VANCOUVER,
Sept. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Burcon
NutraScience Corporation (TSX - BU) ("Burcon" or the "Company") is
pleased to announce that it has filed an application to list its
common shares on the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC and has filed a
registration statement to register its common shares on Form 40-F
with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"SEC"), pursuant to section 12 of the United States Securities
Exchange Act of 1934.
Listing of the Company's common shares on NASDAQ is
subject to receipt of all necessary regulatory approvals, including
NASDAQ and the SEC and is expected to take until the end of
September or mid October 2011. In
connection with the filing of its Form 40-F, the Company has filed
on SEDAR its 2011 consolidated financial statements prepared in
accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards.
"This listing is a natural evolution for our
company," said Johann F. Tergesen,
president and COO of Burcon, adding "Under the previously announced
CLARISOY® soy license agreement, Archer Daniels Midland
Company, our US-based partner, has an exclusive and global license
for the production, distribution and sale of CLARISOY®
across all geographic regions and all product uses and we expect
initial commercial sales of CLARISOY® by ADM will be in
the United States. Having our shares traded on NASDAQ will
make it easier for investors in the
United States to invest in Burcon thus increasing our
liquidity and addressing demand for our shares from investors south
of the border. This listing will not involve any money raise or
issuance of shares from treasury."
Burcon also reports that we have recently received
notice from the United States Patent and Trademark Office that two
of our U.S. patent applications have now proceeded to grant as
United States patents. The first
U.S. Patent - titled "Canola Protein Isolate Functionality II"
(US Patent # 7,989,017) covers functional applications of blends of
Burcon's canola protein isolates Puratein® and
Supertein™ in food and beverage products. The second
U.S. Patent - titled "Canola Protein Isolate" (US Patent #
7,981,450) covers extraction procedures that improve
the quality and purity of Supertein™ canola protein
isolate.
"We have been encouraged by recent transactions in
the general intellectual property markets," said Johann F. Tergesen, president and COO of Burcon,
adding "Strategic buyers have been recognizing the value inherent
in a patent portfolio's ability to protect a product's market.
We have seen increased interest from a variety of
participants in our market place in all aspects of our products and
our patents. Burcon's business strategy has been to develop a sound
patent portfolio that broadly protects our core inventions.
In general we have sought to protect our processing technologies,
the functional applications of our novel proteins as they may be
used in end products, and also to protect the signature
characteristics of the proteins themselves. To-date, our patent
portfolio consists of 170 issued patents in various countries,
including 29 issued U.S. patents, and in excess of 300 additional
pending patent applications, 72 of which are U.S. patent
applications."
About Burcon NutraScience
Burcon is a leader in nutrition, health and wellness in the field
of functional, renewable plant proteins. Since 1999, Burcon has
developed a portfolio of composition, application, and process
patents originating from our core protein extraction and
purification technology. We are developing Puratein® and Supertein™
canola protein isolates with unique functional and nutritional
attributes, and CLARISOY®, a revolutionary soy protein
isolate which is 100% soluble and completely transparent in low pH
solutions. Our team of highly specialized scientists and engineers
work from our private research facility to develop and optimize
environmentally sound technologies. To-date, our patent portfolio
consists of 170 issued patents in various countries, including 29
issued U.S. patents, and in excess of 300 additional pending patent
applications, 72 of which are U.S. patent applications.
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ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
"Johann F. Tergesen"
Johann F. Tergesen
President and Chief Operating Officer
The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy of the content of the information
contained herein. This press release contains forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These
forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, plans and
timing for the introduction or enhancement of our products,
statements about future market conditions, supply and demand
conditions, and other expectations, intentions and plans contained
in this press release that are not historical fact. Our
expectations regarding the prospect for future success depend upon
our ability to develop and sell products, which we do not produce
today and cannot be sold without further research and development
or reliance on our development partner. When used in this press
release, the words "goal", "intend", "believes" and "potential" and
similar expressions, generally identify forward-looking statements.
These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject
to a number of risks and uncertainties.
SOURCE Burcon NutraScience Corporation