WEST HAVEN, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE MKT:NNVC) (the “Company”) celebrated the grand opening of its new R&D and cGMP pilot manufacturing facility with Congressman Jim Himes as the Chief Guest yesterday, July 21. In addition, Senator Chris Murphy and Senator Richard Blumenthal sent delegates on their behalf while CT Governor Malloy sent a congratulatory Proclamation and was represented by Cowlis Andrews from CT’s Office of Business Development of the Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD).
The dignitaries took a tour of the facility led by Dr. Anil Diwan, President & Chairman of the Company. Congressman Himes performed the ribbon cutting ceremony to inaugurate the facility. Dr. Diwan then read the congratulatory Proclamation sent by Governor Malloy to the Company and introduced the speakers. Congressman Himes spoke about the potentially great impact that a cutting edge nanomedicines pharmaceutical company like NanoViricides, Inc. can have, not only in Connecticut’s regional economic development but also in the service of humanity. He spoke about Influenza and HIV in particular as being very difficult diseases that continue to be devastating globally. He said that the nanoviricides technology developed by the Company has the potential to create effective drugs against these difficult diseases.
The delegate from Senators Murphy’s office presented a letter of congratulations to the Company. Senator Murphy stated in the letter: “This day brings with it the promise of high-skill jobs creation here in Connecticut, the advancement of truly groundbreaking medical technologies, and a continuation of international respect that this organization (NanoViricides, Inc.) has commanded since its founding.” The delegate from Senator Blumenthal’s office conveyed the Senators’ good wishes and congratulations to the Company. Bill Purcell, President of the Greater Valley Chamber of Commerce, welcomed Nanoviricides to Shelton. Paul Dorfman, Managing Director, Global Corporate Clients Group of New York Stock Exchange said that NYSE was very pleased that NanoViricides, Inc. chose to up-list to this exchange, and expressed that NYSE extends continuing support to its clients including NanoViricides, Inc.
Dr. Eugene Seymour, CEO of the Company, offered closing remarks. He juxtaposed the extremely high levels of effectiveness observed for nanoviricides drug candidates with similarly dramatic effectiveness that penicillin had demonstrated in the first patient treated in the USA at the Yale University hospital in 1942. He said that the nanoviricides technology had the promise of being as transformative against viral diseases, as penicillin has been against bacterial diseases.
Several additional important community members also attended the event. CTInnovations’ Director of Strategic Partnerships, Ms. Deb Santy, said that this facility could have strategic implications for Pharma start-ups in Connecticut. Key members of Shelton’s City Government were present including Mayor Mark Lauretti, Board of Aldermen President John Anglace, Police Chief Joel Hurliman, and Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Ruth Parkins.
Professor Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean for Executive Programs & Lester Crown Professor in the Practice of Management, School of Management, Yale University, also attended the event and congratulated the Company on its achievements.
Professor Thomas Lentz, the Company’s Scientific Advisory Board Member and Professor Emeritus of Yale University attended the event and said that this was truly a state of the art facility.
Several of the Company’s investors and associates from all over the world also attended this invitation-only event.
All of the Company’s Directors, including Professor Milton Boniuk, Professor Mukund Kulkarni, and Mr. Stanley Glick, attended the event. The Company held a Board of Directors meeting after the event in which the Board unanimously resolved to purchase the facility from Inno-Haven, LLC, for an appropriate consideration to be based on the actual capital expenditures, costs of finance, and other project costs borne by Inno-Haven. The Board asked Dr. Seymour to execute the purchase and related activities on behalf of NanoViricides. Dr. Diwan recused himself from the board meeting as he is controlling member of Inno-Haven, LLC. Dr. Diwan conveyed the willingness of Inno-Haven for NanoViricides to acquire the building rather than to lease it from Inno-Haven. NanoViricides, Inc. and Inno-Haven, LLC have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding in January 2013 which provides that Inno-Haven will build the facility to NanoViricides’ specifications, and that NanoViricides will lease the building with a right to purchase. No lease has been entered into.
NanoViricides, Inc. (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for viral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide® class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. The Company is developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in pre-clinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.
