Yahoo Finance Burcon Updates on Development Activities
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - September 17, 2019) - Burcon NutraScience Corporation (TSX: BU), a global technology leader in the development of plant-based proteins, is pleased to provide an update of its recent development activities.
Burcon and its partners have now funded their full share of the capital contributions to Merit Functional Foods Corporation ("Merit Foods" or "Merit") as originally planned. As previously announced, following their initial contributions in June 2019, Burcon and its joint venture partners had agreed that on or before September 3, 2019, they would complete further capital contributions to Merit Foods in the amount of an additional $10,000,000, with Burcon's 40% share being $4,000,000. The additional $10,000,000 has now been contributed and therefore the full $20,000,000 of capital contributions have now been completed by the joint venture partners.
Merit Foods continues to progress with the buildout of the previously announced C$65 million pea-protein and canola-protein commercial production facility (the "Flex Production Plant"). The land on which the 65,000 square foot facility will be built has been purchased, and excavating equipment is on-site and construction has begun. The Flex Production Plant is planned to initially process approximately 20,000 tonnes of yellow field peas per year beginning in mid-2020 and is expected to produce Peazazz® and Peazac® pea proteins, as well as Supertein®, Puratein® and Nutratein® canola proteins.
Along with breaking ground on the plant, Merit has recently added key hires and is well into the process of building out its management team. Merit's management, together with Burcon's technical and engineering team in Winnipeg plus numerous third-party engineers and consultants, are diligently working on the development of the Flex Production Plant.
"Merit's management team has been working tirelessly over the summer to initiate the buildout of Merit's commercial plant-protein production facility," said Johann F. Tergesen, Burcon's president and chief executive officer. He added: "They are working to bring Burcon's novel pea and canola proteins to market and thereby to establish Merit Functional Foods as a force in the plant protein industry."
Looking forward, Burcon will continue to support Merit Foods through research and development focused on further optimizing Peazazz® and Peazac® pea proteins as well as Supertein®, Puratein® and Nutratein® canola proteins, which in turn supports Burcon's investment in Merit Foods and the license granted to Merit over Burcon's pea and canola technologies. Research and development work, ranging from functional applications work to shelf-life testing, is and will continue to be undertaken. Burcon owns and operates a pilot-scale production facility at its technical centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, complete with an analytical laboratory, for the development and small-scale production of proteins from various plant sources (the "WTC"). Burcon will continue to operate the WTC to produce protein samples for market development of pea and canola proteins for customers of Merit Foods as well as to produce other novel plant proteins to support Burcon's technology pipeline.
About Burcon NutraScience Corporation
Burcon is a leader in developing functionally and nutritionally valuable plant proteins. The company has developed an extensive portfolio of composition, application, and process patents originating from a core protein extraction and purification technology. Burcon's family of plant proteins includes Peazazz®, a uniquely soluble and clean-tasting pea protein, Puratein®, Supertein® and Nutratein® canola proteins with exceptional functionality and valuable nutritional profiles, and Nutratein-PS™ and Nutratein-TZ™, Burcon's new pea and canola protein blends that have exceptional functional characteristics, low allergenicity, and a nutritional value exceeding those of standard pea proteins in the market today. Burcon's CLARISOY® soy protein - under license to Archer Daniels Midland Company - offers clarity and high-quality protein nutrition for low-pH beverage systems, and excellent solubility and exceptionally clean flavour at any pH. For more information about the company, visit www.burcon.ca.
The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy of the content of the information contained herein. This press release contains forward-looking statements or forward-looking information within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements or forward-looking information involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results, performances, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward- looking statements or forward-looking information can be identified by words such as "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "goal," "project," "estimate," "expect," "believe", "future," "likely," "may," "should," "could", "will" and similar references to future periods. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release are forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, statements regarding expectations, intentions and plans contained in this press release. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements or information. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from Burcon's plans and expectations include the actual results of business negotiations, marketing activities, adverse general economic, market or business conditions, regulatory changes and other risks and factors detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by Burcon with securities regulators and stock exchanges, including in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Burcon's annual information form dated June 28, 2019 filed with the Canadian securities administrators on www.sedar.com. Any forward-looking statement or information only speaks as of the date on which it was made and, except as may be required by applicable securities laws, Burcon disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Although Burcon believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and accordingly, investors should not rely on such statements.
CLARISOY is a trademark of Archer Daniels Midland Company.
Investor Contact:
Paul Lam
Manager, Business Development
Burcon NutraScience Corporation
Tel (604) 733-0896, Toll-free (888) 408-7960
plam@burcon.ca www.burcon.ca
Media Contact:
Steve Campbell, APR
President
Campbell & Company Public Relations
Tel (604) 888-5267
TECH@CCOM-PR.COM
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