Pilot Therapeutics locates HQ and R&D facility in Charleston

CHARLESTON, SC – South Carolina Department of Commerce officials announced today that Pilot Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, plans to relocate its national headquarters and research and development facility in the Charleston region. By the end of the year, an additional production and manufacturing facility location will be announced. The relocation is expected to include $10 million of direct investment by Pilot and its developers and the company expects to create 180 jobs within five years.

Pilot Therapeutics is developing a wide range of pharmaceutical and clinically validated over-the-counter (OTC) medical food products, including its lead OTC medical food, Airozin(tm), for the dietary management of asthma. Airozin(tm) has been tested for safety and efficacy in five clinical trials at major medical centers and contract research organizations and is the first and only OTC medical food for asthma. Pilot plans a regional commercial launch of Airozin(tm) later this year.

Pilot Therapeutics plans to construct a $2 million headquarters and research and development facility in the Charleston region that, within five years, is expected to create about 100 new jobs. The company plans to temporarily locate on Daniel Island until a permanent facility is established. This move will enable Pilot Therapeutics to operate without interruption as it continues to develop its extensive array of OTC medical food and pharmaceutical products and plan the Airozin(tm) regional commercial launch.

For its production and manufacturing, Pilot Therapeutics plans to construct an $8 million facility and create about 80 jobs within five years for specialty crops processing used in the company’s medical food and pharmaceutical products. These specialty crops include borage, an annual plant primarily grown for its seed oil that contains gammalinolenic acid (GLA) used in Airozin(tm). The processing and production facility will take approximately two years to construct and become operational.

The potential impact of Pilot Therapeutics on South Carolina’s farming communities is significant. Pilot expects to grow approximately one-third of its worldwide borage supply in South Carolina, which the company estimates may reach thousands of acres if market penetration goals for Pilot’s products are reached.

The estimated return on investment to farmers contracted by Pilot Therapeutics to grow borage is five- to seven-fold higher per acre than for traditional crops like soybeans and winter wheat. Pilot Therapeutics will contract with local farmers to grow borage to meet the company’s needs for its medical food and pharmaceutical products. Potentially, hundreds of farmers will be needed to grow these high value specialty crops within a five-year period.

Governor Jim Hodges welcomed the company, “As a world leader in understanding the role of fatty acids and illnesses, Pilot Therapeutics’ innovative products will dramatically impact the state’s farming infrastructure putting hundreds of family farms back to profitability while giving unlimited hope to millions with chronic diseases.”

Floyd “Ski” Chilton, Ph.D., Pilot Therapeutics’ founder, president, and chief executive officer, stated “We are grateful to Governor Hodges for his pioneering vision for biotechnology and wish to commend his team for their professionalism, innovative efforts, and profound commitment to bring Pilot to the great state of South Carolina. We appreciate South Carolina’s recognition of Pilot’s potential for future rapid growth and look forward to joining hands with the state to offer revolutionary new approaches to the management of diseases such as asthma, arthritis and heart disease. We are especially excited about the opportunity South Carolina has given us to accelerate our efforts to combine biotechnology and agriculture to develop products that fundamentally improve the human condition.”

“Pilot Therapeutics’ bold step to locate its headquarters and R&D and production facilities here in South Carolina enables our state to improve the quality of life for our farmers while making major advances into a knowledge-based economy. We could not be more enthusiastic that this pioneering biotech company chose to continue its growth in our state,” added S.C. Secretary of Commerce Charles S. Way, Jr.

“With Pilot Therapeutics joining our business community, we continue to build a base of life science companies for the Charleston region,” said F. Eugene (Gene) Williams, chairman of the Charleston Regional Development Alliance. “This is a company that is using advanced science to change people’s lives for the better. We welcome this innovative company, and the positive benefits their presence will bring to our region.”

“We are very excited that Pilot Therapeutics has chosen the Charleston region as its initial home,” stated Jim Rozier, Berkeley County supervisor and county council chairman. “We believe that Berkeley County – and Daniel Island – both offer the quality of life that will continue to attract knowledge-based companies to our region.”

Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley, Jr., welcomed the most recent arrival to Charleston’s growing technology community. “In Pilot Therapeutics we find a wonderful opportunity for our community,” he said. “Not only is Pilot an exciting new member of the city’s “Digital Corridor,” but it is also a company that will create the very kinds of jobs – and careers – to help shape our future. Welcome, Pilot, and we look forward to your long, profitable stay here.”

Business Carolina Inc., a business resource company, is assisting the company with its financing.

Pilot Therapeutics, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pilot Therapeutics Holdings, Inc., is a specialty pharmaceutical company that is developing and commercializing a robust pipeline of pharmaceutical product candidates and clinically validated over-the-counter (OTC) medical food products. A world leader in fatty acid metabolism, Pilot has pioneered Functional Liponomics(tm), a proprietary, state-of-the-art research platform combining fatty acid and genomic profiling, and has used this research to develop or acquire product candidates for asthma, arthritis, coronary heart disease, cystic acne and cancer. Its lead OTC medical food product, AIROZIN(tm), is the first clinically proven OTC maintenance product for the dietary management of asthma, a disease that afflicts approximately 20 million Americans. Pilot is in the process of filing an Investigational Drug Application (IND) for its lead pharmaceutical product candidate, PLT 732 to treat elevated triglycerides associated with heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. Pilot Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.’s common stock is traded on the Over-the-Counter Bulletin Board under the ticker symbol “PLTT.OB.”