TORONTO, April 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lifeist Wellness Inc. (“Lifeist” or the “Company”) (TSXV: LFST) (FRANKFURT: M5B) (OTCQB: LFSWF), a health-tech company that leverages advancements in science and technology to build breakthrough companies that transform human wellness, today announced that its U.S. biosciences subsidiary Mikra Cellular Sciences Inc. (“Mikra”) has completed its first foundational pre-clinical study aimed at understanding the effect of CELLF on healthspan (the years of ones’ life spent in good health) and lifespan (the number of years lived).

Mikra partnered with InVivo Biosystems (the “Researchers”), an expert in CRISPR genome editing, to test whether CELLF could improve healthspan and protect against reactive oxygen species. The researchers identified non-toxic concentrations of CELLF and found that it increased both lifespan and healthspan in animals, especially late in life. Additionally, researchers found that treatment with CELLF resulted in differential gene expression profiles, particularly affecting key members of established longevity pathways such as insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling (IIS), autophagy/mTOR pathway, and stress response pathway. Lastly, it was observed that CELLF had antioxidant properties and reduced the damage caused by exposure to pesticides in the study.

“We always intended our first pre-clinical study to pave the way for more iterations of CELLF and clinical studies,” said Faraaz Jamal, CEO of Mikra and COO of Lifeist. “With these results, it’s clear that we have a winning product that has significant potential to improve ones’ healthy years and I am excited to continue to strengthen our offering and develop on these truly remarkable results.”

Added Meni Morim, CEO of Lifeist, “Advancements in health technology are core to Lifeist's mission. By further proving the validity and opportunity of CELLF through this study, we are strengthening our portfolio and position in the wellness market.”

Antioxidant Capabilities

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are harmful molecules that can damage our DNA, RNA, and proteins, leading to cell death. Antioxidants are molecules that can help reduce this damage. Researchers tested three concentrations of CELLF to see if it could reduce damage caused by exposure to a pesticide known to create ROS.

The researchers found that at all concentrations, CELLF treatment increased activity under oxidative stress relative to the control group. A repeated measures ANOVA was used for statistical analysis, which showed that the effect of treatment was statistically significant (P < 0.0001), while time had no significant effect (P = 0.300). There was also no interaction between treatment and time (P = 0.239). These results suggest that CELLF has antioxidant properties as it reduced damage caused by exposure to ROS-inducing pesticides in animals tested in this study.

Genetic Pathway Identification

Researchers found that exposure to CELLF significantly affected the expression of several genes involved in stress resistance, fatty acid metabolism, and insulin signaling. They also identified additional lifespan-associated genes that were differentially expressed just outside their conventional statistical cut-offs for significance. Using a more relaxed cut-off, they found eight longevity-associated genes were differentially expressed at day two and 18 longevity-associated genes were differentially expressed at day nine. This information suggests that exposure to CELLF may have an impact on cellular pathways related to aging and could potentially affect lifespan or healthspan outcomes in organisms treated with this compound.

Healthspan Results

Treatment with 0.1mg/mL CELLF reduced the time at which populations experienced 50% mortality while exposure to higher concentrations (0.3mg/mL) had a significant positive impact on delaying age-related decline by increasing lifespan up until when there was a seventy-five percent (75%) probability of death.

The full pre-clinical study can be found here.

About InVivo Biosystems

Founded in Eugene, InVivo Biosystems provides end-to-end services to help pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, biotechnology companies and academic research institutions around the globe accelerate their research and drug development efforts. The company’s mission is to build the world’s most effective genetic animal models to advance human health. An expert in zebrafish and C. elegans models, InVivo Biosystems creates custom genome-edited C. elegans and zebrafish models to enable aging and other disease studies. In addition, InVivo Biosystems provides in-vivo analytical services to produce data and insights for companies that need to quickly make go/no-go decisions in the early-stage development of new compounds. For more information, visit www.invivobiosystems.com or the company’s blog: InVivo Insights.

About Lifeist Wellness Inc.

Sitting at the forefront of the post-pandemic wellness revolution, Lifeist leverages advancements in science and technology to build breakthrough companies that transform human wellness. Portfolio business units include: CannMart, which operates a B2B wholesale distribution business facilitating recreational cannabis sales to Canadian provincial government control boards including for CannMart Labs, a BHO extraction facility producing high margin cannabis 2.0 products; Australian Vaporizers, one of Australia’s largest online retailers of vaporizers and accessories; and Mikra, a biosciences and consumer wellness company developing and selling innovative therapies for cellular health.

Information on Lifeist and its businesses can be accessed through the links below:

www.lifeist.com
https://cannmart.com
https://roilty.co
https://wearemikra.com/
www.australianvaporizers.com.au

Contacts

Meni Morim, Lifeist Wellness Inc., CEO
Matt Chesler, CFA, FNK IR, Investor Relations
Ph: 647-362-0390
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release or has in any way approved or disapproved of the contents of this press release.

Forward Looking Information

This news release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable securities laws. All statements contained herein that are not historical in nature contain forward-looking information. Forward-looking information can be identified by words or phrases such as “may”, “expect”, “likely”, “should”, “would”, “plan”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “potential”, “proposed”, “estimate”, “believe” or the negative of these terms, or other similar words, expressions and grammatical variations thereof, or statements that certain events or conditions “may” or “will” happen.

The forward-looking information contained herein, including, without limitation, statements related to Mikra’s development of new product offerings and the potential health benefits that may result from its products , are made as of the date of this news release and is based on assumptions management believed to be reasonable at the time such statements were made, including, without limitation, expectations that: Mikra will develop new products as anticipated, Mikra’s current and future products will demonstrate health benefits in humans similar to those shown in the study on animals; such products will gain market acceptance along with the expansion of the nutraceutical market; Mikra will be able to grow its distribution network for its products; its expectation that the market for nutraceutical products will remain strong and will continue to grow as currently anticipated; the nutraceutical market will continue to be a multi-billion dollar high-margin market; the introduction of new products, brands and distribution channels will generate additional awareness of Mikra’s existing and future products, increase revenue and further increase product development. While we consider these assumptions to be reasonable based on information currently available to management, there is no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. By its nature, forward-looking information is subject to inherent risks and uncertainties that may be general or specific and which give rise to the possibility that expectations, forecasts, predictions, projections or conclusions will not prove to be accurate, that assumptions may not be correct and that objectives, strategic goals and priorities will not be achieved. A variety of factors, including known and unknown risks, many of which are beyond our control, could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking information in this press release. Such factors include, without limitation: the failure of Mikra’s products to demonstrate expected health benefits in humans, including, without limitation, measurable improvements in both lifespan and healthspan, the availability of Mikra’s products failing to achieve economical sales level, the failure to make future new Mikra products available for distribution and sale through third-party distributors, the Company’s inability to continue to develop Mikra’s business as a whole, including its inability to increase distribution and sales through retail and online channels, unanticipated changes to current regulations that would adversely impact Mikra’s business, unforeseen developments that would delay Mikra’s ability to develop and sell additional nutraceutical products, the risk that the expected demand for nutraceutical products in general and those of Mikra in particular, including consumer uptake, does not develop as anticipated and risks relating to the Company’s ability to execute its business strategy and the benefits realizable therefrom. Additional risk factors can also be found in the Company’s current MD&A which has been filed under the Company’s SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Readers are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement.