1. BACKGROUND,ACQUISITION AND LIQUIDITY
|
6 Months Ended |
---|---|
Oct. 31, 2013
|
|
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract] | |
BACKGROUND, ACQUSITION AND LIQUIDITY |
History of the Company
History of Past Nutraceutical Company
The Company was founded as DJH International, Inc. (DJH) on October 28, 1996. DJH was formed for the creation of software tracking for fresh fruits and vegetables. The Company changed its name to eFoodSafety.com, Inc. following its October 2000 acquisition of Global Procurement Systems, Inc. This company was in a similar business as DJH. In October 2003, the Company acquired Ozone Safe Food, Inc., a similar company to the other two. The early mission of eFoodSafety.com, Inc. was to provide methods and products to ensure safety of marketed fruits and vegetables worldwide. On February 4, 2004, shares of the common stock of the Company (Common Stock) were registered with the SEC. The Common Stock began publicly trading on the OTC Bulletin Board® quotation service under the trading symbol EFSF.
With low demand for its produce safety and software tracking products, the Company acquired Knock-Out Technologies, Ltd. in May 2004. This company was a developer of products using organic, non-toxic food based substances. In August 2005, the Company acquired MedElite, Inc. This company was the exclusive U.S. distributor of Talsyn-CI Scar Cream, a topical scar-reducing cream.
The Company sold Ozone Safe Food, Inc. in August 2005. In November 2006, the Company formed Cinnergen, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, to manufacture and market a nutritional supplement designed to promote healthy glucose metabolism. At or about the same time, the Company formed another wholly-owned subsidiary, purEffect, Inc., to manufacture and market four-step acne treatment trademarked purEffect. The Company licensed the marketing rights for purEffect to Charleston Kentrist 41 Direct, Inc. (CK41) in March 2006.
The Company next formed I-Boost, Inc. in July 2007 to manufacture and market a food bar designed to improve the immune system. In March 2008, the Company formed another wholly owned subsidiary, Cinnechol, Inc., to market non-prescription nutritional supplements. In February 2009, the Company sold the purEffectTM rights to CK41 for equity and future royalties. Freedom-2 Holdings, Inc. was acquired in March 2009 to manufacture and market regular tattoo ink and Infinitink®, a permanent tattoo ink designed to be removed more easily using conventional laser removal methods. These products were marketed through a wholly owned subsidiary, Freedom-2.
On January 20, 2009 the Company changed its name to Nuvilex, Inc. to better reflect its business operations. Its trading symbol on the OTC Bulletin Board® was also changed to NVLX.
History of Current Biotechnology Company
On May 26, 2011, the Company entered into an Asset Purchase Agreement (SG Austria APA) with SG Austria Private Limited (SG Austria) to purchase 100% of the assets and liabilities of SG Austria. As a result, Austrianova Singapore Private Limited ("Austrianova Singapore") and Bio Blue Bird AG ("Bio Blue Bird"), wholly-owned subsidiaries of SG Austria, were to become wholly owned subsidiaries of the Company on the condition that the Company pay SG Austria $2.5 million and 100,000,000 shares of its Common Stock and for the Company to receive 100,000 shares of Austrianova Singapores common stock and nine Bio Blue Bird bearer shares.
In June 2012, the Company and SG Austria entered into a First Addendum to the SG Austria APA to extend the due date for the sums to be paid to SG Austria. In October 2012, the Company and SG Austria entered into the Second Addendum to the SG Austria APA for the same purpose. In July 2013, the Company and SG Austria entered into a Third Addendum to the SG Austria APA. Under the terms of the Third Addendum, the transaction contemplated by the SG Austria APA was materially changed. The Third Addendum provided that the Company was to acquire 100% of the equity interests in Bio Blue Bird and receive a 14.5% equity interest in SG Austria. In addition, the Company received nine bearer shares of Bio Blue Bird. Under the Third Addendum, the Company paid: (i) $500,000 to retire all outstanding debt of Bio Blue Bird; and (ii) $1.0 million to SG Austria. Funding was accomplished through a private placement sale to accredited investors of 12,000,000 shares of restricted Common Stock for $0.125 per share. The Third Addendum returned the original 100,000,000 shares of Common Stock to the Company treasury and the 100,000 Austrianova Singapore shares to SG Austria.
The acquisition of Bio Blue Bird provided the Company with exclusive, worldwide licenses to use a proprietary cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology for the development of treatments for all forms of cancer. As of October 31, 2013 the cost of these licenses of $2,549,427 has been recorded on the balance sheet as a long term asset. The licenses are pursuant to patents licensed from Bavarian Nordic A/S and GSF-Forschungszentrum fur Umwelt u. Gesundeit GmbH. These licenses enable the Company to carry out the research and development of cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation cancer treatments and allow for research and development of the cellulose-based encapsulation of virus-expressing cells for treating other diseases.
The first use of the cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology has been in the development of a treatment for advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer. In Phase 1/2 clinical trials carried out under the sponsorship of SG Austrias predecessor, live cells capable of converting the well-known anti-cancer prodrug ifosfamide into its cancer-killing form were encapsulated using this novel technology. The capsules containing the ifosfamide-activating cells were locally implanted near the pancreatic tumor, and then ifosfamide was administered at 1/3 of its normal dose. By proceeding in this way, the amount of the active anti-cancer drug was increased directly in the tumor tissue. This ensured high efficacy with lower than usual doses of the chemotherapeutic agent; in turn, the lower than usual doses of ifosfamide employed allowed for significant reductions in the unpleasant and sometime detrimental side-effects normally associated with chemotherapy using this drug. This resulted in improved quality-of-life for the patients.
In July 2013, the Company also acquired from Austrianova Singapore the exclusive, worldwide license to use the cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology for the treatment of diabetes and the use of Austrianova Singapores Cell-In-A-Box trademark for this technology. The Company secured $1.5 million in funding through the sale of restricted stock to accredited investors at a fixed price of $0.15 per share, a premium to the market price per share at the time of the funding, to complete this acquisition. The Company utilized $1,000,000 of those funds to secure its exclusive, worldwide license to use the encapsulation technology for the treatment of diabetes by making its first required payment on October 30, 2013. The balance of the funds will be used for on-going preparations for the Companys late-stage clinical trials in advanced, inoperable pancreatic cancer. In addition, a second and final payment of $1,000,000 for the licensing rights for diabetes is required to be paid to Austrianova Singapore by April 30, 2014. As of October 31, 2013 and 2012, the balance of the funds that have been paid to Austrianova Singapore is $1,572,195 and $1,520,980, respectively.
In using the cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation technology, the Company believes that diabetes can be treated by encapsulating insulin-producing cells and then implanting these encapsulated cells into insulin-dependent individuals. The basis for this belief comes from preclinical animal studies carried out prior to the Companys acquisition of the licensing rights to the technology for diabetes. In those studies, insulin-producing cells were encapsulated using the technology and the capsules were then implanted into diabetic animals. Shortly thereafter, the blood glucose levels of the animals became normal. In one study, the levels remained normal for six months. Because the insulin-producing cells were encapsulated in the cellulose-based capsules, they were protected from attack and rejection by the animals immune systems.
On February 11, 2013, Medical Marijuana Sciences, Inc. was incorporated in the State of Nevada and became a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company. Medical Marijuana Sciences, Inc. is dedicated to the development of cancer treatments based upon the well-known chemical constituents of marijuana. Nuvilex is exploring ways in which the Cell-in-a-Box technology may play a role in these efforts. |