Halifax, Nova Scotia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 21, 2024) - Sona Nanotech Inc. (CSE: SONA) (OTCQB: SNANF) (the "Company" or "Sona") is pleased to advise that it has appointed Dr. Carman Giacomantonio MD, MSc., FRCSC (Cav.) to be the Company's Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Giacomantonio is a practicing Surgical Oncologist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre and a Professor of Surgery at Dalhousie University. Dr. Giacomantonio leads a productive translational research group at Dalhousie University and has successfully initiated two clinical trials in cancer immunotherapy. He is widely published in the field of cancer immunobiology and immunotherapy research, and a recognized innovator in the field of intra-tumoral cancer immunotherapy. Dr. Giacomantonio currently serves on Sona's Advisory Board and is the Principal Investigator for Sona's pre-clinical studies using Sona's gold nanorods in its Targeted Hyperthermia Therapy ("THT") for triple negative breast cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancer. Sona is extremely excited to have Dr. Giacomantonio's vision and experience to lead the development of our THT-based immunotherapy towards first-in-human clinical trials.
Dr. Giacomantonio commented, "The opportunity to work with Sona to develop a cancer treatment using its unique technology represents a culmination of my life's work to better harness the body's innate immune system to defeat cancer.Our ability to use Sona's therapy to improve the performance of immunotherapy drugs, as we are seeing in our mouse models, portends tremendous potential opportunities. I'm excited that this appointment will allow me to be more directly involved in the planning and direction of moving it towards obtaining regulatory approvals and into clinical trials."
David Regan, CEO of Sona, commented, "Carman brings not only his passion to cure cancer to Sona but also his tremendous energy, intellect, and integrity for which he is so respected in medical and scientific circles. Our work together to date has already yielded many benefits to the Company and together we're identifying new opportunities to leverage our biocompatible gold nanorod platform technology. The Sona team looks forward to working with Carman as we drive our Targeted Hyperthermia Therapy towards the clinic and build out our pipeline of future concepts."
Sona also announces the filing of a U.S. provisional patent application regarding a gold nanorod conjugation concept for targeted drug delivery and deployment applications in the medical field. The Company intends to convert the filing to an international patent application and/or regular patent applications in various countries, including the U.S., over the next year.
The Company also announces that it has granted 750,000 incentive stock options under the Company's Stock Option Plan ("Option Plan"), all of which have been granted to Dr. Giacomantonio. Each option is exercisable into one common share at a price of $0.32 per share and will vest at the rate of 25% every six months. The options will expire five years from the date of grant. All other terms and conditions of the options are in accordance with the terms of the Company's Option Plan.
The grant of options and issuance of shares to Dr. Giacomantonio constitutes a "related party transaction" within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101, Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). The Company relied on Sections 5.5(a) and 5.7(1)(a) of MI 61-101 for an exemption from the formal valuation and minority shareholder approval requirements, respectively, of MI 61-101, as, neither the fair market value of the subject matter of, nor the fair market value of the grant and issuances of the options and shares, respectively, exceeds 25% of the Company's market capitalization.
About Sona Nanotech Inc. Sona Nanotech, a nanotechnology life sciences company, is developing Targeted Hyperthermia™, a photothermal cancer therapy, which uses therapeutic heat to treat solid cancer tumors. The heat is delivered to tumors by infrared light that is absorbed by Sona's gold nanorods in the tumor and re-emitted as heat. Therapeutic heat (41-48°C) stimulates the immune system, shrinks tumors, inactivates cancer stem cells, and increases tumor perfusion - thus enabling drugs to reach all tumor compartments more effectively. The size, shape, and surface chemistry of the nanorods target the leaky vasculature of solid tumors, and the selective thermal sensitivity of tumor tissue enables the therapy to deliver clean margins. Targeted Hyperthermia promises to be safe, effective, minimally invasive, competitive in cost, and a valuable adjunct to drug therapy and other cancer treatments.
Sona has developed multiple proprietary methods for the manufacture of gold nanoparticles which it uses for the development of both cancer therapies and diagnostic testing platforms. Sona Nanotech's gold nanorod particles are cetyltrimethylammonium ("CTAB") free, eliminating the toxicity risks associated with the use of other gold nanorod technologies in medical applications. It is expected that Sona's gold nanotechnologies may be adapted for use in applications, as a safe and effective delivery system for multiple medical treatments, subject to the approval of various regulatory boards, including Health Canada and the FDA.
CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION: This press release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation, including statements regarding the anticipated applications and potential opportunities of Targeted Hyperthermia Therapy, Sona's preclinical and clinical study plans, future patent filings and its product development plans. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of assumptions or estimates that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including the risk that Sona may not be able to successfully obtain sufficient clinical and other data to submit regulatory submissions, raise sufficient additional capital, secure patents or develop the envisioned therapy, and the risk that THT may not prove to have the benefits currently anticipated. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Sona disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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