Sixth Wave and York University Awarded NSERC Alliance Mission Grant for Ongoing Work to Deploy Air and Surface Virus Monitoring Point of Need Technology
Halifax, Nova Scotia–(Newsfile Corp. – April 7, 2022) – Sixth Wave Innovations Inc. (CSE: SIXW) (OTCQB: SIXWF) (FSE: AHUH) (“Sixth Wave“, “SIXW” or the “Company“) is pleased to announce that the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada has awarded an Alliance Mission Grant of $190,800, effective March 31, 2022, with a year two provision in the same amount. The research is focused on continued prototyping and deploying of an air and surface virus monitoring point of need technology that will improve remediation responses and minimize the economic losses of viral outbreaks. This research is the continuation of the partnership between Dr. Pouya Rezai’s lab at York University and Sixth Wave, in collaboration with Dr. Satinder Brar. Other participants include Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CIFA), Poppy Inc. and BluMetric Environmental Inc. NSERC rated the merits, relevance, and outcomes of the project and partnership as “excellent.”
The recent advancements of Sixth Wave and Dr. Rezai’s lab research on Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs), demonstrated integration into electrical and fluorescent detectors, and incorporation into Sixth Wave’s AMIPs™ (Accelerated Molecular Imprinted Polymer) technology has proven the flexible nature of the technology. With a solid fundamental foundation established, work will continue towards developing the necessary technical specifications for end-use applications and sensors. Applications include a high-throughput screening of air, surface, and water systems as well as personal diagnostics. The ongoing work directly contributes to novel solutions for the challenges in each of the aforementioned end-use applications.
This project expands the current partnership between York University and Sixth Wave Inc. by including new partners such as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and Health Canada to leverage their expertise in the development and validation of environmental biosensors. The project enables co-developers to bring two biosensors to the market by gaining an understanding of potential barriers to adoption while helping co-validators achieve rapid environmental monitoring to take effective remediation actions and decisions during virus spreads. “New knowledge about molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) and their affinity to viruses will be developed by training 6 undergraduate, 2 Master of Science, and 2 doctoral students as well as 2 postdoctoral fellows, in the biotechnology sector,” states Dr. Pouya Rezai who is leading the team at York University.
Sixth Wave successfully integrated its AMIP™ technology into a multicomponent microfluidic device with fluorescent detection. The prototype device, created by Dr. Pouya Rezai’s and Dr. Satinder Brar’s groups at York University, coats a thin layer of AMIPs™ polymer onto fluorescent magnetic microparticles. As the ultra-thin AMIP™ polymer shell binds the target pathogen, a change in the fluorescent signal is detected by the device. The integration of the detectors with microfluidics devices and “lab-on-a-chip” designs allow screening for multiple pathogens with a single test/device.
“The integration of the AMIPs™ technology into a complex multi-component sensor system is a key deliverable as we continue to expand the capabilities of our product development,” explained Dr. Jonathan Gluckman, CEO and President of Innovations at Sixth Wave.
SIXW has filed three patents regarding the AMIPs™ technology and its application to specific products that can utilize AMIPs™. The Company is not making any express or implied claims that its current AMIPs™ product has the ability to eliminate, cure, contain, or detect, at a commercial level, COVID-19 (or SARS-2 coronavirus) at this time.
For more information on the AMIPs™ and associated molecular imprinting technology, please visit: https://www.amips.com.
About Sixth Wave
Sixth Wave is a nanotechnology company with patented technologies that focus on the extraction and detection of target substances at the molecular level using highly specialized Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs). The Company is in the process of a commercial rollout of its Affinity™ cannabinoid purification system, as well as IXOS®, a line of extraction polymers for the gold mining industry. The Company is in the development stages of a rapid diagnostic test for viruses under the Accelerated MIPs (AMIPs™) label.
Sixth Wave can design, develop, and commercialize MIP solutions across a broad spectrum of industries. The company is focused on nanotechnology architectures that are highly relevant for the detection and separation of viruses, biogenic amines, and other pathogens, for which the Company has products at various stages of development.
For more information about Sixth Wave, please visit our website at: www.sixthwave.com
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Jonathan Gluckman”
Jonathan Gluckman, Ph.D., President & CEO
For information, please contact the Company:
Phone: (801) 582-0559
E-mail: info@sixthwave.com
Cautionary Notes
This press release includes certain statements that may be deemed “forward-looking statements” including statements regarding the planned use of proceeds and performance of the AMIPs™ technologies. All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address future events or developments that the Company expects, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual events or developments may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause the Company’s actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. In particular, successful development and commercialization of the AMIPs™ technology are subject to the risk that the AMIPs™ technology may not prove to be successful in detecting virus targets effectively or at all, the uncertainty of medical product development, the uncertainty of timing or availability of required regulatory approvals, lack of track record of developing products for medical applications and the need for additional capital to carry out product development activities. The value of any products ultimately developed could be negatively impacted if the patent is not granted. The Company has not yet completed the development of a prototype for the product that is subject of its patent application and has not yet applied for regulatory approval for the use of this product from any regulatory agency.
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