Sernova to be Granted Australian Patent

LONDON, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - July 18, 2011) - Sernova Corp. (TSX VENTURE:SVA) is pleased to report that the Australian Patent Office has issued a Notice of Allowance for a patent entitled "Compositions Containing Sertoli Cells and Myoid Cells and Use Thereof in Cellular Transplants." Allowance in additional international jurisdictions including Canada, Europe, Japan and the United States is pending.

"The allowance of this patent continues to add to our extensive portfolio of over 22 issued and pending patents covering our cell-therapy enabling platform, including the Cell Pouch System™," said Dr. Philip Toleikis, Sernova's President and CEO. "The broad claims in this patent position us with the ability to expand our platform to a wide range of therapeutic cell types important in treating chronic disease. Broadening our patent portfolio also positions us to maximize partnering and development opportunities as we continue to advance our Cell Pouch System™ toward human clinical studies."

Sernova has presented evidence at leading scientific conferences demonstrating that the Cell Pouch System™ can be used as an effective platform for delivery of insulin from both autograft (self) and allograft (donor) islets to restore glucose control in stringent preclinical models of diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States with approximately 9 million Americans requiring daily insulin injections. One out of every eight dollars spent on health care in the United States is spent on treating diabetes and its complications. Worldwide expenditures on insulin alone are estimated to be $15 billion annually and growing.

In the future, Sernova plans to explore the additional utility of the Cell Pouch System™ as an enabling platform for a range of therapeutic cell types with the potential to treat a number of chronic debilitating diseases representing broad unmet medical needs.

About Sernova

Sernova Corp. is a Canadian-based health sciences company focused on product development and commercialization of innovative proprietary platform medical technologies in the cell therapy arena such as the Cell Pouch System™ to provide a safe and efficacious environment for therapeutic cells and Sertolin™, a technology which, when combined with cell therapy, may protect therapeutic cells without the need for patients to take anti-rejection drugs.

This news release contains forward-looking information, which involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from current expectation. Important factors -- including availability of funds, the results of financing efforts, the results of research and product development activities -- that could cause actual results to differ materially from Sernova's expectations are disclosed in Sernova's documents filed from time to time on SEDAR (see www.sedar.com). Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation, except to the extent required by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.