On August 14, 2019 Neptune Wellness Solutions Inc. ("Neptune" or the "Corporation") (NASDAQ: NEPT) (TSX: NEPT), reported its financial and operating results for the three-month period ended June 30, 2019. All amounts are in Canadian dollars except specified otherwise (Press release, Neptune Technologies et Bioressources inc, AUG 14, 2019, View Source [SID1234538752]).

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Corporate Highlights:

On June 7, 2019, Neptune announced a three-year contract with Tilray Inc. for the extraction of cannabinoids from cannabis and hemp biomass. Tilray has committed to provide minimum biomass volumes of 125,000 kg over a three-year period.
On June 12, 2019, Neptune announced a three-year contract with The Green Organic Dutchman (TGOD) for a minimum of 230,000 kg of cannabis and hemp biomass. Neptune will provide extraction services as well as turnkey formulation, manufacturing and packaging solutions to TGOD covering a range of finished products.
On June 17, 2019, Neptune’s wholly owned subsidiary, 9354-7537 Québec Inc., received license amendments covering additional rooms where Neptune will perform encapsulation and cold ethanol extraction which will increase Neptune’s extraction capacity from 30,000 kg to 200,000 kg of biomass annually.
On July 8, 2019, Michael Cammarata, a successful entrepreneur and innovator in the wellness industry, was appointed as Chief Executive Officer and Member of the Board of Directors of Neptune. Jim Hamilton stepped down from his role as CEO and Director but remains an advisor to the Board.
On July 18, 2019, Neptune announced a successful private placement of US$41 million of which US$12 million has been used to fund the initial cash consideration for the acquisition of the assets of SugarLeaf Labs.
Michael Cammarata, CEO of Neptune stated, "Since joining Neptune, I have been listening to key stakeholders and evaluating the company its strategy and vision. I have been impressed by our significant IP that can applied to the fast-paced cannabis industry. Our extraction expertise can set us apart as we ramp up production of both raw material and finished products. I have recently implemented initiatives to address the near-term operational and capacity constraints that have impacted the growth of our cannabis extraction services, as well as put several building blocks in place to support that growth, including private placement funding and boosting production at the Sherbrooke facility. We expect to see positive impacts from these actions beginning in the second quarter."

"We expect that our new contracts with Tilray and TGOD will offer strong and consistent revenue over the next three years. The health and wellness market provides a significant opportunity in which cannabis and hemp extracts will play an important role in fulfilling customers’ needs for improved quality of life. Neptune Wellness is well positioned to benefit from this large global market opportunity, and we will continue to raise the bar when it comes to transparency, quality and industry standards," continued Mr. Cammarata.

"Mario Paradis, VP & CFO, has decided to leave Neptune. We are very grateful for all of Mario’s hard work during his time at the company. We have begun a search for a new CFO and Mario will remain CFO of Neptune to help with the transition. We are poised for strong growth and I have no doubt we’ll find the right talent to help us achieve that growth."

Financial Results

Total revenues reached $4.4 million for the three-month ended June 30, 2019, down versus last year’s revenues of $5.2 million. The majority of the revenues during the quarter were generated in the Nutraceutical segment. The decline in total revenues is explained by the timing of contracts in the Nutraceutical segment. Commercial production of cannabis extracts during the quarter was impacted by constrained operations and extraction capacity.

Neptune reported a net loss of $6.5 million for the three-month ended June 30, 2019, an increase compared to a net loss of $4.1 million last year.

For the three-month ended June 30, 2019, Adjusted EBITDA1 was a loss of $3.6 million compared with a loss of $2.3 million last year. The increased Adjusted EBITDA1 loss is due to investments made to support the growing cannabis operations.

Cash and cash equivalents were $5.4 million as of June 30, 2019. On a pro-forma basis, including the net proceeds from the private placement completed on July 18, and the initial cash consideration paid to acquire SugarLeaf, Neptune’s cash and cash equivalent would have been $39 million as at June 30, 2019.

