Agreement sets stage for Saskatchewan's First Human Biopharmaceutical Company

Posted May 27, 1998


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 26, 1998
98-05-20-UST

Agreement sets stage for Saskatchewan's First Human Biopharmaceutical Company

UST Inc., the technology commercialization arm of the University of
Saskatchewan, has signed a major licensing agreement with Alviva
Biopharmaceuticals Inc., a Saskatoon drug company recently spun off from
university research.

The agreement could help pave the way for new drug treatments for some
neurological disorders, bring roughly 30 new high-tech jobs and at least
$10 million worth of new investment to the province, and provide royalty
and other financial benefits to the U of S over the long term.

The agreement, potentially the most lucrative ever signed by UST in its
seven-year history, is the first step in commercializing a class of drug
compounds (aliphatic propargylamines) developed by Dr. Alan Boulton and
his team at the U of S medical school's neuropsychiatry research unit.

Several patents have already been issued to UST, more have been filed and
others are in the works. The agreement gives Alviva an exclusive license
to use the UST-owned patent rights.

"It's my hope this emerging biotech company will be able to bring to the
province the spin-off benefits in the human pharmaceutical field that have
occurred with agriculture biotechnology spin-offs in the past," said
Boulton, who is president and chief scientific officer of Alviva.

The compounds, which so far have been tested only on animals, have the
potential to stop brain cell damage in disorders such as Alzheimer's,
Parkinson's, Huntington's, advanced glaucoma, and stroke, Boulton says,
adding there may also be applications in cancer and veterinary fields.

Because the compounds must be further tested and undergo the federal drug
approval process, the earliest they could reach the market, assuming all
goes as planned, would be four to five years. Boulton hopes to test the
drugs on humans in about three years.

Alviva's partner, Toronto-based venture management firm BioCatalyst Yorkton
Inc., will provide skilled management expertise and plans to raise about
$10 million to develop the compounds into new drugs. Alviva's head office
and laboratories will be built at Innovation Place.

UST, which owns part of Alviva, will receive royalties of at least several
million dollars over the life of the patents, as well as benefit
financially from any increase in the value of Alviva, says Dr. Branko
Peterman, UST's newly appointed president. However, under the U of S
faculty agreement, up to half of UST's receipts from licensing patent
rights are to be distributed among the inventors.

Noting the province has funded the neuropsychiatry research unit since
1954, Boulton said, "It's gratifying to see the exploitation and
commercialization of Saskatchewan discoveries." He noted the drugs have
been in the works for about 10 years.

Dr. Michael Corcoran, U of S vice-president of research, said the agreement
demonstrates UST is able to work for the benefit of both U of S researchers
and the province. "As a neuroscientist myself, I appreciate the potential
of the drugs developed by Dr. Boulton and his colleagues, which we hope
will contribute significantly to clinical treatment of patients with
neurological and other disorders," he said.

For more information, please contact:

Dr. Alan Boulton
Director, Neuropsychiatry Research Unit
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-8571
FAX: (306) 966-8830

Dr. Branko Peterman
President and CEO of UST Inc.
(306) 966-7335
FAX: (306) 966-7806