AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Aug. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mateon Therapeutics (OTC.QB: MATN), a leading developer of TGF-β therapeutics, announced financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2020. Unless otherwise stated, all comparisons are for the second quarter of 2020 compared to the second quarter of 2019.
We recorded services revenue of $1.4 million during the three months ended June 30, 2020 as compared to no revenues during the same period ended in 2019. The revenue of $0.9 million was recorded from services provided to Golden Mountain Partners (GMP) during the period ended June 30, 2020 in connection with the development of OT-101 for COVID-19. We also recorded $0.5 million in revenues from Autotelic Bio (ATB) upon the successful completion of the in-vivo efficacy studies of OT-101 combination with IL-2 based on the ATB Agreement.
Research and development (“R&D”) expenses increased by approximately $0.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The higher R&D cost was primarily due to by higher amortization of intangibles of $0.1 million. The financial information presented does not include any R&D activity for PointR for the period ended June 30, 2019. General and administrative (“G&A”) expenses increased by approximately $0.1 million for the three months ended June 30, 2020 compared to the three months ended June 30, 2019, primarily due to increases of approximately $0.1 million due to increase in legal and professional expenses.
As a result of our mergers with Oncotelic and PointR, we expect to increase R&D and G&A expenses, including the initiation of new clinical trials including those for COVID-19, and therefore believe that research and development expenses will increase for the remainder of 2020 compared to research and development expenses in 2019.
“We are pleased to announce that despite the challenges presented by the COVID-19 situation, we were able to achieve revenue of $1.4 million,” said Amit Shah, CFO of Mateon. “Additionally, 2020 Financing has resulted in gross proceeds of $2.5 million to the Company. Coupled with the $2.0 million in debt funding by GMP specifically for the COVID-19 trial, the company is in a position to execute on its objectives, including the spinoff of Edgepoint in the coming months and the development of OT-101 and Artemisinin. Overall, the company has raised over $6.0 million between revenues and financing in 1H20.”
“Based on the approval accorded by the shareholders of Mateon, we anticipate the name change of the Company to Oncotelic Inc. (Oncotelic) on or before the end of September. The change in name reflects the acquisition of Mateon by Oncotelic back in April 2019”, said Dr. Vuong Trieu, CEO of Mateon. “In addition, the assets of the Company, in OT-101 and Artemisinin, are both Oncotelic assets and the Company has been developing them to create shareholder value. The legacy Mateon assets are being repositions as therapeutics for rare pediatric oncology and may be spun off in the future. Over the past year, the Company has been working on development of OT-101, as an Oncology therapeutic as well for COVID-19, as well as Artemisinin for COVID-19. We expect that the development of these drugs will enhance significant shareholder value for the Company. We are also developing technologies within the artificial intelligence space (AI) through our AI division in EdgePoint Inc. (EdgePoint). The Company will develop these technologies in-house and at the appropriate time, consider how to monetize of spin-off of these assets and technologies. We are confident our efforts will create significant shareholder value similar to companies within the similar space.
We expect the EdgePoint spinoff to be completed on or before year end. We are confident that the EdgePoint spinoff will be successful given the early involvement of luminaries such as IBM, Balaji Baktha - Leading Silicon Valley VC, and Dr. Sanjay Jha- the former CEO of Motorola and COO/President of Qualcomm.
About Mateon Therapeutics
Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (Mateon) was created by the recent reverse merger with Oncotelic which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mateon creating an immuno-oncology company dedicated to the development of first in class RNA therapeutics as well as small molecule drugs against cancer. OT-101, the lead immuno-oncology drug candidate of Mateon/Oncotelic, is a first-in-class anti-TGF beta RNA therapeutic that exhibited single agent activity in some relapsed/refractory cancer patients in clinical trial settings. Mateon/Oncotelic is seeking to leverage its deep expertise in oncology drug development to improve treatment outcomes and survival of cancer patients with a special emphasis on pediatric cancer patients. Mateon has rare pediatric designation for DIPG (CA4P) and melanoma (CA4P). For more information, please visit www.oncotelic.com and www.mateon.com.
About Artemisinin as potential treatment for COVID-19
Artemisinin can target multiple viral threats including COVID-19 by suppressing both viral replication and clinical symptoms that arises from viral infection. Viral replication cannot occur without TGF-β. Artemisinin, purified from an herb (Artemisia annua), is able to inhibit TGF-β activity and is able to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) in vitro at an EC50 of 0.45 ug/ml (Mateon’s test result at Utah State University), and a Safety Index of 140, which is better than remdesivir and chloroquine. Artemisinin also has been reported to have antiviral activities against hepatitis B and C viruses, human herpes viruses, HIV-1, influenza virus A, and a bovine viral diarrhea virus in the low micromolar range. In the clinic, artemisinin exhibits early efficacy signals against COVID19. To date 25 effective cases have been reported, with an average time of negative nucleic acid conversion of 4 days, and a negative conversion rate of 10 days after nucleic acid detection reached 96%. No serious adverse reactions were seen. After treatment, the patient's chest image examination showed that the inflammation in the lungs was relieved and the symptoms were significantly improved. Because it targets a host protein- TGF-β that plays a pivotal role in ARDS pathophysiology (and not a virus-intrinsic target), Artemisinin does not promote the development of drug-resistant viral mutations. We expect this drug product to be indicated for a broad patient population and therefore is a high value commercialization project.
Mateon's Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this communication regarding strategy, future operations, future financial position, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Words such as “may”, “expect”, “anticipate” “hope”, “vision”, “optimism”, “design”, “exciting”, “promising”, “will”, “conviction”, "estimate," "intend," "believe", “quest for a cure of cancer”, “innovation-driven”, “paradigm-shift”, “high scientific merit”, “impact potential” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about future plans, the progress, timing, clinical development, scope and success of future clinical trials, the reporting of clinical data for the company’s product candidates and the potential use of the company’s product candidates to treat various cancer indications. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during preclinical or clinical studies, clinical trial site activation or enrollment rates that are lower than expected, changes in expected or existing competition, changes in the regulatory environment, failure of collaborators to support or advance collaborations or product candidates and unexpected litigation or other disputes. These risks are not exhaustive; the company faces known and unknown risks, including the risk factors described in the company’s annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on April 10, 2019 and in the company’s other periodic filings. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, whether as a result of new information future events, or otherwise.
Contact Information:
For Mateon Therapeutics, Inc.:
Amit Shah
ashah@oncotelic.com