APC Announces Positive Results in Combination Cancer Immunotherapy

VANCOUVER, BC--(Marketwired - September 11, 2014) - Advanced Proteome Therapeutics Corporation ("APC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE: APC) (FRANKFURT: 0E8) is excited to report results from its current round of experiments that not only reinforce previous evidence of the immunotherapeutic properties of APC's protein modification technology, but hold forth the possibility of synergistic effects with other immunotherapies while heralding the entry of a new and potentially powerful approach in the arsenal of anticancer weaponry.

Over the past year we have demonstrated that APC's technology has the ability to overcome immune tolerance of certain tumors that have evolved mechanisms to evade attack by the body's immune system. APC has been able to enhance the affinity for target cancer cells of a natural human protein that possesses demonstrable anticancer activity, by modifying the protein chemically in a variety of ways. Indeed, various modifications of the protein, have translated into greater antitumor potency in animal models.

Now, results from combination therapy with checkpoint inhibitors have demonstrated very promising results with the first molecule tested from APC's inventory of modified proteins. In experiments with animal models with tumor implants carried out with APC's academic collaborators, checkpoint inhibitors by themselves only slowed tumor growth, but did not cause tumor regression. By marked contrast, in parallel experiments using a combination of a checkpoint inhibitor with APC's D5 protein modification, the tumors were eradicated. As well, subsequent experiments showed that the animals were immune to rechallenge by the same tumor.

APC plans to rapidly capitalize on these findings by expanding testing of its protein modifications to diverse treatment tumor models (i.e., breast, colon, lung). The Company is currently in negotiations with contract research organizations (CROs) to pursue such additional testing over the next few months, and expects to conclude an agreement shortly.

Alexander (Allen) Krantz, APC's CEO, commented, "The implications of this early result are potentially huge for our Company. Our scientists through adroit organic chemical synthetic methods and recombinant DNA technology have designed and generated numerous molecules of diverse structure. Each of these molecules has demonstrated high affinity for target cancer cells with potential anticancer activity. As well, there are numerous possibilities for combining each of these molecules with checkpoint inhibitors and other immunomodulators to achieve synergies that lead to effective and long-lasting treatments of formerly intractable cancers. This combination of factors represents an extraordinary opportunity for our Company."

The context for these experiments is an unprecedented and exciting development in cancer drug research, the robust single agent activity that has been observed with immune checkpoint inhibitors, which are regarded as the next big wave of cancer therapies. In contrast to traditional therapy, by mobilizing a patient's immune system, immunotherapies have been durable, rendering many patients cancer-free for years, and have persisted without off-target toxicity.

Unfortunately, the majority of patients do not respond or will have an incomplete response to such checkpoint inhibitors by themselves. It is now established that such immune modulating antibody-based immunotherapies offer more benefit to the patient by being administered in combination with other forms of cancer management or in tandem with other immune modulating molecules. This approach is a basis for APC's current focus and has engendered a massive effort on the part of the pharmaceutical industry to discover such clinically viable drug combinations and bring them to market.

About APC

APC has been applying its Foundation Trinity™ Technology to proteins targeted for the treatment of cancers. Advanced targeted therapies are designed to attack primarily cancer cells and are expected to dominate the anti-cancer therapeutics' market in the near future. The Company's goals are not only to employ therapy targeted for tumor cells, but also to deliver combination therapy in a single, pure therapeutic agent. To achieve this end, it has been the Company's intention to utilize a unique protein (and related systems), not only as a delivery vehicle to tumor cells, but also as a scaffold upon which to attach each anti-cancer entity to its own specific site on the protein surface - both key to efficient manufacturing and product development. The protein vehicle has emerged as a potential immunotherapeutic as it is implicated in activating the immune system to attack and help clear tumor cells. Immunotherapy is perhaps the most powerful current approach to cancer, and one of great commercial interest to the pharmaceutical industry.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD

Alexander (Allen) Krantz
President and Chief Executive Officer

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release involve risks and uncertainties, and are subject to change based on various important factors including timely development and acceptance of new products, gaining product approval, successful entry into new markets, changes in financing conditions, and changes in FDA regulations.