QuestCap Inc.
(“QuestCap” or the “Company”)
(CSE: QSC; OTCMKTS: COPRF; FRA: 34C1) is pleased to announce an
investment of $1 million in the Sunnybrook Research Institute’s
COVID-19 research. With these funds, Sunnybrook will establish the
Sunnybrook Translational Research Group for Emerging and
Respiratory Viruses (“SERV”) and QuestCap will receive a 3.5%
royalty on any revenues earned by Sunnybrook from the
commercialization of any of the research done by SERV.
Led by infectious diseases physician and
microbiologist Dr. Samira Mubareka, SERV’s work will focus on three
crucial streams of research: vaccines and therapeutics, virus
biology and transmission prevention. Dedicated investment in SERV
means Dr. Mubareka and her team will be able to accelerate the pace
of further research into COVID-19 at a crucial time.
Dr. Lawrence Steinman and Mike McCarthy
Appointed as Advisors
QuestCap is pleased to announce the appointment
of Dr. Lawrence Steinman and Mike McCarthy to the board of
advisors. Dr. Lawrence Steinman is Professor of Neurology,
Neurological Sciences and Pediatrics at Stanford University and
Chair of the Stanford Program in Immunology from 2001 to 2011.
Mike McCarthy has more than 14 years of
experience with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
and 24 years in health policy and delivery. He was appointed Senior
Policy Advisor to the Progressive Conservative Minister of Health
of Ontario, advising on physician, nursing and primary care, public
health, laboratories, OHIP, organ transplant, HIV and blood issues.
In 2003, he provided strategic support and counsel to the
government of Ontario during the SARS outbreak.
Lawrence Steinman stated that, “The Sunnybrook
technology will be a key tool for the development of both powerful
and safe vaccines against COVID-19, and for the development of
point of care and even home diagnostics to test whether one is
immune to the COVID-19 virus. Those who are immune can return to
work and can provide safe and needed duties to the community. It
would be especially important to know if you are a health care
worker, grocer or delivery person whether or not you have immunity.
You could then be safe and carry on as a SuperWomen or SuperMan in
these times, knowing you are immune!” Mike McCarthy adds “I look
forward to advising QuestCap in its visionary efforts to bring
innovative testing and vaccine technologies to Canada and the world
to combat COVID-19.”
The Company has granted 500,000 stock options to
Mr. Steinman pursuant to the Company’s stock option plan. The stock
options shall vest in four equal instalments every three months
such that all stock options fully vest by the date that falls 12
months from the date of grant and may be exercised at a price of
$0.305 per common share for a period of five years from the date of
grant. This grant of options is subject to the approval of the
Canadian Securities Exchange.
Sunnybrook Translational Research
Group
Sunnybrook has been at the global forefront of
the COVID-19 pandemic since the first Canadian case was identified,
both clinically and on the research front. Dr. Mubareka, along with
clinical microbiologist Dr. Robert Kozak and a team of close
collaborators, has led Sunnybrook’s research response efforts since
the earliest days of the pandemic. Their work has been globally
significant, leading to early implementation of a hospital-based
COVID-19 test. Most crucially, on March 10, 2020, their team
isolated the agent responsible for the ongoing outbreak of
COVID-19. The isolated virus is helping researchers in Canada and
elsewhere to develop better diagnostic testing, treatments and
vaccines, and gain a better understanding of the virus’s biology,
evolution and clinical shedding.
“This is extremely time-sensitive research,”
says Dr. Mubareka. “As a scientist on the frontlines, I have seen
the devastation this virus can cause. We all feel the effects of
physical distancing as our lives are fundamentally changed. This is
why support from our community is so important right now. The more
we understand how this virus behaves, the better we can limit its
spread as we race to find a treatment or vaccine. This investment
will be put to work immediately toward our human and operational
funding needs to rapidly accelerate research into COVID-19.”
“Now is the time to dedicate as many resources
as possible to stopping the spread of this highly contagious
virus,” explains Dr. Andy Smith, Sunnybrook’s President and CEO.
“On behalf of Sunnybrook, I would like to extend my deepest thanks
to QuestCap for stepping up with this inspiring investment. Your
support will have a direct impact on the lives of countless people
in our communities, across Canada and around the world.”
With these crucial tools in hand, QuestCap saw
an opportunity to give this research a major boost at a critical
juncture. “As countries grapple with the effects of COVID-19, there
has been a collective global effort to help minimize the impacts of
this deadly virus,” says Stan Bharti, Co-Chairman of QuestCap.
“QuestCap, through its investment platform, is looking to do its
part by providing a critical investment to help fund the vital
research being conducted by Dr. Mubareka, Dr. Kozak and their
teams.”
The investment to Sunnybrook will help
researchers in Canada and across the world develop better
diagnostic testing, treatments and vaccines, and gain a better
understanding of SARS-CoV-2 biology, evolution and clinical
shedding for the development of commercial applications
(“Commercial Applications”). As consideration for
its investment, QuestCap will receive a 3.5% royalty on any revenue
earned by Sunnybrook from the any Commercial Applications resulting
from the research conducted by SERV.
“At a time of global uncertainty as COVID-19
continues to devastate people, families and entire countries, the
urgency of research has never been greater,” says Dr. Kullervo
Hynynen, Vice President of Research & Innovation at Sunnybrook.
“Yet, often times, there simply isn’t enough funding for research.
