Sernova Corp. announced the appointment of Mr. Hans Mader to the Corporation's Business advisory board. During his distinguished career, Mader has held senior positions with major pharmaceutical companies including president and CEO of Sandoz/Novartis Pharmaceuticals Inc. Canada and Head of Global Marketing Services, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Inc. where he was responsible for implementing global marketing services and creation of global brand strategy for Novartis' multi-billion dollar product portfolio. Mr. Mader was instrumental in establishing the Cal Stiller-Novartis Research Chair in xenotransplantation at the University of Western Ontario during his tenure at Novartis. More recently, Mader served as president and CEO of Procyon Biopharma Inc.

Sernova Corp. announced a change in appointment of Dr. Annemarie Moseley from the Business Advisory Board to the Board of Directors, and a change in appointment of Mr. Devindar Randhawa from the Board of Directors to the Business Advisory Board. The appointment of Dr. Moseley is subject to regulatory approval.

Sernova Corp. announced to provide a summary of results of islet transplantation studies related to its Cell Pouch System(TM) and Sertolin(TM) technologies presented at the joint conference of the International Pancreas and Islet Transplant Association and the International Xenotransplantation Association held in Venice, Italy from October 12 to 16. The company's scientists presented seven abstracts, three of which were highlighted in oral presentations. These data serve to validate the efficacy of the company's prototype proprietary Cell Pouch System(TM) and Sertolin(TM) technologies in vivo. The Cell Pouch System(TM) is a revolutionary improvement over the current practice of injecting cells into blood vessels. It is a chamber which becomes a vascularised organ-like structure when placed in the body and provides the microcirculation essential to early function and long-term survival of cells. The first application is diabetes where the Cell Pouch System(TM) for islet transplantation is expected to prevent the instant blood-mediated inflammatory reaction (IBMIR) believed to rapidly destroy over 90% of implanted islets placed into the portal vein and eliminate islet-induced blood clotting and liver thrombosis. Overall the data presented provide in vivo validation of the company's Cell Pouch System(TM) for cell transplantation and has aided in the design and manufacture of a human-scaled device which is currently being tested in a large animal model of diabetes. The National Research Council of Canada is providing the company with a financial contribution of up to $486,000 to support these studies. The company's Sertolin(TM) technology is a novel combination therapy using Sertoli cells to provide an immune-protected environment for cell transplant which may reduce or eliminate the need for immunosuppressant agents. The company reported that without immuno suppressive drugs, diabetic rats transplanted with porcine islets showed a strong IgG-mediated rejection of islets which were completely destroyed by the 14 day evaluation time point. To eliminate or reduce the dose of toxic immunosuppressant agents, porcine Sertoli cells known to naturally protect sperm cells from immune attack were co-transplanted with porcine islets into the kidney capsule. It was shown that the co-transplant using Sertoli cells from sexually mature porcine and porcine islets significantly inhibited the IgG immune response with islets showing long-term robust production of insulin at 70 and 180 days post-implantation. The improvement was attributed in part to a 12-15 fold increase in Fas-L which is thought to protect the islets long-term against lymphocyte invasion. In vivo studies using the prototype Cell Pouch System(TM) device in combination with Sertolin(TM) technology demonstrated that the device becomes incorporated with a collagen matrix when placed under the skin or the omentum of rats and becomes well-vascularised as assessed by microvessel staining, thus validating several key features of the device. These results demonstrate that the company's Cell Pouch System(TM) and Sertolin(TM) technologies meet the criteria for long-term protection of islets in this immune-competent animal model of diabetes.