Completion of the SugarLeaf acquisition

On July 24, 2019, Neptune announced the closing of the acquisition of the assets of U.S.-based hemp processor SugarLeaf Labs and Forest Remedies LLC (collectively, "SugarLeaf"). The initial consideration paid at closing consisted of US$18 million or US$12 million in cash and US$6 million in common shares. By achieving certain annual adjusted EBITDA and other performance targets, an additional consideration of up to US$132 million would be paid over each of the next three years as a combination of cash and shares for a maximum aggregate purchase price of up to US$150 million, reflecting a valuation multiple below 5x EBITDA.

The extraction capacity of SugarLeaf is expected to reach an annual run rate of 1,500,000 kg of biomass by the end of 2019 with opportunities to further expand capacity. The company is using a cutting-edge cold ethanol processing technology producing high-quality broad-spectrum extracts and refined full spectrum extracts. SugarLeaf has established strategic and well diversified sourcing, with multiple local and large regional hemp farmer partners, ensuring traceability of finished product directly back to the farms. The acquisition of SugarLeaf, combined with Neptune creates a leading North American extraction platform with significant capacity available to serve customers in both Canada and the United States. The acquisition also offers an opportunity to participate in both B2B and B2C hemp-derived CBD markets in the United States.

Launch of Neptune Ventures

Today, Neptune Wellness also announces the creation of Neptune Ventures, a strategic investment arm and technology incubator which is expected to stimulate innovation and partnerships in the cannabis and wellness industry. Neptune Ventures will support Neptune’s growth into the consumer market with investments in Forest Remedies, SugarLeaf’s consumer brand which includes hemp-derived CBD balms and oils.

"We are excited to launch Neptune Ventures, which will allow us to invest alongside our customers in innovative new products and technology to offer additional value to our customers and shareholders," said Mr. Cammarata. "Our venture arm will be an opportunity to get us closer to our customers by developing new intellectual property, innovations and creative solutions."

Outlook

In Canada, near-term capacity constraints are expected to be resolved in September with the commissioning of ethanol extraction equipment, which should increase Neptune’s capacity from current levels of 30,000 kg of biomass to 200,000 kg of biomass processed annually. Furthermore, Phase IIIA expansion is progressing as planned with completion expected before the end of calendar 2019 with Health Canada licensing expected thereafter. With the Phase IIIA expansion, Neptune expects to have the industry’s lowest extraction costs, translating into potentially healthy margin.

In the United States, the capacity of our SugarLeaf plant is expected to reach 1,500,000 kg by the end of December, providing Neptune with substantial capacity to supply our B2B customers with hemp extracts ingredients and finished products. SugarLeaf is expected to contribute to Neptune’s revenue growth starting in the second quarter of fiscal 2020.

Our Nutraceutical division has recently seen an increase in demand for hemp-derived CBD sourcing and formulations which could stimulate sales in the second half of fiscal 2020.

"Once the expansion phases are complete, we expect Neptune’s two extraction facilities to have impressive earnings potential. Given that we only recently acquired SugarLeaf and are still in the process of integrating those operations, we estimate that, based on a conservative capacity utilization scenario of 50%, our two facilities could support in excess of $450 million in annual revenues. In addition, our highly automated operations are expected to translate into low production costs benefiting margins, which have the potential to exceed 40% at the EBITDA level. With a focus on bringing the highest quality products to market sustainably, we believe these developments can help us achieve and surpass these scenarios. There can, of course, be no assurance that the integration of SugarLeaf will be successfully implemented, that our utilization capacity will achieve anticipated levels, or that operational costs and margins will benefit from these developments to the extent anticipated at this time." concluded Mr. Cammarata.

On August 14, 2019 AIVITA Biomedical, Inc., a biotech company specializing in innovative stem cell applications, repored updated clinical data from its ongoing glioblastoma Phase 2 clinical trial, investigating AIVITA’s platform immunotherapy targeting tumor-initiating cells (Press release, AIVITA Biomedical, AUG 14, 2019, View Source [SID1234538751]). Blood plasma biomarker analyses have identified a robust immune response and a decrease of tumor biomarkers in 65% of treated patients, in a sample that represents 29% of the total Phase 2 clinical trial size.