I am deeply grateful to QuestCap for this clear statement on
supporting the power of research to save and change lives.”
About the Research
SERV is a three-pronged COVID-19 research
response program, consisting of the following critically important
areas of focus:
1. Virus biology (genomics): Identifying the
genetic sequence of a virus is an essential step for identifying
key targets for treatments and vaccines. It also tells the story of
origin and its relation to other viruses. This approach provides
precision genomic data, which will be essential for outbreak
investigation. Funds for SERV allow Sunnybrook scientists to turn
around whole genome viral sequences at the site of care:
Sunnybrook.
2. Vaccines and therapeutics: Our ability to
identify and isolate the virus that causes COVID-19, based on
samples from infected patients, allows us to collaborate on
antiviral research and conduct our own vaccine and transmission
work. With SERV, Sunnybrook will share our findings about the virus
within the Canadian research and diagnostic community, thereby
driving further innovative solutions to the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Transmission prevention: As part of a World
Health Organization’s effort to evaluate risk to health-care
workers of providing certain support measures, such as high-flow
oxygen use, Sunnybrook is building a simulation space for live
virus experiments using mannequins with funds for SERV. This is
important because protecting care providers is key to preventing
the spread of the virus within hospitals.
About Lawrence Steinman
Steinman is Professor of Neurology, Neurological
Sciences and Pediatrics at Stanford University and Chair of the
Stanford Program in Immunology from 2001 to 2011. His research
focuses on antigen specific tolerance in autoimmune disease and in
gene therapy for degenerative neurologic diseases. He has
elucidated what provokes relapses and remissions in multiple
sclerosis (MS). He is taking forward a pivotal clinical trial with
antigen specific tolerization therapy for type 1 diabetes. He
serves as attending neurologist at Stanford’s Lucille Packard
Children’s Hospital. Steinman is an elected member of the US
National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of
Medicine.
Steinman was senior author on the 1992 Nature
article that led to the drug Tysabri, approved for MS and Crohn’s
disease. Tysabri has been taken by over 200,000 individuals with
MS.
Dr. Steinman graduated from Dartmouth College,
Magna Cum Laude in Physics. His MD is from Harvard Medical School.
He was a post-doctoral fellow in chemical immunology fellow at the
Weizmann Institute of Science. After neurology residency he
remained on the faculty in 1980. He has received numerous honors,
including the John M. Dystel Prize in 2004, the Javits Neuroscience
Investigator Award from the NINDS twice, the Charcot Prize in MS
research, and the Cerami Prize in Translational Medicine. Steinman
is a member of both the National Academy of Sciences, and the
National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Steinman co-founded several biotech
companies, including Neurocrine, Atreca, 180 Therapeutics, and
Tolerion. He was a Director of Centocor from 1988 until its sale to
Johnson and Johnson.
About Mike McCarthy
Mike is widely recognized across Canada as a
stellar health care advocate and system expert. As a volunteer
Vice-President of the Canadian Hemophilia Society, Mike was the
national spokesperson for Canadians infected by blood tainted with
Hepatitis C. His tireless efforts resulted in a landmark $2 billion
settlement with the federal government in 2006, and the Queen’s
Golden Jubilee Award presented by the Governor General of
Canada.
Presently Mike is a Principal at Grosso McCarthy
and provides counsel to clients in both the not-for-profit and
for-profit sectors. He helps clients navigate provincial, federal
and international governments – at the levels of the civil service
and elected officials. Mike has also been on the front lines of
health care, working for 18 years as a psychiatric nurse.
As a principal with Grosso McCarthy, Mike builds
on more than 14 years of experience with the Ontario Ministry of
Health and Long-Term Care and 24 years in health policy and
delivery. He was appointed Senior Policy Advisor to the Progressive
Conservative Minister of Health of Ontario, advising on physician,
nursing and primary care, public health, laboratories, OHIP, organ
transplant, HIV and blood issues.
In 2003, he provided strategic support and
counsel to the government of Ontario during the SARS outbreak.
About QuestCap
QuestCap is an investment company that seeks to
enhance shareholder value over the long term by opportunistically
making various investments that may include, without limitation,
the acquisition of equity, debt or other securities of publicly
traded or private companies or other entities, financing in
exchange for pre-determined royalties or distributions and the
acquisition of all or part of one or more businesses, portfolios or
other assets.
For additional information, please contact:
G Scott Moore
Co-Chairmansmoore@forbesmanhattan.com1-416-861-5903
Media contact:
Wynn Theriault Thirty Dash Communications 34
King St East #400 Toronto M5C 2X8 416.710.3370
Cautionary Note Regarding
Forward-looking Information
This press release contains "forward-looking
information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities
legislation. Forward-looking information includes, but is not
limited to, statements with respect to the investment with SERV;
the grant of options; and Sunnybrook and the appointment of
advisory board members. Generally, forward-looking information can
be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as
"plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget",
"scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or
"does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words
and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results "may",
"could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "occur" or "be
achieved". Forward-looking information is subject to known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the
actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of
the Company, as the case may be, to be materially different from
those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.
Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from those
contained in forward-looking information, there may be other
factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. There can be no assurance that such information will
prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking information. The Company does not undertake to
update any forward-looking information, except in accordance with
applicable securities laws.
NEITHER THE CANADIAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE NOR ITS
REGULATION SERVICES PROVIDER HAS REVIEWED OR ACCEPTS RESPONSIBILITY
FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.
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