TH1902 and TH1904 more effective and safer in vivo compared to current standard ovarian cancer treatments

New data presented during the AACR Virtual Annual Meeting

MONTREAL, April 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Theratechnologies Inc. (Theratechnologies) (TSX: TH) (NASDAQ: THTX), a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that new positive results about its two investigational peptide-drug conjugates (PDC) TH1902 and TH1904 will be presented tomorrow during an oral presentation at a virtual session of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

Data from the oral presentation “Increasing potency of anticancer drugs through Sortilin receptor-mediated cancer therapy: A new targeted approach for the treatment of ovarian cancer,” show that both TH1902 (docetaxel peptide conjugate) and TH1904 (doxorubicin peptide conjugate), two unique Sortilin positive (SORT1+) targeting investigational PDCs, are more effective and better tolerated in animal models than two commonly-used ovarian cancer treatments.

In vivo results obtained with TH1902 and TH1904 demonstrate a high accumulation of the conjugates in ovarian tumors with low accumulation in healthy ovary tissue. Compared to treatments using doxorubicin or docetaxel, two commonly used treatments for ovarian cancer, TH1902 and TH1904 were both found to have better efficacy, at equivalent dose, while not inducing weight loss nor decreasing lymphocytes, two common side effects observed with current treatments.

“This data is particularly interesting as it shows that TH1902 has significant activity in more than one type of cancer, thus opening the door to making TH1902 our lead PDC and to test it in a number of SORT1+ cancers. TH1902 has already demonstrated activity in vivo for the treatment of triple-negative breast cancer. We now realize that it could become a potent and well-tolerated weapon in the fight against ovarian cancer as much as TH1904,” said Dr. Christian Marsolais, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Theratechnologies.

“These new results further support the great potential of our PDCs as a unique and effective vehicle for the treatment of many types of cancers in which SORT1 receptors are overexpressed. The high specificity of our PDCs could translate to significantly better efficacy and tolerability,” added Dr. Marsolais.

About Theratechnologies’ SORT1+ technology
Theratechnologies has developed a peptide which specifically targets Sortilin 1 (SORT1) receptor. It was discovered that SORT1 is overexpressed in ovarian, triple-negative breast, skin, lung, colorectal and pancreatic cancers, among others. SORT1 plays a significant role in protein internalization, sorting and trafficking, making it an attractive target for drug development.

Commercially available anticancer drugs, like docetaxel, doxorubicin or tyrosine kinase inhibitors are linked to our investigational novel peptide to specifically target the Sortilin1 receptor. This could potentially improve the efficacy and safety of those agents.

Theratechnologies intends to initiate, by the end of 2020, a first-in-human clinical trial with TH1902 in cancer patients.

About Theratechnologies
Theratechnologies (TSX: TH) (NASDAQ: THTX) is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company addressing unmet medical needs by bringing to market specialized therapies for people with orphan medical conditions, including those living with HIV. Further information about Theratechnologies is available on the Company's website at www.theratech.com, on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov

Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information, or, collectively, forward-looking statements, within the meaning of applicable securities laws, that are based on our management’s beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to our management. You can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may", "will", "should", "could", “would”, "outlook", "believe", "plan", "envisage", "anticipate", "expect" and "estimate", or the negatives of these terms, or variations of them. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the effects, safety and efficacy of Theratechnologies’ peptide-conjugates derived from its oncology platform on the potential treatment of various types of cancer and timelines to initiate a first-in-human clinical trial with TH1902 in cancer patients .

Forward-looking statements are based upon a number of assumptions and include, but are not limited to, the following: TH-1902 will be as effective and safe in humans as in mice and in vitro and in vivo results obtained thus far will be replicated into humans leading us to pursue the development of this peptide-conjugate and no event will occur resulting in a delay in initiating a clinical trial by the end of 2020.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the risk that results (whether safety or efficacy, or both) obtained through the administration of TH-1902 into humans are different than into mice; difficulty in recruiting patients to begin a phase I clinical trial; further results using TH-1902 may not replicate in vivo results leading us to delay or to stop the pursuit of additional studies; and discovery or introduction of new treatments on the market for the treatment of cancer that we intend to develop our conjugate-peptides for could prove safer and more effective than  TH-1902 or TH-1904.

We refer potential investors to the "Risk Factors" section of our annual information form dated February 24, 2020 available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov as an exhibit to our report on Form 40-F dated February 25, 2020 under Theratechnologies’ public filings for additional risks regarding the conduct of our business and Theratechnologies. The reader is cautioned to consider these and other risks and uncertainties carefully and not to put undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements reflect current expectations regarding future events and speak only as of the date of this press release and represent our expectations as of that date.

We undertake no obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or circumstances or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable law.

For media inquiries:
Denis Boucher
Vice President, Communications and Corporate Affairs
514-336-7800

For investor inquiries:
Leah Gibson
Senior Director, Investor Relations
617-356-1009