Ceapro Inc. Provides Update on Development of an Inhalable Therapeutic for COVID-19

– First milestone successfully achieved in early stages of the ongoing research project with McMaster University

– Confirmed capability of PGX Technology to optimize and standardize the size and morphology of yeast beta-glucan (PGX-YBG) suitable for lung inhalation

– In-vitro study with human cell lines demonstrated that PGX-YBG obtained from different sources exhibited significant stimulatory effect on human immune response 

EDMONTON, Alberta, Aug. 18, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ceapro Inc. (TSX-V: CZO; OTCQX: CRPOF) (“Ceapro” or the “Company”), a growth-stage biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of active ingredients for healthcare and cosmetic industries, today provided an update on its ongoing collaboration with McMaster University to develop an inhalable therapeutic for COVID-19.

The project, entitled “PGX-processed yeast beta-glucans as an inhalable immunomodulating therapeutic for COVID-19 patients,” jointly funded by Mitacs and Ceapro, is under the leadership of Dr. Kjetil Ask, a pulmonary fibrosis expert, and Dr. Todd Hoare respectively from departments of Medicine and Chemical Engineering at McMaster University.

To assess the potential of PGX-processed yeast beta-glucan (PGX-YBG) in practical application for COVID-19, the project was designed with four aims or milestones. The first milestone was to optimize the size and morphology of the best PGX-YBG for immunomodulation while the second milestone was to examine tolerability and safety of inhaled PGX-YBG in naïve animal models. The first milestone of the project was fully achieved, and the second milestone is near completion.

In order to derive the best and most suitable PGX-YBG product, the PGX Research and Development (R&D) Team at Ceapro worked very diligently to source, fractionate, and modify the PGX demo unit to process yeast beta glucan obtained from various sources. Surface area, surface morphology and particle size distribution measurements conducted by Ceapro and the research team at McMaster confirmed that, unlike the yeast beta-glucan currently available on the market, the PGX-processed YBG particles consistently generated from the retained raw material are small enough for effective inhalation.