VG Energy Chief Scientist Awarded $200,000 AgriLife Grant to Study Lipid Secretion

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., Aug. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- VG Energy, an agricultural biotech company and wholly owned subsidiary of publicly traded VG Life Sciences Inc. (VGLS), announces today a $200,000 competitive grant from the Texas A&M AgriLife Research BioEnergy Initiatives Program for testing oil secretion technology. 

The Texas A&M AgriLife Research Bioenergy Initiatives Program awarded the $200,000 grant to Dr. Marty Dickman, Chief Scientist at VG Energy, and Dr. Paul de Figueiredo, Associate Professor of the Department of Plant Pathology and Microbiology at Texas A&M University for the proposal titled A Universal Small Molecule System for the Non-lytic Secretion of Oils from Living Cells.

The grant will support collaborative efforts to optimize non-lytic secretion of oils by using small molecule metabolic disrupting agents that are part of the VG Energy protected patents. Additionally this research will aim towards identifying the molecular targets of the small molecules and the optimum conditions for lipid secretion. The species used in these studies will reflect strains used in production today. The funds will be dispersed over two years.

Extraction of oils from oil-producing cells has been a major problem for biofuel and nutraceutical producers. The results of this research may allow algae producers to reduce extraction costs, which account for between 50-67% of their net production costs. If viable, the technology would be applied on algae, yeast, and other plant cells utilized in the nutraceutical and biofuel markets.

In related news, VG Energy is halfway through field trials in South Dakota to measure the effect of its patented LipidMax compound in corn oil production.  The twelve 2,000 ft² plots will be harvested in October.  For more information see VG Life Sciences, Inc.'s May 23, 2013 press release.

"This marks the second major grant our Chief Scientists have received in the past month and shows the confidence in our research and patented technologies." says John Tynan, Interim President and CEO of VG Life Sciences. Two weeks ago Dr. M. Karen Newell Rogers and Dr. Brett Mitchell, both professors at Texas A&M, jointly received a $140,000 grant from the American Heart Association to study the application of the company's Targeted Peptide Technology as it relates to preeclampsia.

About VG Energy
VG Energy, Inc. is an agricultural biotech company and holds the exclusive worldwide license to the Metabolic Disruption Technology (MDT) patent rights for use in the increase of production of various oils from algae, plants and seeds. VG Energy's pivotal discoveries could allow the agricultural industry to increase production yields. For more information, please visit www.vgenergy.net or www.VGLifeSciences.com.

About VG Life Sciences, Inc.
Santa Barbara, California-based VG Life Sciences, Inc., a publically traded company (VGLS), is a biotechnology company focused on delivering treatments for patients suffering from autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disorders. VG Life Sciences, Inc. controls over 50 US and international patents and pending patents protecting its exclusive biotech platform technologies. For more information and upcoming events, visit www.vglifesciences.com or find VG Life Sciences, Inc. on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Safe Harbor Statement and Forward-Looking Statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties associated with financial projections, milestone timelines, clinical development, regulatory approvals and other risks described by VG Life Sciences from time to time in its periodic reports. None of VG Life Sciences' drug compounds are approved by the US FDA or by any comparable regulatory agencies elsewhere in the world. Therefore, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements included in this release will prove to be accurate. In light of the significant uncertainties inherent in the forward-looking statements included herein, the forward-looking statements should not be regarded as a representation by VG Life Sciences or any other person that the objectives and plans of VG Life Sciences will be achieved.

CONTACT:
Alexandria Sumner, Corporate Communications
VG Life Sciences, Inc.
Phone:  (805) 679-6763
Email:  [email protected]

SOURCE VG Life Sciences, Inc.