Mr. Greg Fenton reports

ZENTEK ANNOUNCES POSITIVE THERAPEUTIC RESULTS ACHIEVED BY TRIERA BIOSCIENCES FOR C19HBA

Zentek Ltd.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Triera Biosciences Ltd., has completed testing of its C19HBA aptamer as a potential therapeutic. The SARS-CoV-2 universal aptamer built on the proprietary high-binding-affinity aptamer platform successfully outperformed a leading monoclonal antibody (LMA) in preclinical testing, demonstrating potential as a therapeutic for SARS-CoV-2.

The company previously reported successful results when C19HBA was tested as a prophylactic treatment. In repeated prophylaxis trials against SARS-CoV-2 variants, including Omicron XBB 1.5 variant, C19HBA has matched or exceeded the clinical protection when compared with LMA.

In the most recent trial completed in January, 2024, by the Miller lab at McMaster University, C19HBA was tested for its therapeutic potential. Mice were first infected with a lethal challenge of ancestral SARS-CoV-2 (wild type) and, 24 hours later, the mice received either no treatment, LMA treatment or a treatment featuring C19HBA.

LMA treatment demonstrated some clinical benefit compared with the untreated mice, however, weight loss curves and recovery time were not materially improved between LMA-treated and untreated groups. In contrast, the treatment that featured C19HBA demonstrated improved therapeutic benefit over either no treatment or the LMA therapeutic, as evidenced by:

• Initial signs of recovery and full recovery of the C19HBA-treated mice occurring one day earlier than LMA treated or untreated mice; and
• A 30-per-cent reduction in total average weight loss of C19HBA-treated mice compared with the average weight loss of untreated and LMA-treated mice.

The full results of this preclinical investigation are pending publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

"Our investment and focus on the aptamer platform technology continues to produce incredible results using COVID as a proof of concept. This was the first successful demonstration that C19HBA could provide therapeutic benefit to go along with the strong results from our prophylaxis testing. This is the first step in validating the potential use case as a complete program that could minimize the impact from numerous infectious diseases by providing prophylaxis, therapeutic and rapid detection using the same aptamer," said Greg Fenton, chief executive officer of the company and Triera. "A product like C19HBA could be ideal to control outbreaks as it can provide both prophylaxis and treatment for anyone exposed to the virus. We will continue to move C19HBA toward phase 1 clinical trials for COVID while discussing other opportunities for the platform with potential partners."

Dr. Matthew Miller commented: "Speaking from my experience as Canada research chair in viral pandemics, C19HBA is exactly the type of solution we were looking for during the pandemic. Having access to both a prophylaxis and therapeutic could have completely changed the trajectory of our pandemic experience and the response from public health. Although the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic has passed, the continuing effects of endemic viral transmission on society continue to cause major strain on our health care system, and there are many who could benefit from a platform that can develop new treatments more quickly and cost-effectively than monoclonal antibody treatments. Aptamer-based drugs from Triera that offer both prophylaxis and therapeutic effect will continue to be a major focus of research at the Global Nexus School for Pandemic Prevention & Response at McMaster University."

About Triera Biosciences Ltd.

Triera holds an exclusive, worldwide royalty-bearing licence from McMaster University to use and practice all aptamer and DNAyme uses developed by McMaster University for the next 20 years. Triera and McMaster's combined expertise and capabilities in aptamer technology offer significant potential to reduce the cost and time required for the development of new treatments.

About Zentek Ltd.

Zentek is an ISO 13485:2016 certified intellectual property technology company focused on the research, development and commercialization of novel products seeking to give the company's commercial partners a competitive advantage by making their products better, safer and greener.

Zentek's patented technology platform ZenGuard is shown to have 99-per-cent-anti-microbial activity and to significantly increase the bacterial and viral filtration efficiency of both surgical masks and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) systems. Zentek's ZenGuard production facility is located in Guelph, Ont.

Zentek, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Triera Biosciences Ltd., has a global exclusive licence to the aptamer-based platform technology developed by McMaster University, which is being jointly developed by Zentek and McMaster for both the diagnostic and therapeutic markets.

The company is not making any express or implied claims that its aptamer technology has the ability to eliminate, cure or contain COVID-19 (or the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus) at this time.

We seek Safe Harbor.