Company announced multi-product development
and licensing partnership with Laurus Labs for manufacturing active
pharmaceutical ingredients
Company anticipates revenue of over
$1.0 million in Q2, and over
$3.5 million for 2024 on existing
programs
Company expands its AI platform with the
appointment of AI expert and industry veteran Dr. Richard Fox as Senior Advisor, AI Platform
Technologies
Company appoints Mr. Gregory Rocklin, as Senior Advisor, Business and
Corporate Development to continue strategic partnership initiatives
after securing the multi-product partnership with Laurus Labs
Company announces its first patent being
issued; anticipates filing another five patents in 2024 primarily
related to its steroid production platform
Company expands into the high growth
biopesticide sector with addition of new partnered program
SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 26,
2024 /PRNewswire/ - Willow Biosciences
Inc. ("Willow" or the "Company")
(TSX: WLLW) (OTCQB: CANSF), a leading biotechnology company
focused on revolutionizing industrial manufacturing of pure,
consistent, and sustainable functional ingredients, announces a
corporate update on its operations.
"The second quarter of 2024 has been the most active quarter to
date for Willow's product portfolio," said Dr. Chris Savile, Willow's President & CEO. "In
addition to signing an agreement with global manufacturing giant,
Laurus Labs, that added seven new programs in late May, Willow has
added a new "proof of concept" agreement with an innovative biotech
company in the high growth biopesticide sector," continued Dr.
Savile.
Laurus Labs Partnership
On May 30, 2024, the Company
announced a strategic partnership with Laurus Labs to develop new
biobased routes for seven active pharmaceutical ingredients. Willow
will leverage its AI-driven technology platform and extensive
experience in enzyme, strain, and process engineering to deliver
biobased processes for high-value Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
(APIs) with existing markets, including Willow's
BioOxiTM-based corticosteroid processes, for large scale
manufacturing, sales, and distribution at Laurus. Willow and Laurus
expect these first programs to reach commercial manufacture in
2025.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Willow expects to earn
significant annual revenues in research & development and
royalties, including $4.0 million in
guaranteed research & development payments in year one. Upon
commercialization of the APIs, Willow will receive an annual
royalty based on worldwide sales. With the addition of guaranteed
monthly revenue under the program, Willow has managed to further
reduce its monthly burn rate. The new partnership with Laurus is
not expected to add to Willow's costs as it is a continuation of
the existing work that Willow has been doing in-house since Q3,
2023.
Revenue Growth
The Company anticipates a total of over $1.0 million in revenue in Q2, and over
$3.5 million in 2024 from its
existing partnerships, including with Laurus. In addition, Willow
has an active pipeline and anticipates signing 2-3 new programs
before the end of 2024, which could further increase near term
revenue.
IP Portfolio
Willow continues to build out its IP portfolio with the first of
its cannabinoid patents being recently granted. Willow's patent
portfolio consists of 15 patent filings for its various programs
and anticipates filing at least 5 additional patents through 2024
primarily related to its steroid production technology.
Appointment of Senior Advisors
The Company is happy to announce the appointments of Dr.
Richard Fox and Mr. Gregory Rocklin as senior advisors. Dr.
Richard Fox has joined Willow as a
Senior Advisor, AI Platform Technologies. Dr. Fox is a highly
accomplished industry veteran with 25 years of experience in the
fields of data science, computational biology, protein, metabolic,
and genome engineering. He has deep knowledge and expertise in
directed evolution, biostatistics, computational biology, and
artificial intelligence. Dr. Fox is widely recognized for his
contributions to the development of AI-driven enzyme engineering
and data science tools and strategies for the rapid forward
engineering of biological systems.
Mr. Gregory Rocklin has joined as
Senior Advisor, Corporate Development. Mr. Rocklin has 30+
years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry in corporate and
business development roles, including mergers, acquisitions,
divestitures, strategy, product licensing, and financings. Mr.
Rocklin was responsible for securing the recent
multi-million-dollar deal with Laurus Labs and will continue to
focus on securing additional high value strategic deals in the
pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and chemical sectors.
Biopesticides
Biochemical pesticides are naturally occurring substances that
control pests through non-toxic, targeted mechanisms resulting in
enhanced crop productions. According to Fortune Business Insights,
the global biopesticides market is $8.7
billion in 2024 with a CAGR of 15.9%. Biopesticides are
typically safer and more environmentally friendly than conventional
pesticides but can be challenging to produce at large scale. Willow
recently partnered with an innovative Ag-Biotech company to apply
its technology platform to production of a class of bioactive
pesticides. Should the first feasibility phase prove
successful, the Company expects to continue a full development
program that would include additional research fees, milestones and
potential future royalties.
