Burcon Updates on CLARISOY Development Process
Burcon has now also held discussions with certain entities that have expressed an interest in partnering exclusively for the sale - on a global basis - of Burcon's CLARISOY to food and beverage manufacturers and nutritional supplement companies.
23 Sep 2009 --- Burcon NutraScience Corporation is pleased to report on the latest developments with respect to the commercialization of its innovative technologies and in particular, CLARISOY soy protein isolate.
Over the past number of months, Burcon has entered into a series of material transfer agreements ("MTA's") and confidential disclosure agreements ("CDA's") with major food, beverage and pharmaceutical companies to enable Burcon to provide these companies with large quantity samples of our CLARISOY soy protein isolate for their analysis. Over this same time period, Burcon has also entered into a series of MTA's and CDA's with a number of the world's largest protein ingredient companies including major plant protein producers as well as dairy protein ingredient companies and others.
This process of pursuing a strategic alliance partner or partners for the development of Burcon's CLARISOY soy protein isolate has been focused on partnering for both the production of CLARISOY as well as the marketing and sale of CLARISOY to food and beverage manufacturers. Burcon has now also held discussions with certain entities that have expressed an interest in partnering exclusively for the sale - on a global basis - of Burcon's CLARISOY to food and beverage manufacturers and nutritional supplement companies.
In order to evaluate the potential of these alternative alliance structures, Burcon has engaged the engineering firm AECOM, a global provider of professional engineering and management support services, and has completed a pre-feasibility study for the construction and commissioning of an initial CLARISOY production facility. The pre-feasibility study includes estimates and forecasts of the costs associated with the design and construction of an initial CLARISOY production facility.
As part of this pre-feasibility analysis Burcon has evaluated a number of alternatives for the location of an initial facility. Alternative options include co-locating at an existing soybean crushing facility versus locations that are not adjacent to existing soy processing facilities but which benefit from existing infrastructure. The pre-feasibility analysis also compares alternatives regarding varying initial production capacities as well as alternatives that are based on the potential for "expandability" of the proposed initial plant if and when warranted. Additional analyses relating to the design, location and development of an initial CLARISOY production facility are underway and are expected to be completed within the next quarter and will form part of the overall feasibility analysis.
Given the encouraging conclusions of this pre-feasibility study, Burcon is now also investigating one or more potential strategic alliances, as noted above, aimed solely at the marketing and sale of CLARISOY to food and beverage manufacturers.
Burcon will continue to explore all strategic alliance opportunities, both with fully-integrated potential partners that have protein production capabilities and sales capabilities as well as with partners whose interest is solely in partnering for the sale of CLARISOY. Burcon's intention is to identify an alliance that is the most beneficial to the Corporation and with the greatest potential to enhance shareholder value.
"We are very encouraged by the level of interest shown by potential partners as we pursue a strategic alliance to commercialize CLARISOY soy protein isolate and our related innovative technologies," said Johann F. Tergesen, President and Chief Operating Officer, adding, "At the same time, we are moving forward with a process for developing an initial CLARISOY production facility."
CLARISOY soy protein isolate is 100% soluble and completely transparent in acidic solutions, enabling applications in ready to drink beverages ranging down to pH 2.5 and lower. The solubility and transparency of CLARISOY allows for its use in a wide variety of beverages where traditional soy isolates are not appropriate. CLARISOY is heat stable, permitting hot-fill applications and eliminates the traditional 'beany' taste of soy, giving beverages a cleaner flavor. As such, Burcon's CLARISOY shows great promise for use in a variety of beverage and food applications including nutritional, sports and energy drinks, juices and waters. CLARISOY is expected to be price competitive with existing proteins and should be of particular interest to food and beverage manufacturers seeking an alternative to high dairy protein prices.
