Ottawa, ON /Business Wire/ April 8, 2022 / Avivagen Inc. (TSXV:VIV, OTCQB:VIVXF) (“Avivagen” or the “Company”), a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing products for livestock, companion animal and human applications that safely enhances feed intake and supports immune function, thereby supporting general health and performance, today announced the results of its annual general meeting of shareholders and highlighted the significant progress made in the Corporation’s efforts to drive further adoption of OxC-betaTM worldwide.

At the Company’s AGM held today, Avivagen’s Corporation’s shareholders voted to support all of the resolutions that came before the meeting.  The resolutions included the election of directors and the reappointment of McGovern Hurley LLP as Avivagen’s auditor.

The voting results in respect of the election of directors are detailed below:

Nominee % Of Votes Cast At The Meeting
Which Were Cast For the Election of Directors
% Of Votes Cast At The Meeting
Which Were Withheld From Voting
Kym Anthony 78.5% 21.5%
Graham Burton 86.1% 13.9%
Aubrey Dan 92.3% 7.7%
David Hankinson 94.0% 6.0%
Jeffrey Kraws 91.7% 8.3%
Paul Mesburis 93.5% 6.5%

 

“Like every business we’ve had to overcome the challenges that the extended Covid-19 pandemic brought over the past year, but our growth since early 2021 is a testament to the opportunities for OxC-betaTM,” says Kym Anthony, Chief Executive Officer, Avivagen. “The past year has seen a series of important milestones, including growth throughout the countries we service in the Americas and Asia, new customer wins and distribution agreements, important leadership appointments and strong recognition from the scientific and investment communities. Avivagen is in its strongest position yet, and we’ve only scratched the surface of the potential for OxC-betaTM adoption.”

The past 12 months have seen a series of key milestones achieved in furthering adoption of OxC-betaTM in markets worldwide, including:

Distribution Agreements and Market Development Efforts
In October 202, Avivagen struck an eight-year supply agreement with AB Vista, a leading global animal nutrition technology company. The agreement saw AB Vista become the exclusive distributor of OxC-betaTM for use with poultry, swine, ruminants and aquaculture in the United States, Brazil and Thailand, and also presents opportunities to collaborate on development efforts. It is believed that the agreement will drive greater adoption of OxC-betaTM in two of the world’s three largest feed production markets.

In July 2021 Avivagen retained the services of industry leader Lesley Nernberg as a technical sales and marketing consultant focused on accelerating adoption of OxC-betaTM in Asia. Avivagen also secured regulatory approval for use of the Corporation’s oxidized carotenoid-based feed additive product in Vietnam in February 2022, creating new market opportunities. 

In February 2021, Avivagen signed an agreement with Meyenberg International Group to expand its OxC-betaTM sales efforts into five Central and South American markets. Meyenberg has been instrumental in securing new customer interest, driving trails of OxC-betaTM locally and finalizing new and recurring sales throughout Mexico, with continued progress in Central and South America.

Record Orders and Large Recurring Customers
In April 2021 Avivagen secured the largest OxC-BetaTM order to date (4.4 metric tonnes) with long-standing customer UNAHCO in the Philippines. This was later followed up by another record 6.3 tonne order, as UNAHCO continues to gain market share despite current difficult economic conditions.

The Corporation has also secured and fulfilled first purchase orders with a number of landmark customers over the past year, including sales with a large integrated producer in Asia, and an initial order with a large, influential and industry-leading poultry producer in Mexico. Avivagen believes that the order size and volume of initial orders signals an opportunity for growth in OxC-betaTM adoption over the coming years.

Recognition from the Scientific Community and Trials
The growing interest and demand for new and innovative solutions for replacing AGP’s (Antibiotics as Growth Promoters) in feeds, has led to a number scientific papers from Avivagen being accepted and published in top-tier scientific publications over the past year. Of note, scientific papers written by Avivagen representatives have appeared recently in such esteemed publications as Poultry Science, the British Journal of Nutrition, Food and Chemical Toxicology, the Canadian Journal of Chemistry and the New Zealand Veterinary Journal.

The scientific community is now recognizing what distribution partners and customers have seen firsthand via trials of OxC-betaTM over the past several years – that the safety and utility of using OxC-betaTM in broilers, swine and cows is conclusive. Trials with several AB Vista customers in Brazil are currently underway which, if successful, could lead to a pipeline of new customer activity. Trials by two of Mexico’s most important and influential livestock fed and dairy production associations, Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Alimentos Para Consumo Animal. S.C (ANFACA) and Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Alimentos, A.C. (AMEPA), are also underway.

Results from a dairy trial in New Zealand showing positive outcomes for use against sub-clinical mastitis were published in the New Zealand Veterinary Journal and have played a key role in driving purchasing decisions for customers as far away as Mexico. Similar trials with large industry leaders have also returned positive results that are expected to lead to continued adoption over the coming years.

Positive Corporate Developments
Along with continued customer and market success for OxC-betaTM, Avivagen has focused on strengthening its leadership and financials over the past year. The Corporation announced the appointment of James (Jamie) Nickerson, PhD as President of Avivagen in January 2022 after 15 years of success in roles supporting the Corporation’s business development and innovation efforts.

Avivagen also completed a bought deal financing of $7.5 million in February 2021, and a private placement of debentures and shares for gross proceeds of $5.678 million in March 2022. The proceeds from the debenture and share offering were used by Avivagen to retire principal and interest outstanding pursuant to existing debentures and for transaction expenses.

About Avivagen
Avivagen is a life sciences corporation focused on developing and commercializing products for livestock, companion animal and human applications. By unlocking an overlooked facet of β-carotene activity, a path has been opened to safely and economically support immune function, thereby promoting general health and performance in animals.  Avivagen is a public corporation traded on the TSX Venture and OTCQB® Venture Market exchanges under the symbols VIV and VIVXF, 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 β-carotene and other carotenoids, compounds that give certain fruits and vegetables their bright colours. Through support of immune function the technology provides a non-antibiotic means of promoting health and growth. OxC-beta™ Livestock is a proprietary product shown to be an effective and economic alternative to the antibiotics commonly added to livestock feeds. The product is currently available for sale in the United States, Mexico, Philippines, Taiwan, New Zealand, Thailand, Australia and Malaysia.

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 market opportunities for the Company, the expectation that Avivagen’s current position positions it for future growth,  expectation as to further adoption of or orders for the Company’s products, the possibility that trials underway could lead to additional orders in the future and the possibility for OxC-beta™ Livestock to replace antibiotics in livestock feeds as growth promoters are 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, unforeseen factors could limit the growth of the Company and the adoption of its products, customers are under no obligation to make additional orders and may not order increasing quantities of the Company’s products, partnerships may not be as successful as hoped, trials may not be successful or may not lead to additional adoption of the Company’s products, 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 as growth promoters in livestock feeds, all of which could occur due to many factors, many of which are outside of Avivagen’s control.  Readers are referred to the risk factors associated with the business of Avivagen set out in Avivagen’s most recent management’s discussion and analysis of financial condition available at www.SEDAR.com. 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
Website: www.avivagen.com
Copyright © 2022 Avivagen Inc. OxC-beta™ is a trademark of Avivagen Inc.