value to its extracts by supporting their use in cosmeceutical, nutraceutical, and therapeutics products for humans and animals. The Company has a broad range of expertise in natural product chemistry, microbiology, biochemistry, immunology and process engineering. These skills merge in the fields of active ingredients, biopharmaceuticals and drug-delivery solutions.

For more information on Ceapro, please visit the Company's website at www.ceapro.com.

For more information contact:

Jenene Thomas
JTC Team, LLC
Investor Relations and Corporate Communications Advisor
T (US): +1 (833) 475-8247
E: czo@jtcir.com

Issuer:

Gilles R. Gagnon, M.Sc., MBA
President & CEO
T: 780-421-4555

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