Ottawa, ON /Business Wire/ August 26, 2019 / Avivagen Inc. (TSXV:VIV) (“Avivagen”) has secured a new order for two metric tons of OxC-betaTM Livestock (“OxC-beta”) from UNAHCO, its partner in the Philippines. The new order marks the third multi-metric ton order of OxC-betaTM  Livestock by UNAHCO in the past 10 months, helping the company meet increasing demands across a growing area of the country. OxC-beta™ Livestock has the potential to eliminate the use of antibiotics as growth promoters in livestock feed, a problem requiring an urgent solution and which represents a multi-million-dollar market opportunity worldwide.

“The Asia-Pacific market represents a significant growth region for Avivagen and OxC-betaTM Livestock,” said Kym Anthony, Chief Executive Officer, Avivagen Inc. “This third substantial order by UNAHCO in the past year shows the steadily increasing demand and recurring revenue experienced in the region.”

With annual production of nearly 400 million metric tons of feed, representing more than one-third of the metric ton global feed market, the Asia-Pacific region is an important growth market for Avivagen. Avivagen expects this growth within the Asia-Pacific market to continue as it pursues additional regulatory approvals in new jurisdictions. Recently Avivagen secured approval for sale of OxC-beta LivestockTM  for certain applications in Mexico and became eligible to sell OxC-beta LivestockTM in the United States.”

The Philippines is an important feed market, with an estimated annual feed production of 19 million metric tons for 2019, up dramatically from 11.75 million metric tons in 2016 (( https://www.alltech.com/feed-survey)). The most important commercial livestock species in the Philippines are swine, followed by broiler poultry. Compared to Canada, the Philippines produces roughly the same amount of both pork ((See this link for Canadian swine production, https://www.statista.com/statistics/273232/net-pork-production-worldwide-by-count)) and broiler poultry((Canada produced 1.2 million metric tonnes of broiler meat in 2017: see reference https://www.statista.com/statistics/474831/broiler-meat-production-canada/)).

“UNAHCO’s forward-thinking application of OxC-betaTM Livestock as an ingredient to premixes for sows is further proof that both new markets and new applications are being explored and adopted, opening further growth channels for Avivagen both in Asia-Pacific and worldwide,” added Anthony.

As demonstrated by this growing and recurring order flow and new areas of application, UNAHCO continues to experience increased adoption and acceptance of Avivagen’s OxC-beta™ Livestock product.  The success seen by UNAHCO has driven additional interest in Avivagen and OxC-betaTM Livestock in the region, leading to numerous in-progress confirmatory trials.

About Avivagen

Avivagen is a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing products for livestock, companion animal and human applications that, by safely supporting immune function, promote general health and performance.  It is a public corporation traded on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol VIV and is headquartered in Ottawa, Canada, based in partnership facilities of the National Research Council of Canada and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. For more information, visit www.avivagen.com. The contents of the website are expressly not incorporated by reference in this press release.

About OxC-beta™ Technology and OxC-beta™ Livestock

Avivagen’s OxC-beta™ technology is derived from Avivagen discoveries about carotenoids, compounds that give certain fruits and vegetables their bright colours, and is a non-antibiotic means of maintaining optimal health and growth. OxC-beta™ Livestock is a proprietary product shown to be effective and economic as an alternative to the antibiotics commonly added to livestock feeds. OxC-beta™ Livestock is currently available for sale in the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, New Zealand, Mexico and the U.S.

Avivagen’s OxC-beta™ Livestock product is safe, effective and could fulfill the global mandate to remove all in-feed antibiotics as growth promoters. Numerous international livestock trials with poultry and swine using OxC-beta™ Livestock have proven that the product performs as well as, and, sometimes, in some aspects, better than in-feed antibiotics.

Forward Looking Statements

This news release includes certain forward-looking statements that are based upon the current expectations of management. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties associated with the business of Avivagen Inc. and the environment in which the business operates. Any statements contained herein that are not statements of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking, including those identified by the expressions “aim”, “anticipate”, “appear”, “believe”, “consider”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “if”, “intend”, “goal”, “hope”, “likely”, “may”, “plan”, “possibly”, “potentially”, “pursue”, “seem”, “should”, “whether”, “will”, “would” and similar expressions. Statements set out in this news release relating to the expectation that UNAHCO will continue to order product at the current rate or increase orders, UNAHCO’s intention to add OxC-beta™ Livestock as an ingredient to premixes for sows and during various phases of the swine growth cycle,  inbound inquiries from new customers, expected growth and increasing demand within the Asia-Pacific market and other markets, the recurring nature of revenues, the possibility for deployment or launch of OxC-beta™ Livestock in new jurisdictions around the world or for it to replace antibiotics in livestock feeds as well as fill a critical need for health support in certain livestock applications where antibiotics are precluded, Avivagen’s intention to accelerate market access and the commercial uptake of its OxC-beta™ Livestock product and the size of market opportunities are all forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations. For instance, UNAHCO is under no obligation to continue purchasing product from Avivagen or to increase its purchases and it could cease or reduce its purchases at any time, inquiries from potential new customers may not result in orders for Avivagen’s products and field trials underway may not have anticipated outcomes,  demand for Avivagen’s products in the Asia-Pacific market may not continue to grow and could decline, Avivagen’s products may not gain market acceptance or regulatory approval in new jurisdictions or for new applications and may not be widely accepted as a replacement for antibiotics in livestock feeds, new market access may not occur in the timeline or manner expected by Avivagen and the market opportunities may not be as large as Avivagen anticipates due to many factors, many of which are outside of Avivagen’s control.   Except as required by law, Avivagen assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those reflected in the forward-looking statements.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For more information:

Avivagen Inc.

Drew Basek
Director of Investor Relations
100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6
Phone: 416-540-0733
E-mail: d.basek@avivagen.com

Kym Anthony
Chief Executive Officer
100 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0R6

Head Office Phone: 613-949-8164