biovie inc. (otc pink: bivi) is developing novel drug therapies for life-threatening complications of chronic liver disease. our initial target is ascites, which can occur in patients with advanced cirrhosis due to hepatitis, nash (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis), or alcoholism. ascites affects about 100,000 americans and carries an estimated 40% mortality rate within two years of being diagnosed. the company’s new drug candidate biv201 is about to enter a phase 2 clinical trial in the us. it’s based on a drug (terlipressin) not yet available in the us, but approved in about 40 countries for treating related complications of liver cirrhosis. the fda has never approved a drug to treat ascites and there is a significant unmet medical need for our novel therapy, which has orphan drug status. biovie has attracted funding from strategic investors including aspire capital, cuong do, the global strategy lead for samsung, and hari kumar, founder of adheron therapeutics which he sold to roche fo