Nuvo Research receives €4.4 million additional funding to develop WF10

MISSISSAUGA, ON, July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Nuvo Research Inc. (TSX: NRI), a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to building a portfolio of products for the topical treatment of pain and its immune modulating drug WF10 today announced that the Development Bank of Saxony (SAB) in Germany has agreed to provide Nuvo with up to €4.4 million of funding for the further development of its improved reformulated version of WF10 (Reformulated WF10).

The funding will take the form of a non-repayable reimbursement of specific development monies expended by Nuvo until July 2014. The SAB funding will be used to support CMC activities, "in vitro" experiments and a number of preclinical studies relating to Reformulated WF10 for which Nuvo filed a US provisional patent in December 2011.  These studies are being conducted by Nuvo in partnership with the University of Leipzig and the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology (IZI) in Leipzig.  The total cost of this development program is estimated to be €6.3 million and the SAB committed to provide up to €4.4 million in funding to support these projects.  Nuvo will have certain contractual obligations to the SAB including the obligation to provide matching funding from its own resources of €1.9 million over the two year period ending in July 2014.  Nuvo will own or have exclusive global rights to commercially exploit all WF10 related intellectual property that comes from the funded projects.

In the fall of 2009, the SAB committed to provide funding over a three-year period of approximately €2.2 million for two WF10 development projects.  With the most recent commitment from the SAB, the total funding is approximately €6.6 million towards a €10.8 million development program.

"We are thrilled to expand our existing partnership with the SAB, the University of Leipzig and the Fraunhofer Institute by securing SAB funding that will allow us to continue with the development of WF10," said Dr. Henrich Guntermann, President of Nuvo's Immunology Group. "WF10 is an extremely exciting compound with the potential to treat a broad range of medical conditions. We are pleased that the SAB recognizes WF10's potential and has chosen to partner with Nuvo."

Nuvo believes that WF10 has the potential to treat a wide range of medical conditions including auto immune disorders. In 2010, Nuvo announced that its European Phase 2 clinical trial evaluating WF10 as a treatment for severe allergic rhinitis met its primary and secondary end points with a p-value of less than 0.001.

About the Development Bank of Saxony

The SAB, funded by the European Union and the Free State of Saxony, is a stand-alone development bank, with no commercial banking activities. Its business lines are recognized by the European Commission as purely development-oriented. They support both general and highly specific economic and social development initiatives. Working closely together with Saxony's state government, banks and savings banks, as well as the KfW banking group, the primary objective of SAB is to develop commercial foundations and general infrastructure; thereby securing and improving living conditions throughout Saxony as a whole.

About WF10

The immune system provides an essential defense to microorganisms, cancer and substances it sees as foreign and potentially harmful.  WF10 focuses on supporting the immune system by targeting the macrophage, a type of white blood cell that coordinates much of the immune system, to regulate normal immune function.  In conditions such as allergic rhinitis, the body's immune system inappropriately responds to the presence of foreign allergens.  Research suggests that in some cases, WF10 may rebalance improperly functioning immune systems.

About Nuvo Research Inc.

Nuvo Research is a publicly traded, Canadian specialty pharmaceutical company, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario.  The Company is building a portfolio of products for the treatment of pain through internal research and development and by in-licensing and acquisition.  The Company's product portfolio includes Pennsaid^®, Pliaglis^® and Synera^®.  Pennsaid, a topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), is used to treat the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis of the knee(s).  Pennsaid is sold in the United States by Mallinckrodt Inc., the Pharmaceuticals business of Covidien, in Canada by Paladin Labs Inc. and in several European countries. Pliaglis is a topical local anesthetic cream which provides topical local analgesia for superficial dermatological procedures.  The Company has licensed worldwide marketing rights to Pliaglis to Galderma Pharma S.A., a global company dedicated to dermatology.  Synera is a topical patch that combines lidocaine, tetracaine and heat, approved in the United States to provide local dermal analgesia for superficial venous access and superficial dermatological procedures and in Europe, for surface anaesthesia of normal intact skin.  Nuvo currently markets Synera in the United States and its licensing partner, EuroCept International B.V., has initiated a pan-European launch of Synera (under the name Rapydan^®) in several European countries.  The Company is also developing the compound WF10, for the treatment of immune related diseases.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains forward-looking statements. Some forward-looking statements may be identified by words like "expects", "anticipates", "plans", "intends", "indicates" or similar expressions. These forward-looking statements, by their nature, necessarily involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Nuvo considers the assumptions on which these forward-looking statements are based to be reasonable at the time they were prepared, but caution that these assumptions regarding future events, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, may ultimately prove to be incorrect. Factors and risks, which could cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations, are discussed in the Company's Annual Report, as well as in Nuvo's Annual Information Form for the year ended December 31, 2011.  Nuvo disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information or future events, except as required by law. For additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to these forward looking statements, investors should consult the Company's ongoing quarterly filings, annual report and Annual Information Form and other filings found on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

SOURCE Nuvo Research Inc.