Qu Biologics Begins Research With McMaster University to Study Chronic Inflammation Associated With Macrophage Dysfunction

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Aug. 15, 2013) - Qu Biologics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSIs) that aim to "reboot" the body's innate immune system, announced it has commenced preclinical studies in collaboration with McMaster University to research the effect of SSI therapy on macrophage immune dysfunction. Qu Biologics will test whether its SSI therapy can reduce or eliminate chronic inflammation related to macrophage dysfunction.

The study will be carried out at McMaster University under the guidance of Dr. Dawn Bowdish, an expert in macrophage dysfunction. Dr. Dawn Bowdish is an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the McMaster Immunology Research Centre.

"Macrophages are important cells of the innate immune system. There is growing evidence that macrophage dysfunction underlies many important common chronic diseases, including cancer and autoimmune disease," said Dr. Hal Gunn, CEO of Qu Biologics. "This collaboration will be invaluable to assist in our understanding of the benefits of SSI therapy on macrophage function as it relates to chronic inflammation and immune dysfunction," Dr. Gunn added.

The studies will be testing whether a lung-specific SSI therapy can restore normal lung and bone marrow macrophage function. The study will compare macrophage function in response to SSI therapy in a variety of in vivo and in vitro assays. The results of this study will help to determine the applicability of SSI therapy in other chronic inflammation conditions to further validate the SSI therapy platform.

About Dr. Dawn Bowdish

Dr. Dawn Bowdish is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at McMaster University. She is affiliated with McMaster Immunology Research Centre (MIRC) and the M.G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research (IIDR). Dr. Bowdish's research focuses on how macrophages, which are sentinel cells of the nasopharynx, distinguish between commensals and resident pathogens. Her lab studies how immune control breaks down and how system inflammation contributes to immune defects. Dr. Bowdish completed her PhD training at the University of British Columbia with Dr. Bob Hancock and conducted post-doctoral studies with Professor Siamon Gordon, a world-renowned expert in macrophage biology, at the University of Oxford.

About Qu Biologics

Qu Biologics develops Site Specific Immunomodulators (SSI), a novel class of immunotherapies that aim to reboot the body's immune system. SSIs are designed to stimulate an immune response in targeted organs or tissues to potentially reverse the chronic inflammation underlying many conditions including cancer and autoimmune disease. The company recently launched a Phase 1/2 clinical trial to research SSI therapy for the treatment of Crohn's disease.

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, a 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 leader in cancer control in Canada and internationally. For more information, visit www.qubiologics.com and www.qucrohnstrial.com.