Appointment of Dr Simba Gill to the Board

PuriCore plc

("PuriCore" or the "Company")

Appointment of Dr Simba Gill to the Board of Directors

1 March 2016 - PuriCore plc (AIM: PURI), an emerging specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on leveraging its proprietary immunomodulatory technology, today announces the appointment of Dr Balkrishan (Simba) Gill as a Non-Executive Director of the Board, with immediate effect.

Dr Gill, aged 51, has held a number of leadership roles in both development stage biotechnology companies as well as established pharmaceutical companies, with extensive experience in drug development and commercialisation. Dr Gill brings a wealth of knowledge as a founder, investor, advisor, executive leader and scientist within the biopharmaceutical industry. Dr Gill is currently CEO of Evelo Biosciences, a biotech company pioneering the development of microbiome-based therapies for cancer, and Executive Chairman of Blackfynn Inc., a company focused on complex data management and analytics in neurology.

During his career, Dr Gill has been a founder or senior executive at private and public companies including moksha8 Pharmaceuticals Inc., Epirus Biopharmaceuticals Inc., Maxygen Inc., Verdia Inc., Avidia Inc., Codexis Inc., Systemix Inc. and Megabios Corp. Under his tenure, four of these companies completed IPOs and three were acquired through strategic trade sales. In addition, Dr Gill served as a Venture Partner at TPG Capital LP, a leading global private equity firm, focused on investments in life sciences and emerging markets.

Dr Gill has an MBA from INSEAD and completed his Ph.D., with a focus on developing humanised antibodies to treat cancer, at King's College, London.

Charles Spicer, Non-Executive Chairman of PuriCore, added: 

"We are delighted to welcome Simba to the PuriCore Board at this exciting time in the Company's evolution. Simba has an impressive track record helping companies create value within the biopharmaceutical industry as an executive and a board director. In particular, his extensive experience in early stage drug development will be invaluable as we focus our hypochlorous acid based platform towards immunomodulatory drug development. The Board looks forward to working closely with him as we advance our strategy as a specialty biopharmaceutical company."

Dr Gill is currently CEO of Evelo Biosciences and Executive Chairman of Blackfynn Inc. He is also on the Board of Codexis, Inc. and has in the past 5 years served on the Board of Moksha8 UK Limited, Maxygen Inc. and Fourteen22, Inc.  Save as disclosed in this announcement there are no further disclosures required under Rule 17 or Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

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About PuriCore

PuriCore is an emerging specialty biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunomodulatory therapies, based on its proprietary hypochlorous acid platform technology. The Company has initiated a drug development program based upon its proprietary technology and formulations at high concentrations. The Company believes their formulations have novel immunomodulatory activity with potential application for the treatment of diseases in a number of therapeutic areas such as Dermatology and Ophthalmology, including potential orphan indications. Currently, the Company serves the Supermarket Retail sector and Wound Care market (as a medical device) utilizing different formulations. For more information, visit Puricore.com.