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Blood was collected from subjects at multiple time points, one week after each dose administration, and assayed for 450 different immune and tumor biomarkers. Treatment elicited a robust immune response, with biomarkers suggesting progressive activation of dendritic cell cross-presentation and progressive activation of a type II hypersensitivity antibody-mediated cytotoxic response. Most notably, 65% of the treated glioblastoma patients also showed a robust decrease of 27 different biomarkers associated with tumor development, including markers of tumor-associated angiogenesis, tumor-associated growth factors, and tumors themselves.

"An objective tumor biomarker response, combined with a robust and appropriate immune response, suggests a decrease of tumor burden in 65% of our treated patients," said Dr. Hans S. Keirstead, AIVITA’s Chief Executive Officer. "Should this translate to survival, it would represent a major step forward in our fight against glioblastoma."

AIVITA is currently conducting three distinct clinical studies investigating its platform immunotherapy, in patients with ovarian cancer, glioblastoma and melanoma. AIVITA uses 100% of proceeds from the sale of its ROOT of SKIN skincare line to support the treatment of women with ovarian cancer.

CLINICAL TRIAL DETAIL

OVARIAN CANCER

AIVITA’s ovarian Phase 2 double-blind study is active and enrolling approximately 99 patients who are being randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive either the autologous tumor-initiating cell-targeting immunotherapy or autologous monocytes as a comparator.

Patients eligible for randomization and treatment will be those (1) who have undergone debulking surgery, (2) for whom a cell line has been established, (3) who have undergone leukapheresis from which sufficient monocytes were obtained, (4) have an ECOG performance grade of 0 or 1 (Karnofsky score of 70-100%), and (5) who have completed primary therapy. The trial is not open to patients with recurrent ovarian cancer.

For additional information about AIVITA’s AVOVA-1 trial patients can visit: www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02033616

GLIOBLASTOMA

AIVITA’s glioblastoma Phase 2 single-arm study is active and is enrolling approximately 55 patients to receive the tumor-initiating cell-targeting immunotherapy.

Patients eligible for treatment will be those (1) who have recovered from surgery such that they are about to begin concurrent chemotherapy and radiation therapy (CT/RT), (2) for whom an autologous tumor cell line has been established, (3) have a Karnofsky Performance Status of > 70 and (4) have undergone successful leukapheresis from which peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were obtained that can be used to generate dendritic cells (DC). The trial is not open to patients with recurrent glioblastoma.

For additional information about AIVITA’s AV-GBM-1 trial please visit: www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03400917

MELANOMA

AIVITA’s melanoma Phase 1B open-label, single-arm study will establish the safety of administering anti-PD1 monoclonal antibodies in combination with AIVITA’s tumor-initiating cell-targeting immunotherapy in patients with measurable metastatic melanoma. The study will also track efficacy of the treatment for the estimated 14 to 20 patients. This trial is not yet open for enrollment.

Patients eligible for treatment will be those (1) for whom a cell line has been established, (2) who have undergone leukapheresis from which sufficient monocytes were obtained, (3) have an ECOG performance grade of 0 or 1 (Karnofsky score of 70-100%), (4) who have either never received treatment for metastatic melanoma or were previously treated with enzymatic inhibitors of the BRAF/MEK pathway because of BRAF600E/K mutations and (5) are about to initiate anti-PD1 monotherapy.

For additional information about AIVITA’s AV-MEL-1 trial please visit: www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03743298

On August 14, 2019 Nuvo Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nuvo or the Company) (TSX:NRI;OTCQX:NRIFF), a Canadian focused, healthcare company with global reach and a diversified portfolio of commercial products, reported its financial and operational results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2019 (Press release, Nuvo Pharmaceuticals, AUG 14, 2019, View Source [SID1234538750]). For further details on the results, please refer to Nuvo’s Management, Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) and Condensed Consolidated Interim Financial Statements which are available on the Company’s website (www.nuvopharmaceuticals.com). All figures are in Canadian dollars, unless otherwise noted.

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"During the second quarter, our operating segments continued to perform in line with our expectations and our second quarter financial results reinforce the increase in scale the Aralez Transaction has made to our business," said Jesse Ledger, Nuvo’s President & CEO. "While the Vimovo news during the quarter was disappointing, we have made cost-saving adjustments to our operations and our underlying business and financial performance is expected to benefit from these changes moving forward."

