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Press release Communiqué de presse

April 30, 2019 30 April, 2019

Sernova Announces Collaboration to Advance Therapeutic Cell Pouch Technologies for the Treatment of Hypothyroidism

Co-investigators, Dr. Sam Wiseman of the University of British Columbia and Sernova Corp awarded the prestigious Transplant Research Foundation of British Columbia Venture Grant

April 30, 2019; 9:00 a.m. EST

LONDON, ONTARIO – April 30, 2019 – Sernova Corp. (TSX-V: SVA) (OTCQB: SEOVF), a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company announced today a collaboration with the University of British Columbia’s, Dr. Sam Wiseman for development of a Cell Therapy-based Program for the treatment of hypothyroidism. This collaboration is funded by a Transplant Venture Grant awarded by the Transplant Research Foundation (TRF) of British Columbia.

“The only current option for treatment of patients following thyroidectomy, to ensure avoidance of hypothyroidism, is administration of life-long daily thyroid medication, with intermittent blood testing and adjustment of medication dosing,” said Dr. Sam Wiseman, thyroid surgeon and researcher, and the Director of Research in the Department of Surgery at Providence Healthcare in Vancouver. “We hypothesize that through transplantation into Sernova’s vascularized Cell Pouch, the function of the thyroid gland may be preserved, and dependence on thyroid medication avoided. This approach is exciting because it could offer patients a cell therapy option for preservation of their gland function.”

According to the American Thyroid Association (ATA), 20 million Americans currently live with thyroid disease, and 12% of Americans will develop a thyroid condition during their lifetime. The thyroid gland produces and secretes thyroid hormone that is essential for life because it serves to regulate the entire body’s metabolism. The thyroid gland affects all critical body functions including heart rate, energy levels, and the rate at which energy is produced from nutrients. Loss of thyroid function, or hypothyroidism, may occur spontaneously, or due to partial or complete removal of the thyroid gland by operation (thyroidectomy).

“The cell-based treatment of hypothyroid disease following thyroidectomy represents a third significant clinical application including type-1 diabetes and hemophilia further validating Sernova’s Cell Pouch platform technologies in significant potential markets,” said Dr. Philip Toleikis, President and CEO of Sernova. “The development of a regenerative medicine approach for these chronic diseases is becoming a reality. In this case of thyroid disease, successful transplantation of thyroid tissue into Sernova’s cell pouch would represent a major advance in treatment of this very common problem.”

Thyroidectomy is commonly performed for cancer diagnosis or treatment, as well as for treatment of benign (non-cancerous) disease that includes goiter and hyperthyroidism. It is estimated that about 150,000 thyroidectomies are performed in the US yearly, and the majority of individuals undergoing a thyroid operation will be diagnosed with benign disease after their operation. Patients with Grave’s disease and thyroid nodules undergoing total thyroidectomy, and many patients undergoing partial thyroidectomy require life-long thyroid hormone medication. Post-surgical thyroid hormone replacement therapy, if monitored carefully, can be effective; however, patients often suffer from side effects including weight gain, depression, headaches, and cardiovascular disease, with resultant negative impact on quality of life, and costs to the healthcare system.

Sernova’s approach in the treatment of hypothyroid disease is to transplant healthy thyroid cells of patients undergoing thyroidectomy into the pre-implanted vascularized Cell Pouch. Currently, pre-clinical proof-of- concept work is underway. The collaboration will accelerate Sernova’s research efforts and set the stage for the preparation of a regulatory submission for future clinical assessment of people suffering from hypothyroid disease with the aim to preserve thyroid function and improve patient quality of life.

In other news, Sernova has been invited to present at the 2019 Bloom Burton & Co. Healthcare Investment Conference, being held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, in Toronto on April 30 and May 1st. Sernova President and CEO, Dr. Philip Toleikis will speak to its latest corporate presentation and US Phase I/II Human Clinical Trial at 4:00 PM EDT, on Wednesday, May 1st.

About Sernova Corp.

Sernova, Corp., (TSX-V: SVA) is a clinical stage (US FDA; Health Canada) company, developing disruptive platform technologies to treat chronic diseases through a regenerative medicine approach. Sernova’s primary focus is in developing technologies for the treatment of patients with insulin-dependent (TI) diabetes, hemophilia A and thyroid disease. Sernova is developing regenerative medicine therapeutic technologies using a medical device and immune protected therapeutic cells (i.e. human donor cells, corrected human cells and stem-cell derived cells) to improve the treatment and quality of life of people with chronic metabolic diseases such as insulin-dependent diabetes, blood disorders including hemophilia, and other diseases such as hypothyroid disease treated through replacement of proteins or hormones missing or in short supply within the body.

For further information contact:

United States Danny Matthews, Senior Associate, Solebury Trout Tel: (646) 378-2928 dmatthews@soleburytrout.com www.soleburytrout.com

For investor inquiries and media inquiries in Canada:

Dominic Gray Corporate Communications Tel: (519) 858-5126 dominic.gray@sernova.com www.sernova.com

Ray Matthews & Associates Tel: (604) 818-7778 ray@raymatthews.ca www.raymatthews.ca

Forward-Looking Information

This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words “expects”, “plans”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “projects”, “potential” and similar expressions, or that events or conditions “will”, “would”, “may”, “could” or “should” occur. Although Sernova believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance, and actual results may differ materially from those in forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates, and opinions of Sernova’s management on the date such statements were made, which include our beliefs about the conduct and outcome of pre-clinical results and clinical trials. Sernova expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.