About Willow Biosciences Inc.
Willow develops and produces precision fermented functional
ingredients for the health and wellness, food and beverage and
personal care markets. Willow's FutureGrown™ and BioOxi™ platforms
enable large-scale production with sustainability at its core.
Willow's R&D team has a proven track record of developing and
commercializing bio-based manufacturing processes and products to
benefit our B2B partners and their customers. For more information,
visit www.willowbio.com.
FutureGrown™ and BioOxi™ are registered trademarks of Willow
Biosciences Inc.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may include forward-looking statements
including opinions, assumptions, estimates and the Company's
assessment of future plans, platforms, operations and expansion,
and, more particularly, statements concerning: the collaboration
agreement and development program with Laurus Labs, including the
ability to accommodate new programs and to expand capabilities and
transition R&D programs to commercial revenue; the expectation
of the first programs with Laurus Labs reaching commercial
manufacture in 2025; expansion into the high growth biopesticide
sector pursuant to a new partnered program; expectations of signing
3-5 new programs before the end of 2024; the anticipated filing
another five patents in 2024 primarily related to its steroid
production platform; the impact of newly appointed strategic
advisors and the Company's AI platform; the demand and market size
potential of the synthetic ingredients and biopesticides
industries; and the business plan of the Company, generally. When
used in this news release, the words "will," "anticipate,"
"believe," "estimate," "expect," "intent," "may," "project,"
"should," and similar expressions are intended to be among the
statements that identify forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements are founded on the basis of expectations
and assumptions made by the Company which include, but are not
limited to: the success of Willow's strategic partnerships,
including the partnerships with Laurus Labs and an innovative
Ag-Biotech company and the development of future strategic
partnerships; the financial strength of the Company; the ability of
the Company to fund its business plan using cash on hand and
existing resources; the market for Willow's products; the ability
of the Company to obtain and retain applicable licences; the
ability of the Company to obtain suitable manufacturing partners
and other strategic relationships; and the successful
implementation of Willow's commercialization and production
strategy, generally. Forward-looking statements are subject to a
wide range of risks and uncertainties, and although the Company
believes that the expectations represented by such forward-looking
statements are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such
expectations will be realized. Any number of important factors
could cause actual results biotechnology industry in general; the
success of the Company's research and development strategies;
infringement on intellectual property; failure to benefit from
partnerships or successfully integrate acquisitions; actions and
initiatives of federal, state and provincial governments and
changes to government policies and the execution and impact of
these actions, initiatives and policies; competition from other
industry participants; adverse U.S., Canadian and global economic
conditions; adverse global events and public-health crises; failure
to comply with certain regulations; departure of key management
personnel or inability to attract and retain talent; and other
factors more fully described from time to time in the reports and
filings made by the Company with securities regulatory authorities.
Please refer to the Company's most recent annual information form
and management's discussion and analysis for additional risk
factors relating to Willow, which can be accessed either on
Willow's website at www.willowbio.com or under the Company's
profile on www.sedarplus.ca.
Any financial outlook and future-oriented financial information
contained in this document regarding prospective financial
performance, financial position, cash balances or revenue,
including the anticipated receipt of revenue of over $1.0 million in Q2, and over $3.5 million for 2024 on existing programs,
including $4.0 million in guaranteed
research & development payments in year one under the
collaboration agreement and future annual royalties based on
worldwide sales upon commercialization of APIs, is based on
assumptions about future events, including economic conditions and
proposed courses of action based on management's assessment of the
relevant information that is currently available. Projected
operational information contains forward-looking information and is
based on a number of material assumptions and factors, as are set
out above. These projections may also be considered to contain
future-oriented financial information or a financial outlook. The
actual results of the Company's operations for any period will
likely vary from the amounts set forth in these projections and
such variations may be material. Actual results will vary from
projected results. Readers are cautioned that any such financial
outlook and future-oriented financial information contained herein
should not be used for purposes other than those for which it is
disclosed herein.
The forward-looking statements contained in this news release
are made as of the date hereof and the Company does not undertake
any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included
forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.
The forward-looking statements contained herein are expressly
qualified by this cautionary statement.
Certain information contained herein has been obtained from
published sources prepared by independent industry analysts and
third-party sources (including industry publications, surveys and
forecasts). While such information is believed to be reliable for
the purposes used herein, Willow does not assume any responsibility
for the accuracy of such information. The sources cited in this
news release have not consented to the inclusion of any data from
their reports, nor has Willow sought their consent.
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SOURCE Willow Biosciences Inc.
