QuoNova senior appointments
March 17 2008 - 3:05AM
RNS Non-Regulatory
XL TechGroup, Inc.
17 March 2008
Press Release 17 March 2008
XL TechGroup, Inc.
("XL TechGroup" or "the Company")
Senior appointments at QuoNova as it accelerates
compound development towards commercialisation
XL TechGroup (AIM: XLT), the creator of companies that solve identified, global
unmet market needs, announces that its 88.7% owned company QuoNova LLC, which is
developing multiple classes of safe and efficacious anti-virulence agents in the
global fight against bacterial infection and damage caused by microbial
biofilms, has appointed three new senior executives in global roles to support
its next phase of growth.
QuoNova is developing and commercializing its proprietary Quorum Sensing Blocker
("QSB") platform as part of a strategy to introduce a disruptive paradigm of
"smart microbial control". QuoNova is targeting multiple multi-billion dollar
markets including therapeutics, medical devices, consumer care, agriculture and
several industrial applications.
Michael Rochelle BA, MBA has joined QuoNova as VP Strategic Marketing & Business
Development. He has over 20 years of commercial experience in
biopharmaceuticals, clinical laboratory and consulting. Most recently, Mr.
Rochelle was VP at Nabi Pharmaceuticals, serving in a variety of roles including
strategic planning and business development. Mr. Rochelle's background includes
business development roles with International Clinical Laboratories, SmithKline
Beecham Laboratories and Integrated Genetics/Genzyme Corporation.
Jim Walls BS, MS is the new VP Product Development for QuoNova. He has over 25
years of medical device product development experience, 15 years of which were
dedicated to reducing hospital acquired medical device infections. Mr. Walls
has held VP of R&D positions for Kendall Healthcare (now Covidien, LLC) and C.R.
Bard, Inc. Most recently he was VP of Business Development for Bacterin
International, Inc.
Mohamed Baccouche MS, PhD has joined as VP Regulatory Affairs and is based in
QuoNova's office in Germany. He has 30 years experience in the pharmaceutical
industry with clinical development, project management and regulatory strategy
for new drugs and maintenance of worldwide marketed products. Most recently,
Mr. Baccouche was head of Global Regulatory Affairs and Scientific Information
at Byk Gulden and Altana Pharma.
QuoNova's QSB technology is an anti-virulence approach, which shows potential to
prevent the consequences of microbial infection while not promoting resistance.
In recent months, QuoNova has demonstrated the efficacy of its QSB technology in
a predictive animal model where QSBs significantly reduced the ability of
clinically relevant bacteria to colonize secondary burn wounds. In addition, a
marked synergy with Silver Sulfadiazine, a commonly used antibacterial
preparation, has been observed. QuoNova has also generated in-vitro data
indicating high efficacy of selected QSBs in inhibiting biofilm formation by
MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) strains and fungal organisms
such as Candida.
Dr. Heiri Gugger, CEO of QuoNova, said: "The excellent progress continuing to be
made by our scientific team in identifying, optimizing and testing our compounds
across a broad spectrum gives us even greater confidence in our QSB platform to
rapidly move towards targeted development and commercialization. I am therefore
delighted that we have been able to attract top industry talent with years of
relevant experience, which is a testament to our progress and further validates
the growth potential of QuoNova."
- Ends -
For further information:
XL TechGroup
John Scott / Harold Gubnitsky Tel: +1 321 409 7403
hgubnitsky@xltg.com
Chris Munden, Director of Investor Relations Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7720
cmunden@xltg.com www.xltechgroup.com
XL TechGroup media enquiries:
Abchurch Communications
Heather Salmond Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7704
heather.salmond@abchurch-group.com
Gareth Mead Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7710
gareth.mead@abchurch-group.com
Switchboard: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700
www.abchurch-group.com
NOTES TO EDITORS
About QuoNova LLC
QuoNova was founded in December 2006 and is the fifth portfolio company of XL
TechGroup. QuoNova develops safe and efficacious anti-virulence agents in the
global fight against infection and damage caused by microbial biofilms.
QuoNova's business strategy is to develop and commercialize its proprietary
Quorum Sensing Blocker ("QSB") platform and introduce a disruptive paradigm of
"smart microbial control". QuoNova is targeting multiple multi-billion dollar
markets including therapeutics, medical devices, consumer care, agriculture and
several industrial applications.
Micro-organisms use chemical signal molecules to communicate and recognize
population density (Quorum Sensing) in order to organize their social behaviour,
and co-ordinate the production of virulence factors, such as the release of
toxins and biofilm formation. Biofilms are complex matrices produced by
colonies of micro-organisms, and are very difficult to eradicate as they protect
themselves against the immune system or conventional treatments such as
antibiotics or biocides. In the healthcare environment they contribute
significantly to complications in lung disease and wound healing, to medical
device-associated infections as well as to dental plaque and contact
lens-associated infection. In the home and in industrial processes they are a
major cause of contamination, corrosion and efficiency reductions.
QuoNova's QSB technology disrupts microbial communication systems and by so
doing inhibits toxin production, prevents biofilm formation and promotes
degradation of already established biofilms. Moreover, research to date
indicates that QuoNova's QSB compounds have a favourable safety profile. QSB
molecules employ an anti-virulence approach and do not kill micro-organisms, but
instead influence their life style to maintain or return them to a state where
they can be removed by intrinsic control mechanisms such as the immune system or
by treatments much less aggressive than those currently available. This should
significantly reduce or eliminate the processes that lead to the development of
drug resistant organisms, and differentiates QSBs substantially from
conventional antimicrobial approaches. QSB molecules will therefore initiate a
new era in preventing the effects of microbial colonization, capable of
overcoming the decreasing effectiveness of conventional treatments against
biofilms and multi-resistant pathogens.
For further information, see www.quonova.com
About XL TechGroup
XL TechGroup is in the business of significant value creation. Working with
major international corporate and technology partners, XL TechGroup first
identifies global unmet market needs and then targets and exploits these by the
systematic creation of successful, disruptive technology businesses. These new
companies are built from scratch, and are then managed, developed and funded by
XL TechGroup through to the point of a trade sale or a stock market listing.
XL TechGroup's unique and proven methodology selects the best opportunities in
order to create one-to-two new companies annually, where each company is
expected to achieve a realisable valuation of at least US$400 million within
four years from its creation. It is XL TechGroup's aim to deliver significant
shareholder distributions at the final exit from each company or from other
liquidity events.
XL TechGroup's companies to date are:
* PetroAlgae LLC (www.petroalgae.com)
* TyraTech Inc. (AIM: TYR, www.tyratech.com)
* DxTech LLC (www.dxtech.com)
* QuoNova LLC (www.quonova.com)
* AgCert International plc (LSE: AGC, www.agcert.com)
XL TechGroup has also established GenXL LLC (www.gnxl.com) as a joint venture to
capture the value of those prospects that do not fully meet XL TechGroup's
company selection criteria but still demonstrate considerable potential worth.
Over and above XL TechGroup's core business model, GenXL reviews a flow of
opportunities from both its parent companies in order to generate new companies,
standalone product lines and technology licensing opportunities or an
appropriate mix of these.
For further information, see www.xltechgroup.com
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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