Data from this project expected to take
RepliCel's products to next level of potential commercial
viability
VANCOUVER, June 13, 2017 /CNW/ - RepliCel Life Sciences Inc.
(OTCQB: REPCF) (TSXV: RP) (FRA:P6P2) ("RepliCel" or the "Company")
is pleased to announce it has signed a collaborative research
project agreement with the University of
British Columbia ("UBC"). The project will be co-lead
by the UBC's Dr. Kevin McElwee and
Professor Youwen Zhou.
The project is designed to deliver a gene and protein expression
"map" of healthy hair follicle cells expected to be critically
important to improving key components of the manufacturing,
regulatory, and clinical profile of RepliCel's cell therapy
products.
"We are very excited to be working with UBC on a project we've
spent considerable time designing to mature our understanding of
the cell populations we work with to improve our product
manufacturing, clinical outcomes, and assays critical to regulatory
approval and commercialization," stated RepliCel President and CEO,
R. Lee Buckler.
This study will examine different cell groups from human hair
follicles and look for differences, and similarities, in gene and
protein expression. Additionally, the project will analyze array
data from select subjects who participated in RepliCel's phase
I/IIa clinical trial of its RCH-01 product in development for the
treatment of androgenetic alopecia which completed earlier this
year. This includes data from patients who had the best clinical
hair growth response at six months and a sustained positive
response at 24 months.
In the study with UBC, the gene expression profiles of the
cultured cells from these clinical trial subjects who had a strong
hair growth response will be compared to the gene expression
profile of subjects who had a reduced hair growth response. The
analysis is anticipated to allow RepliCel to better identify
specific genes with high or low expression in the cultured cells
that correspond to strong hair growth promotion.
About Professor Youwen Zhou,
M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Youwen Zhou
is a physician scientist who is a Professor at UBC's Department of
Dermatology and Skin Science. He received his BS degree from
Nankai University, China, a PhD in
Molecular Genetics from the State University
of New York, and an MD degree from the University of Toronto. After completing dermatology
specialty training at UBC, he joined UBC Faculty of Medicine as a
physician scientist in dermatology in 2000, and was promoted to
full professor in 2013. He founded the UBC Molecular Medicine Lab
and Chieng Genomics Center at Vancouver Coastal Health Research
Institute (VCHRI) with infrastructure funding from Canada
Foundation for Innovation in 2001. Dr Zhou's research is centered
on biomarkers of skin diseases such as skin lymphoma, melanoma, and
vitiligo, using a wide variety of methods and approaches, including
genome-wide association studies (GWAS), linkage analysis, next
generational sequencing, transcriptional profiling, cellular and
animal models, as well as genome editing.
Dr Zhou has published more than 100 articles in journals such as
Nature, Cell, Nature Genetics, and Blood, and holds multiple
patents in skin lymphoma diagnostic biomarkers. In 2013, Dr Zhou
was awarded a Barney Usher Award for
Outstanding Achievements in Dermatology Research from the Canadian
Dermatology Association. Dr Zhou specializes in the diagnosis and
treatment of skin cancers and skin pigmentation disorders, and is a
consultant dermatologist at Vancouver General Hospital and British
Columbia Cancer Agency. He teaches graduate students, medical
students, dermatology residents and postdoctoral fellows. Dr Zhou
is the past president of the Canadian Society of Investigative
Dermatology, and served as a board member for Canadian Institutes
for Health Research (CIHR) Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and
Arthritis (IMHA). He is also a grant reviewer for CIHR, the
Canadian Dermatology Foundation, and the Natural Sciences
Foundation of China.
About Dr. Kevin McElwee,
Ph.D.
Dr. Kevin McElwee is
an Associate Professor at the UBC's Department of Dermatology and
Skin Sciences and Director of the Hair Research Laboratory at
VCHRI. His research is funded by competitive grants awarded by
multiple organizations including the Canadian Institutes for Health
Research. Dr. McElwee is one of only a small group of research
scientists worldwide who studies hair biology and associated
diseases. He has worked as a hair research scientist for 19 years
and has published over 100 medical journal articles, as well as
research abstracts and academic book chapters on hair loss
research. Dr. McElwee received his Bachelor of Science degree from
the University of Aberdeen, Scotland
and his PhD from the University of Dundee,
Scotland. Postdoctoral training included three years at the
Jackson Laboratory in Maine and
four years at the University of Marburg, Germany, studying hair loss diseases and hair
biology. Dr. McElwee is a co-discoverer and patent holder of
RepliCel's technology and continues to serve as the Company's Chief
Scientific Officer.
About RepliCel Life Sciences
RepliCel is a
regenerative medicine company focused on developing autologous cell
therapies that address conditions caused by a deficit of healthy
cells required for normal tissue healing and function. The
Company's product pipeline is comprised of three clinical-stage
products: RCT-01 for tendon repair, RCS-01 for skin
rejuvenation and RCH-01 for hair restoration. RCH-01 is under
exclusive license by Shiseido Company for certain Asian countries.
All product candidates are based on RepliCel's innovative
technology, utilizing cell populations isolated from a patient's
healthy hair follicles.
RepliCel is also developing a proprietary injection device
(RCI-02) optimized for the administration of its products and
licensable for use with other dermatology applications. Please
visit http://replicel.com/ for additional information.
Forward-looking information
Certain statements in this
news release are forward-looking statements, which reflect the
expectations of management regarding the results of the UBC project
outlined in this release. Forward-looking statements consist of
statements that are not purely historical, including any statements
regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the
future. Forward looking statements in this news release include:
statements relating to the statements that (i) data from this
project is expected to take RepliCel's products to next level of
potential commercial viability; (ii) the gene and protein
expression map will improve key components of the manufacturing,
regulatory, and clinical profile of RepliCel's cell therapy
products; and (iii) the results will improve our product
manufacturing, clinical outcomes, and assays critical to regulatory
approval and commercialization. These statements are only
predictions and involve known and unknown risks which may cause
actual results and the Company's plans and objectives to differ
materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements,
including: the risk that there will be delays enrolling clinical
trial participants; the risk that the Company will receive negative
results from the Company's clinical trials; the effects of
government regulation on the Company's business; risks associated
with future approvals for clinical trials; risks associated with
the Company obtaining approval for its clinical trial in
Germany; risks associated with the
Company obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals for its
various programs in Canada, the
USA and Germany; risks associated with the Company's
ability to obtain and protect rights to its intellectual property;
risks and uncertainties in connection with the outstanding issues
alleged by Shiseido in connection with the License and
Co-development Agreement; risks and uncertainties associated with
the Company's ability to raise additional capital; and other
factors beyond the Company's control. Although the Company believes
that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements
are reasonable, it cannot guarantee future results, levels of
activity or performance. Further, any forward-looking statement
speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made and,
except as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect
events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is
made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New
factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for
management to predict all of such factors and to assess in advance
the impact of such factors on the Company's business or the extent
to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in any
forward-looking statement. Readers should consult all of the
information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk
factor disclosure outlined in the Company's annual report on Form
20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31,
2016 and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with
the Securities and Exchange Commission on Edgar at www.sec.gov
and with the British Columbia Securities Commission on SEDAR
at www.sedar.com.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of
this release.
SOURCE RepliCel Life Sciences Inc.