Qu Biologics Launches Treatment Trial for Crohn's Disease

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - March 7, 2013) - Canadian participants are being sought for a new Health Canada-approved clinical trial for the treatment of Crohn's disease, the Vancouver-based biopharmaceutical company Qu Biologics announced today.

Affecting more than 100,000 Canadians, Crohn's disease is a type of inflammatory bowel disease that causes a range of debilitating symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting and weight loss. Crohn's disease is one of a number of autoimmune diseases and cancers that are marked by chronic inflammation within a specific organ or tissue.

Qu Biologics develops Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs), a novel class of immunotherapies that aim to restore balance to the body's natural defense system by potentially "rebooting" the affected organ's innate immune response. Health Canada has determined that outcomes from an SSI treatment candidate called QBECO, previously provided to a small number of Crohn's patients through a compassionate use program, support further study in controlled clinical trials.

Qu Biologics' Phase 1/2 clinical trial will recruit 60 adults with active, uncontrolled, moderate to severe Crohn's Disease and evaluate the potential clinical response and disease remission among participants treated with QBECO. The main purpose of this study will be to test whether this investigational treatment is safe and potentially effective for the treatment of Crohn's disease. Results could be expected as early as the second quarter of 2014, depending on recruitment.

The randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study will be conducted in Vancouver under the medical direction of Dr. Brian Bressler, a practising gastroenterologist and recognized expert in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Dr. Bressler also holds clinical appointments at Providence Health Care (St. Paul's Hospital) and the University of British Columbia.

Currently, only Canadian residents are eligible to participate in the trial. Potential participants can learn more about the trial and complete an online pre-screening questionnaire to assess their eligibility by visiting www.qucrohnstrial.com.

For more information about Qu Biologics and the science behind SSIs, please visit www.qubiologics.com.

Qu Biologics is a Vancouver-based private clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that develops Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSI), a novel class of immunotherapies. SSIs are designed to stimulate an innate immune response in targeted organs or tissues to potentially reverse the chronic inflammation underlying many conditions including cancer, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis.

Since its incorporation in 2007, the company has been granted broad patents for the use of SSI therapy to treat cancer in Australia and New Zealand, and specific patents for the use of lung-targeted SSIs to treat cancers of the lung in the United States and Japan.

Backed by a prestigious group of scientific advisors and board members, Qu Biologics is led by a management team that includes co-founder and CEO Dr. Hal Gunn, an integrative-care physician and expert on the body's immune response to chronic disease; and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, former CEO of the BC Cancer Agency and a distinguished clinician, scientist and leading visionary in cancer control in Canada and internationally.