Second Quarter Financial Summary

Adjusted total revenue(1) was $19.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to $6.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018.

Adjusted EBITDA(1) was $5.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to $2.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018.

Gross profit on total revenue was $9.6 million or 58% for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to a gross profit of $3.5 million or 60% for the three months ended June 30, 2018.

Cash and short-term investments were $14.7 million as at June 30, 2019 compared to $28.1 million as at December 31, 2018. The decrease was primarily related to the settlement of transaction costs and indebtedness acquired by Nuvo upon close of the Aralez Transaction.
(1)

Non-International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) financial measure defined by the Company below.

Second Quarter and 2019 Business Update

Canadian prescriptions of Blexten increased 64% to 105,407 for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to 64,404 for the three months ended June 30, 2018.

Canadian prescriptions of Cambia increased 30% to 19,500 for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to 15,036 for the three months ended June 30, 2018.

On April 2, 2019, the Company announced the Marketing Authorization Application for Pennsaid 2% had been accepted for review by the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) acting as the reference member state for Austria, Italy, Greece and Portugal. It is anticipated that a review decision will be made in early 2020.

On May 3, 2019, the Suvexx registration dossier passed screening with Health Canada and is now under formal review. The Company anticipates a review decision from Health Canada during the first half of 2020.

On May 15, 2019, the Company announced the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (the Court of Appeals) had reversed the decision by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (the District Court) that had upheld the validity of U.S. Patent Nos. 6,926,907 (the ‘907 patent) and 8,557,285 (the ‘285 patent). On July 30, 2019, the Court of Appeals rejected the Company’s en banc request to have the Court of Appeals reconsider its decision. On June 26, 2019, the Company amended its financing agreement with Deerfield Management Company, L.P. (Deerfield), to provide, among other things, for a payment deferral of a portion of mandatory minimum quarterly prepayments should Vimovo U.S. market exclusivity be lost due to a generic entry.

On June 17, 2019, the Company announced that in the second half of 2019, it will start to realize on synergies resulting from organizational changes and its acquisition of Aralez Canada that will reduce its operating expenses by approximately $7.0 million annually.
Second Quarter 2019 Financial Results

Total revenue is comprised of product sales, license revenue and contract revenue. Total revenue was $16.6 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to $5.9 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018. The significant increase in total revenue for the current quarter was the result of the timing of the Aralez Transaction. Total revenue for the six months ended June 30, 2019 was $31.1 million compared to $10.3 million for the comparative six-month period.

Adjusted total revenue increased to $19.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to $6.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018. The $13.1 million increase in adjusted total revenue in the current quarter was primarily related to the timing of the Aralez Transaction, which provided an incremental $9.7 million of total revenue contributed from the Commercial Business segment and $4.7 million attributable to the Vimovo royalties related to the U.S. and ex-U.S. territories, partially offset by a $1.2 million decrease in Production and Service revenue. Adjusted total revenue increased to $36.2 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019 compared to $10.6 for the six months ended June 30, 2018.

Adjusted EBITDA increased to $5.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to $2.0 million for the three months ended June 30, 2018. The increase in adjusted EBITDA for the current quarter was primarily attributable to the increase in gross profit as a result of the Aralez Transaction, partially offset by an increase in sales and marketing and general and administrative (G&A) expenses, including $1.0 million of one-time restructuring expenses. Adjusted EBITDA increased to $10.9 million for the six months ended June 30, 2019 compared to $2.7 million for the six months ended June 30, 2018.

Gross profit on total revenue was $9.6 million or 58% for the three months ended June 30, 2019 compared to a gross profit of $3.5 million or 60% for the three months ended June 30, 2018. The increase in gross profit for the current quarter was primarily attributable to an increase in gross margin on product sales and an increase in license revenue due to the timing of the Aralez Transaction. Gross profit on total revenue was $18.7 million or 60% for the six months ended June 30, 2019 compared to a gross profit of $6.1 million or 59% for the six months ended June 30, 2018.

