Dr. Howard Verrico reports

SIRONA BIOCHEM ANNOUNCES SGLT2 INHIBITOR DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS

Clinical development of Sirona Biochem Corp.'s SGLT2 inhibitor, TFC-039, which is currently well into phase 1 of human trials, is progressing on schedule with no adverse events.

Wanbang and Sirona are unable to comment further on the details of the progress for strategic as well as competitive reasons.

Sirona Biochem's SGLT2 inhibitor, TFC-039, was licensed to Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals, a wholly owned subsidiary of Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group, in 2014 with exclusive rights for China. In exchange for this licence, Wanbang Biopharma will provide upfront and milestone payments of up to $9.5-million (U.S.) in addition to royalty payments for product sales in China. Since the initial licensing agreement, the Fosun Pharma group has invested tremendous resources to the development and has already paid Sirona $1.5-million (U.S.) in milestone payments. Wanbang Biopharmaceuticals has approved this news release.

"Wanbang continues to be very dedicated to the development of this treatment for diabetes. The current status of the program is exactly where we expected it to be at this time and while we would like to comment further, we understand and respect the need for confidentiality," said Dr. Howard Verrico, chief executive officer of Sirona Biochem. "Our business development and legal teams have been committed to working on the ground in China to maintain and strengthen the relationship with the two companies. We anticipate that the mutual benefits will extend well beyond this program and into other regions in the near future. Having two projects based on Sirona's technology reach clinical trials is a rare achievement for a biotechnology company of our size."

Worldwide, an estimated 8.5 per cent of the adult population (422 million people) have Type 2 diabetes, and about a quarter of them (148 million; 10.9 per cent of the population) live in China. A recent study in China analyzed data from more than 400,000 adults suffering from Type 2 diabetes. It was revealed that men and women with Type 2 diabetes had a 32 per cent and 64 per cent greater risk of developing cancer, respectively, compared with their peers in the general population. Cancer is a leading cause of death in China.

About Sirona Biochem Corp.

Sirona Biochem is a cosmetic ingredient and drug discovery company with a proprietary platform technology. Sirona specializes in stabilizing carbohydrate molecules with the goal of improving efficacy and safety. New compounds are patented for maximum revenue potential.

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