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Burcon announces appointment of a new director and patent grants

^{Published on 2009-12-01 15:25:29 - Market Wire}
 

VANCOUVER, Dec. 1 /CNW/ - Burcon NutraScience Corporation (TSX - BU) ("Burcon" or the "Corporation") is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. D. Lorne Tyrrell to its board of directors.

D. Lorne Tyrrell is the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)/Glaxo SmithKline Chair in Virology in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Alberta. Since 1986, he has focused his research on viral hepatitis. Supported by CIHR and Glaxo Canada, Dr. Tyrrell's work on the development of antiviral therapy resulted in the licensing of the first oral antiviral agent to treat chronic hepatitis B infection - lamivudine - in 1998. Today, lamivudine is licensed in over 200 countries worldwide for the treatment of Hepatitis B Virus.

Dr. Tyrrell was Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry from 1994-2004 at the University of Alberta. Since leaving the Deanship in 2004, Dr. Tyrrell has taken on a number of important positions in healthcare in Alberta and in Canada. These include the Chair of the Board of the Institute of Health Economics and the Chair of the Board of the Health Quality Council of Alberta. He served seven years on the Medical Advisory Board of the Canada Gairdner International Awards and is currently the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Gairdner Foundation. The Canada Gairdner International Awards recognizes excellence in medical science research globally. Of the previous Gairdner Foundation awardees, 73 subsequently won the Nobel Prize. Dr. Tyrrell is a member of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research - Research Council. He has served on the Alberta Life Sciences Institute and Alberta Sciences Advisory Authority. He is currently on the Advisory Council for the University of Alberta, Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Sciences. This latter appointment evolved from his background and interests in agriculture, nutrition and health.

For his studies on viral hepatitis, Dr. Tyrrell holds 22 international patents. He has received numerous prestigious awards including the Gold Medal of the Canadian Liver Foundation (2000), the Alberta Order of Excellence (2000), Officer of the Order of Canada (2002), Fellow of the Royal Society (2004), FNG Starr Award of the Canadian Medical Association (2004), and the Principal Award of the Manning Foundation (2005). He has served on the boards of several biotech companies and has experience with integrating a company's intellectual property with product research and development, and commercialization.

Dr. Allan Yap, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Burcon said, "We are very pleased to have Dr. Tyrrell join our board of directors and look forward to his contributions to our Company."

Burcon also reports that three previously announced notices of allowance received with respect to its U.S. patent applications have now proceeded to grant as United States patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. The first U.S. Patent - titled "Production of Canola Protein" (US Patent No. 7,618,659) covers an extraction procedure for the preparation of a highly refined Supertein(TM) canola protein isolate. The second U.S. Patent - titled "Continuous Process for Production of Oil Seed Protein Isolate" (US Patent No. 7,625,588) covers a unique process for efficient production of Burcon's Puratein(R) canola protein isolate and Supertein(TM) canola protein isolate. The third U.S. Patent - titled "Canola Protein Isolate" (US Patent 7,611,735) covers important processing conditions for producing Supertein(TM) canola protein isolate. Burcon now holds a total of 11 U.S. patents which cover canola and flax protein processing technologies.

About Burcon NutraScience

Burcon is a leader in nutrition, health and wellness in the field of functional, renewable plant proteins. Since 1999, Burcon has developed a portfolio of composition, application, and process patents originating from our core protein extraction and purification technology. We are developing Puratein(R) and Supertein(TM) canola protein isolates with unique functional and nutritional attributes, and CLARISOY(TM), a revolutionary soy protein isolate which is 100% soluble and completely transparent in acidic solutions. Our team of highly specialized scientists and engineers work from our own research facility to develop and optimize environmentally sound technologies. To-date, our patent portfolio consists of 103 issued patents in various countries, including 11 issued U.S. patents, and in excess of 200 additional pending patent applications, 63 of which are U.S. patent applications.

 ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS "Johann F. Tergesen" Johann F. Tergesen 

Burcon NutraScience Corporation is a publicly listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "BU". For more information on Burcon, visit [ www.burcon.ca ].

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, the Corporation's, plans and timing for the introduction or enhancement of our products, statements about future market conditions, supply and demand conditions, and other expectations, intentions and plans contained in this press release that are not historical fact. Our expectations regarding the prospect for future success depend upon our ability to develop and sell products, which we do not produce today and cannot be sold without further research and development. When used in this press release, the words "goal", "intend", "believes", "potential", "expected", "anticipates", "will be", and similar expressions, generally identify forward- looking statements. These statements reflect our current expectations. They are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. In light of the many risks and uncertainties surrounding the development of a source of protein from canola meal, you should understand that we cannot assure you that the forward looking statements contained in this press release will be realized.