Full Press Release Details
Lexaria Files U.S. Utility and International Patent
Encompassing Expanded Uses for Its Core Technology
Kelowna, BC / June 11, 2015 / Lexaria, Corp. (OTCQB:LXRP)
(CSE:LXX) ( Lexaria or the Company ) provides the following information
regarding existing and new patents pending.
Lexaria has initiated the simultaneous filing of a U.S. utility
patent application and an International patent application under the Patent
Cooperation Treaty (PCT) procedure, both at the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office. These applications follow the Company s 2014 and 2015 family of
provisional patent application filings in the U.S. and serve two additional
| 1) | Lexaria is seeking protection of its intellectual property under international treaties. To this end Lexaria has filed for PCT patent application protection. There are 148 countries that are signatories to the Patent Cooperation Treaty, including such major markets as Canada, China, India, much of Europe and the Middle East, the United Kingdom and Japan among others. | |
| 2) | Lexaria believes its lipid infusion technology has applications beyond the delivery of just cannabinoids. Based on further formulation testing, Lexaria has included additional lipophilic molecules that may be delivered via food and beverage formats utilizing its technology, widely encompassing three major new market opportunities for the Company: Nicotine; Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatories (NSAIDs); and Vitamins. |
Lexaria notes that although additional testing and examination
of these formulations is planned prior to any potential market introduction for
these three new market opportunities, the Company owes a fiduciary duty to its
shareholders to protect the intellectual property associated with its
inventions. Since the relevance of this technology has the potential to be
markedly material, the Company is of the view that reporting these developments
is warranted. Additional details are provided below, and further information
will be provided in the future.
"Our technology opens up whole new avenues for delivering
numerous bioactive compounds of interest into the body as part of anyone's
normal diet," said John Docherty, President. "We believe that consumer demand
could be enormous for these new product formats because they could offer both
high bioavailability and a safe and naturally formulated alternative relative to
their conventional predecessors.
INTERNATIONAL PATENT PROTECTION
began examining the legal medical cannabis market in 2013, and entered the
market in 2014, the Company believed it could make an impact in perhaps both the Canadian and U.S. marketplaces. Our pursuit and
development of technology has expanded our potential area of impact, both
geographically and by sector. Because of the applicability of our technology to
markets outside of the legal cannabis sector, we have taken the necessary steps
to protect that intellectual property within larger global markets, regardless
of whether they lie within the medical cannabis sector or in other unrelated
ADDITIONAL MOLECULES
NICOTINE. More than 99% of all
nicotine that is consumed worldwide is delivered through smoking cigarettes.
Approximately 6,000,000 deaths per year, worldwide, are attributed primarily to
the delivery of nicotine through the act of smoking according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, which also estimates that over $170 billion per
year is spent just in the USA on direct medical care costs for adult smokers.
69% of U.S. adult smokers want to quit smoking and 43% of US adult smokers have
attempted to quit in any twelve month period.
Worldwide, retail cigarette sales were worth $722 billion in
2013, with over 5.7 trillion cigarettes sold to more than 1 billion smokers.
RELEVANCE: Lexaria postulates that delivery of nicotine to
satisfy current demand, utilizing our patent pending lipid-delivery technology
in common food groups, could shift demand from smoking cigarettes to alternative
nicotine-based food products. Since most of the adverse health outcomes of
nicotine consumption are associated with the delivery method and only to a
lesser degree to the actual ingestion of nicotine, there could be a vast
positive community health outcome through the reduction in smoking cigarettes.
Additional research and regulatory compliant investigations would need to be
conducted before otherwise healthy foods such as tea, coffee or energy bar
snacks containing nicotine could be introduced. Nicotine is a named molecule in
the latest Lexaria patent applications.
NSAID. Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatories are the second-largest
category of pain management treatment options in the world. The global pain
management market was estimated at $22 billion in 2011, with $5.4 billion of
this market being served by NSAID s. The U.S. makes up over one-half of the
global market. The opiods market (such as morphine) form the largest single pain
management sector but are known to be associated with serious dependence and
Some of the most commonly known NSAIDs are ASA (Aspirin),
Ibruprofen (Advil, Motrin), and Acetaminophen (Tylenol). (Acetaminophen is not
accepted by all persons to be an NSAID.) Although NSAIDs are generally a safe
and effective treatment method for pain, they have been associated with a number
of gastrointestinal problems including dyspepsia and gastric bleeding.
RELEVANCE: Lexaria postulates that delivery of NSAIDs through a
lipid-based mechanism could provide the beneficial properties of pain relief
with lessened negative gastrointestinal effects, and also potentially deliver
lower dosages of active ingredients with similar pain management outcomes as
current pill forms at higher dosages. ASA, Piroxicam, Diclofenac, Indomethacin,
Ibruprofen, and Acetaminophen are all named molecules in the latest Lexaria
patent applications.
VITAMINS. The global vitamin and supplement market is worth $68
billion according to Euromonitor. The category is both broad and deep, comprised
of many popular and some lesser known substances. Vitamins in general are
thought to be an $8.5 billion annual market in the U.S. The U.S. is the largest
single national market in the world, and China and Japan are the 2nd
and 3rd largest vitamin markets.
Vitamin E is fat soluble and can be incorporated into cell
membranes which can protect them from oxidative damage. Global consumption of
natural source vitamin E was 10,900 metric tons in 2013 worth $611.9
RELEVANCE: Lexaria postulates that delivery of fat soluble
vitamins through its patent-pending lipid-based delivery mechanism may result in
less waste and lower dosages required than most current pill forms. As well,
ingestion of pills is an unpleasant experience for many people so it is possible
that vitamin delivery through common food groups could vastly expand market
demand for this sector. Vitamin E is a named molecule in the latest Lexaria
patent applications.
Lexaria s groundbreaking new technology offers a new way of
delivering active ingredients. Not only are there a number of important benefits
associated with higher absorption rates of beneficial ingredients, but there is
a crucial public health benefit associated with any reduction in cigarette or
cannabis smoking, said Chris Bunka, CEO of Lexaria. I am incredibly proud of
the Lexaria team as we continue to investigate whether we have found the first
viable alternative to smoking.
Lexaria is increasingly focused on its pursuit of intellectual
property and an expanding portfolio of patent pending applications. The Company
continues to work on introducing an expanding variety of consumer food products which remains on
target for 2015 delivery.