Willow Biosciences Inc (CANSF)

[molee]

Lurker here ... Nice bump today . This seems like good news to me ...

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 18, 2023

Commercial agreement follows the early success on the development phase of the UDCA program with Sandhill One

Solid execution on development phases leads to execution of agreement; illustrates company progress against targeted milestones anticipated for 2023 to expand company growth

Willow's unique combination of strain engineering, precision fermentation and its newly developed BioOxi™ bio-oxidation platform has accelerated the timeline to reach commercial agreement

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ - Willow Biosciences Inc. ("Willow") (TSX: WLLW); (OTCQB: CANSF), a leading biotechnology company focused on revolutionizing industrial manufacturing of pure, consistent and sustainable functional ingredients announces execution of a commercial agreement with Sandhill One, LLC ("Sandhill"). Willow previously announced the successful results from the application of its BioOxiTM bio-oxidation platform to the development of a key step for the large volume active pharmaceutical ingredient ("API"), ursodeoxycholic acid ("UDCA"), used in nutraceutical and pharmaceutical products.

Willow Biosciences Inc. Logo (CNW Group/Willow Biosciences Inc.)

UDCA is used as a medication for the management and treatment of cholestatic liver disease and gallstone conditions, and as an important intermediate for production of tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a key API in a combination therapy recently approved in Canada and the United States for treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The process under development between the Company and Sandhill represents a step-change in the production of UDCA: it is expected to be lower in cost and will not rely on animal-sourced raw materials, unlike most current manufacturing of UDCA and other cholic acids.

Willow now expects that, upon completion of its development project with Sandhill and assuming the optimized enzyme is utilized in Sandhill's end-market manufacture, following receipt of milestone payments, it may receive a reasonably significant percent of Sandhill's end-market revenues. This royalty-bearing agreement would be more attractive than Willow originally expected and highlights the Company's rapid steps to bring in nearer term revenue.

"We are very pleased to have executed this agreement so quickly following our partnership with Sandhill and highly appreciate their collaborative work with us to create an alternative, more sustainable and less expensive source of UDCA to battle several significant health conditions in an era of escalating healthcare costs," said Dr. Chris Savile, Willow's President and CEO. "I am also proud of our R&D team's hard work and accomplishments to bring this commercial agreement to fruition, which further endorses our reputation in helping our partners sustainably solve their commercial challenges and in bringing cost-effective innovation to their end markets."

"We are delighted with Willow's rapid progress in successfully executing the development phases of this project. Our confidence in their results and the ensuing value has accelerated our decision to put in place a mutually rewarding commercial agreement," said J. Gregory Reid, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Sandhill. "We look forward to converting this value-added technology package into commercial reality and broadening the availability of sustainably sourced UDCA to support better health for people and our planet."