Non-IFRS Financial Measures
The Company discloses non-IFRS measures (such as adjusted total revenue, adjusted EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA per share) that do not have standardized meanings prescribed by IFRS. The Company believes that shareholders, investment analysts and other readers find such measures helpful in understanding the Company’s financial performance and in interpreting the effect of the Aralez Transaction and the Deerfield Financing on the Company. Non-IFRS financial measures do not have any standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS and may not have been calculated in the same way as similarly named financial measures presented by other companies.

Adjusted Total Revenue
The Company defines adjusted total revenue as total revenue, plus amounts billed to customers for existing contract assets, less revenue recognized upon recognition of a contract asset. Management believes adjusted total revenue is a useful supplemental measure from which to determine the Company’s ability to generate cash from its customer contracts that is used to fund its operations.

The following is a summary of how adjusted total revenue is calculated:

Adjusted EBITDA
EBITDA refers to net income (loss) determined in accordance with IFRS, before depreciation and amortization, net interest expense (income) and income tax expense (recovery). The Company defines adjusted EBITDA as net income before net interest expense (income), depreciation and amortization and income tax expense (recovery) (EBITDA), plus amounts billed to customers for existing contract assets, inventory step-up expense, stock-based compensation expense, Other Expenses, less revenue recognized upon recognition of a contract asset and other income. Management believes adjusted EBITDA is a useful supplemental measure from which to determine the Company’s ability to generate cash available for working capital, capital expenditures, debt repayments, interest expense and income taxes.

The following is a summary of how EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are calculated:

Management to Host Conference Call/Webcast
Management will host a conference call to discuss the results today (Wednesday, August 14, 2019) at 8:30 a.m. ET. To participate in the conference call, please dial 1 888 390 0546 or 416 764 8688. Please call in 15 minutes prior to the call to secure a line. You will be put on hold until the conference call begins.

A taped replay of the conference call will be available two hours after the live conference call and will be accessible until midnight on August 21, 2019 by calling 1 888 390 0541 or 416 764 8677 playback passcode 509912#.

A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available through www.nuvopharmaceuticals.com. Please connect at least 15 minutes prior to the conference call to ensure adequate time for any software download that may be required to hear the webcast.

On August 14, 2019 ESSA Pharma Inc. ("ESSA", or the "Company") (TSX-V: EPI,NASDAQ: EPIX), a pharmaceutical company focused on developing novel therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer, provided a corporate update and reported financial results for the fiscal third quarter ended June 30, 2019 (Press release, ESSA, AUG 14, 2019, View Source [SID1234538749]). All references to "$" in this release refer to United States dollars, unless otherwise indicated.

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"The last quarter marked another significant period in our ongoing transformation process for Essa from both corporate and clinical standpoints. During the quarter, we worked diligently on the work required to complete the acquisition of Realm Therapeutics with the transaction closing on July 31st. The acquisition of Realm and its cash balance put Essa in a strong financial position to allow us to commence the Phase 1 clinical study of EPI-7386," stated David Parkinson, MD, President and CEO of ESSA. "We are progressing with IND-enabling studies on EPI-7386 and on track to file an IND with the FDA in the first calendar quarter of 2020. We look forward to presenting further in vitro and in vivo study results of EPI-7386 in the coming months at medical conferences."

Recent Company Highlights

On July 31, 2019, the Company completed the acquisition of Realm Therapeutics plc ("Realm") pursuant to a scheme of arrangement under Part 26 of the U.K. Companies Act 2006 (the "Acquisition"). Under the terms of the Acquisition, ESSA acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of Realm, and Realm shareholders received a total of 6,718,150 common shares of the Company.
On May 4, 2019 at the 2019 American Urological Association Meeting, an oral poster presentation presented a deeper preclinical characterization of EPI-7386. The poster showed that pre-clinical studies demonstrate that EPI-7386 (i) displays similar in vitro IC50 potency compared to the lutamide class of antiandrogens in an in vitro androgen receptor (AR) inhibition assay; (ii) shows in vitro activity in several enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer cell models in which enzalutamide is resistant; (iii) exhibits a favorable metabolic profile across three preclinical animal species (which suggests that EPI-7386 will have high exposure and a long half-life in humans) (iv) provides similar antitumor activity to enzalutamide in the enzalutamide-sensitive LNCaP prostate cancer xenograft model, and (v) provides superior antitumor activity to enzalutamide, as a single agent or in combination with enzalutamide, in the enzalutamide emerging-resistant VCaP prostate cancer xenograft model, specifically showing AR inhibition with both an N-terminal domain inhibitor (EPI-7386) and a ligand binding domain inhibitor (enzalutamide), induces deeper and more consistent anti-tumor responses in the enzalutamide emerging-resistant VCaP xenograft model.
EPI-7386 was selected for a poster presentation at the European Society for Medical Oncology ("ESMO") 2019 Congress to be held September 27-October 1, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain.
Summary Financial Results

