Mateon Reports First Quarter 2019 Financial Results


SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 15, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB:MATN), a biopharmaceutical company developing investigational drugs for the treatment of orphan oncology indications, announced today financial results for the first quarter of 2019.

For the three months ended March 31, 2019, Mateon reported a net loss of $0.6 million, compared to a net loss of $0.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2018. As of March 31, 2019, Mateon had cash of $0.2 million. On April 22, 2019, Mateon merged with Oncotelic, Inc., a clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy company focused on TGF-β RNA therapeutics. Because the first quarter of 2019 ended prior to the date of the merger, the financial results reported today do not include any financial results for Oncotelic.

“I am excited about the growth potential for our newly combined company – we have a promising pipeline of next-generation immunotherapies targeting several significant cancer markets where there are significant unmet medical needs,” said Vuong Trieu, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mateon and co-founder of Oncotelic. “Earlier this month, we presented two posters on our proprietary self-immunization protocol at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting. These posters showed OT-101’s ability to reactivate immune cells directly around the cancer tissue. Our goal is to advance this candidate in the clinic and have an approvable anti-cancer drug within a few years.”

About OT-101
The company’s lead product candidate, OT-101, is being developed as a broad-spectrum anti-cancer drug that can also be used in combination with other standard cancer therapies to establish an effective multi-modality treatment strategy for difficult-to-treat cancers, including high-grade gliomas and pancreatic cancer. The company plans to initiate phase 3 clinical trials for OT-101 in both high-grade glioma and pancreatic cancer. During phase 2 clinical trials in pancreatic cancer, melanoma, and colorectal cancers (Study P001) and high-grade gliomas (Study G004), meaningful clinical benefits were observed and OT-101 exhibited a favorable safety profile. These clinical benefits included long term survival and meaningful tumor reduction. Both partial and complete responses have been observed in the G004 Phase 2 clinical trial of OT-101 as a single agent in patients with aggressive brain tumors and in patients with treatment failure pancreatic cancers. 

About the company’s Self-Immunization Protocol (SIP©)
The company’s self-immunization protocol (SIP©) is based on novel and proprietary sequential treatment of cancers with OT-101 (an antisense against TGF-β2) and chemotherapies. This sequential treatment strategy is aimed at achieving effective self-immunization against a patients’ own cancer, resulting in robust therapeutic immune response and consequently better control of the cancer and improved survival.  Prolonged states of being cancer-free have been observed in some patients with the most aggressive forms of cancer, raising a renewed hope for a potential cure. The use of OT-101 lifts the suppression of the patient’s immune cells around the cancer tissue, providing the foundation for an effective initial priming, which is critical for a successful immune response. The subsequent chemotherapy results in the release of neoantigens that result in a robust boost of the immune response. The company believes that a rational combination of the Oncotelic SIP platform with immune-modulatory drugs like interleukin 2 (IL-2) and/or immune checkpoint inhibitors has the potential to help achieve sustained and robust immune responses in patients with the most difficult-to-treat forms of cancer. 

The mechanism of action of SIP© presentations at the AACR Annual Meeting are now available for viewing at www.oncotelic.com:

  • Abstract Number: 3968 / 24: OT-101/Chemotherapy - A novel mechanism of action (MOA) in pancreatic cancer immunization therapy.
  • Abstract Number: 5029 / 23: OT-101/Chemotherapy - A novel mechanism of action (MOA) in gliomas immunization therapy. 

About Mateon Therapeutics
Mateon Therapeutics is a cancer immunotherapy company dedicated to the development of first in class self-immunization protocol (SIP) candidates for difficult to treat cancers. The company’s proprietary SIP candidates offer advantages over other immunotherapies because they do not require extraction of the tumor or isolation of the antigens, and they have the potential for broad-spectrum applicability for multiple cancer types. The company’s proprietary product candidates have shown promising clinical activity in phase 2 trials for the treatment of gliomas and pancreatic cancers.

The company aims to translate its unique insights, which span more than three decades of original work using RNA therapeutics, into the deployment of antisense as an RNA therapeutic for diseases which are caused by TGF-beta overexpression, starting with cancer. Mateon’s current management was part of the team that developed Abraxane® as a chemotherapeutic agent for breast, lung, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer. Abraxane® was approved in 2005 and generates annual sales over $1 billion. The company’s management later led the development and commercialization of Cynviloq®, a next-generation product which was ultimately acquired by NantPharma for $1.3 billion. The company intends to leverage its deep expertise in oncology and RNA therapeutic drug development to promote the eventual cure and eradication of cancers.

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" 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.

Financial data appears below:

       
       
       
Balance Sheet Data   
(unaudited at March 31, 2019) March 31, 2019 December 31, 2018 
    (all amounts in thousands)  
 Assets      
       
  Cash $  200  $  629  
  Prepaid expenses and other current assets    140     170  
  Right of use operating assets    51     -  
       
  Total assets $  391  $  799  
       
 Liabilities and stockholders' deficit     
       
  Accounts payable and accrued liabilities $  1,174  $  1,161  
  Total stockholders' deficit    (783)    (362) 
       
  Total liabilities and stockholders' equity/(deficit)$  391  $  799  
       


Statement of Operations Data   
 (unaudited) Three months ended March 31,
  2019   2018 
  (all amounts in thousands, except per share data) 
 Operating expenses:   
 Research and development$  135  $  225 
 General and administrative   499     570 
    
 Total operating expenses   634     795 
    
 Loss from operations   (634)    (795)
    
 Interest income   1     1 
    
 Net loss and comprehensive loss$  (633) $  (794)
    
 Basic and diluted net loss per common share   
attributable to common stock$  (0.02) $  (0.03)
 Weighted-average number of common shares   
outstanding   41,420     26,545 

Contact Information:

Matthew M. Loar
Email: ir@mateon.com