UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K 

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of

The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): October 15, 2020

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).  

Emerging Growth Company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.

On October 15, 2020, Dwain Irvin, PhD, MPH joined NovAccess Global Inc. as our chief executive officer, replacing Daniel G. Martin, who had been serving as interim CEO. Mr. Martin remains chairman of the board of directors. Dr. Irvin, age 53, is a published researcher and patent author. Dr. Irvin steps into the CEO role after heading the biotechnology division of Innovest Global, Inc. NovAccess acquired StemVax, LLC from Innovest on September 8, 2020.

Dr. Irvin received his PhD from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine, his MPH from UCLA School of Public Health, and trained at The Wallenberg Neuroscience Center at Lund University in Lund, Sweden. He was also a professor, faculty member at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery.

Dr. Irvin received his PhD in Molecular & Medical Pharmacology and Developmental Neuroscience with an emphasis on neural stem cell fate and differentiation. His research focused on neural development and Notch signaling in mammalian neural stem cells. He also worked as an NIH/NINDS post-doctoral fellow in Dr. Anders Bjorklund’s laboratory in Lund, Sweden. There, his focus was on research projects that investigated the potential role of cell replacement therapy for patients with Parkinson’s disease. They developed several protocols for the efficient generation of dopaminergic neurons from forebrain and ventral midbrain stem and progenitor cells. Dr. Irvin also worked as a research scientist, assistant professor, and faculty member at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Department of Neurosurgery. He led research investigations in the role of adaptive immunity in Parkinson’s disease. He also developed two patents in the area of immunotherapy for brain tumor patients, specifically glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). His research team focused on molecular mechanisms that impart therapeutic resistance in cancer cells, including cancer stem cells. They utilized these data to develop novel immunotherapies for brain tumor patients. Dr. Irvin’s leadership experience in academia, hospital systems, private and public biotech companies is expected to add extraordinary value to NovAccess Global.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.