Net Income (Loss). ESSA recorded a net loss of $3.3 million ($0.52 loss per common share based on 6,383,737 weighted average common shares outstanding) for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, compared to a net loss of $2.9 million ($0.50 loss per common share based on 5,776,098 weighted average common shares outstanding) for the quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Research and Development ("R&D") expenditures. R&D expenditures for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 were $1.95 million compared to $0.99 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The increase in R&D expenditures for the quarter were primarily related to ESSA’s efforts in preparing an Investigational New Drug application for its recently-nominated clinical candidate, EPI-7386. Costs in the comparative period included preclinical research related to the Company’s next-generation aniten compounds.

General and administration ("G&A") expenditures. G&A expenditures for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 were $1.2 million compared to $1.6 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2018. The decrease is the result of a reduction in professional fees, primarily due to Acquisition-related professional fees being recorded as deferred costs for the period, as well as decreases in rent expense and share-based payments.
Liquidity and Outstanding Share Capital
Cash on hand at June 30, 2019, was $4.9 million, with working capital of $0.3 million, reflecting the aggregate gross proceeds of the completed January 2018 financing, which totaled $26 million, less operating expenses in the intervening period.

As of June 30, 2019, the Company had 7,963,628 common shares issued and outstanding.

In addition, as of June 30, 2019 there were 473,688 common shares issuable upon the exercise of warrants and broker warrants at a weighted-average exercise price of $34.36 per ESSA common share and 1,154,711 ESSA common shares issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options at a weighted-average exercise price of $4.58 per common share.

On August 14, 2019 Western Oncolytics (WO), a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of next generation oncolytic vaccinia virus immunotherapies reported that it has appointed Helena H. Chaye, Ph.D., J.D. to the position of chief executive officer (Press release, Western Oncolytics, AUG 14, 2019, View Source [SID1234538748]). Dr. Chaye most recently served as chief business officer for SillaJen, Inc., an oncolytic virus therapy company, and brings over 20 years of experience in business development, intellectual property management, corporate affairs and operations to Western Oncolytics.

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"Helena is an excellent, key and timely addition to our management team as we continue to build our company’s foundation ahead of moving into clinical development. Her depth of experience on the operations and business side for a company developing cancer immunotherapies will be invaluable," said Stephen H. Thorne, Ph.D., WO’s founder and chief scientific officer. "We also look forward to tapping into the global network that Helena has developed and believe that her contributions will enable us to move our new generation of optimized, multi-mechanistic cancer immunotherapies to the clinic more quickly."

"I am excited for the opportunity to join Western Oncolytics given the tremendous potential of WO’s technology and look forward to contributing to the company’s mission to create the best-in-class immuno-oncology platform," stated Dr. Chaye. "Among other tremendous progress by the WO team, I was pleased to see the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Grant awarded to WO by the U.S. government and believe this to be greatly validating to our technology and therapeutic approach."

Dr. Chaye served in recent years at SillaJen Biotherapeutics, most recently as chief business officer after having been part of the Strategic Planning and Development team at SillaJen. She was one of the early executives of Jennerex, which was acquired by SillaJen in 2014, and made significant contributions to the early development of the company’s oncolytic virus therapy and the growth of Jennerex during the years 2006 to 2012. At the time of her departure in 2012, Dr. Chaye was vice president of corporate affairs and intellectual property after having held many leadership positions that included business development, human resources and technology operations. She has held business development and IP management positions at DNAtrix, MediGene, Canadian Genetic Diseases Network and has worked as a consultant to start-up companies based in the U.S. and in Korea. Dr. Chaye received her Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of British Columbia and her J.D. from Dalhousie University.