The following is a transcription of the above video, and The Market Online has edited it for clarity.
The Market Online recently caught up with NurExone Biologic Inc (TSXV:NRX), a revolutionary biopharmaceutical company developing regenerative medicine therapies, and its CEO, Dr. Lior Shaltiel.
TMO: Can you just provide our audience members who may be new to the company with a brief overview of NurExone Biologic and its business model?
Shaltiel: NurExone Biologic is a Canadian company that holds also an Israeli R&D company. We are developing a pioneering exosome-based, or biological-based, product for our first indication, spinal cord injury.
We just published this Friday that we are going to a second indication, which is glaucoma, trying to have the regeneration effect that we see in the spinal cord injury also in the optic nerve.
And our technology is again based on exosomes, which are loaded with siRNA. And we use this technique and technology platform also for dealing with new therapy that we can, you know, adjust. Let’s say if a new company needs a drug delivery system, NurExone’s, indeed, is the best for that because we are specialized in those drug delivery systems.
TMO: Back in April, the company announced a strategic expansion to the U.S. markets with the listing on the OTCQB. How will this impact the overall strategy of NurExone? Why is it so important for the company to do this now?
Shaltiel: We are a Canadian company, we are on the TSXV. We are also traded in Germany in several different stock exchanges.
For us, getting into the U.S., is a strategic move. We want to see retailers and investors on the OTC like we see in Germany.
The majority so far of the investors are not Canadians, they’re actually Germans. The Germans are very technical investors with much more focus on the pharmaceutical and biotech.
In Canada, we are seeing more the cannabis sector. The mining sector is very strong, so each company, each territory has its own strength.
In the U.S., we see the market, our future market and our future potential to grow.
TMO: You’ve just welcomed Dr. Ram Petter as a consultant to assist in driving the company’s strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical companies.
Can you tell us a bit about this and why this is so significant for the company?
Shaltiel: Yes, so as I mentioned, we have the product part of our portfolio, but we have a technology platform.
And this technology platform is open to license partnerships. And this platform is mainly on three things. How to produce exosomes, how to load the exosomes (our drug delivery system), and what to load inside.
We have a vehicle, the know-how of what we put inside, and how we put inside, in order to deliver it to the right tissue.
In this case, other companies may find our technology relevant for them. Mainly companies that deal with RNA therapy, small peptides, small molecules. These need a special delivery to a tissue in order to reduce the concentration of the drug or target specifically to a tissue that they want.
TMO: Can you bring investors up to speed with where the company stands in regard to the regulatory path with the FDA for the human trials of ExoPTEN?
Shaltiel: Last year we announced that we got the Orphan Drug Designation by the FDA.
The company is working towards a European designation in this case.
We will develop our drug according to the highest standards with the FDA. We are aiming to submit the IND (investigation of new drug) in order to get to a clinical stage in the next year or so.
That involves completing the CMC (chemical manufacturing and control) of our drug. Also being able to produce it in a GMP (good manufacturing practice) environment.
TMO: In terms of investment value, where do you see the company headed over the next year or so?
If there’s anything that we have missed that you would like our viewers to know, please let us know.
Shaltiel: In the business part, we can split it to two. You have the long process developing and drug. It’s a process that have inflection points. For example, after getting into the clinical stage in after the results of the first trial, after results of the second trial, etc.
That’s going, that’s a non-business, and it’s just a long marathon and not the, you know, not a short one.
Besides the depth, we have the platform. This platform may get us to partnership, strong partnership with a big pharmaceutical in order to work with them for their solution.
If we are talking about spinal cord injury and new indication of glaucoma, we can then be dealing with a traumatic brain injury and other indication that needs regenerative medicine.
What we do is to regenerate, drugs, neurons to get them put together and to have a functional recovery.
You can follow NurExone Biologic on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol NRX or head to its website nurexone.com for more information.
Company shares last traded at C$0.70.
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