Targovax ASA: Fourth quarter and full year 2016 results


Oslo, Norway, 16 February 2017 - Targovax ASA ("Targovax" or "the Company"; OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage company focused on developing immuno-oncology therapies to target solid tumors, today announces its fourth quarter and full year 2016 results.

A meeting for investors, analysts and press will take place in Oslo today at 10:00 CET and a conference call will take place at 14.00 CET (details below).

Highlights:

  • Targovax was granted a European Patent for the ONCOS platform lead product, ONCOS-102, extending patent coverage following the award of a similar US patent in June. These patents expire in 2029
     
  • Øystein Soug was appointed as CEO on 1 November
     
  • Targovax presented at a number of scientific and investor conferences in the period, including the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy in October in Florence, Biotech and Money in November in London, and the DNB Nordic Healthcare Conference in December in Oslo
     
  • Net loss for the fourth quarter 2016 was NOK 32 million (USD 4 million), compared with a net loss of NOK 44 million (USD 5 million) in corresponding quarter in 2015
     
  • Cash and cash equivalents at 31 December 2016 was NOK 172 million (USD 20 million) vs NOK 193 million (USD 24 million) at 30 September 2016

Subsequent events:

  • Targovax announced encouraging top line two-year survival data from TG01 clinical trial in resected pancreatic cancer patients
     
  • Erik Digman Wiklund was appointed CFO of Targovax, succeeding Øystein Soug, the Company's new CEO, and will take up this role in April 2017

       

Øystein Soug, CEO said: "2016 was a successful year for Targovax. During the year we listed our shares on Oslo Axess, we successfully raised funds to finance the clinical trial program and we were granted European and US patents for ONCOS-102, extending the protection till 2029. Furthermore, in 2016 we prepared and set up five new clinical trials in five indications. 2017 will be an even more important year as we start harvesting the data from these trials. We have already generated good momentum as we recently announced encouraging overall survival data in our TG01 proof of concept trial. We also expect to start a proof of concept trial of ONCOS-102 in checkpoint inhibitor refractory melanoma, where key interim data are expected later in the year."

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Presentation
The presentation will take place at 10:00 CET at:

Hotel Continental
Stortingsgaten 24/26
0117 Oslo

The presentation will also be webcast live and can be accessed through www.targovax.com.

Conference call
At 14:00 CET (08:00 EST) The company will host a telephone conference which will include a presentation of the results, following a Q&A session. CEO Øystein Soug and CMO Magnus Jäderberg will present the company. Call in details can be found below.

Call-in numbers:
Norway Toll-Free Number: 800 19 747
Norway Toll Number: +472350 0559
UK Toll-Free Number: 08082370030
UK Toll Number: +442031394830
US Toll-Free Number: 1866 928 7517
US Toll Number: +1 718 873 9077

Access code: 54717166#

Please make sure to dial in at least 5-10 minutes ahead to complete your registration.

See attached list for more dial-in numbers.
http://events.arkadin.com/ev/docs/NE_FEL_Events_International_Access_List.pdf

Reporting material
The quarterly report and presentation are also available at the website  www.targovax.com.

For further information, please contact


Øystein Soug, CEO
Phone: +47 906 56 525
Email: oystein.soug@targovax.com

Media and IR enquires:
Jan Petter Stiff - Crux Advisers (Norway)
Phone: +47 995 13 891
Email: stiff@crux.no

Julia Phillips/Simon Conway - FTI Consulting (International)
Phone: +44 20 3727 1000
Email: Targovax@fticonsulting.com

About Targovax

Arming the patient's immune system to fight cancer

Targovax is a clinical stage company focused on developing and commercializing novel immuno-oncology therapies to target, primarily, treatment-resistant solid tumors. Immuno-oncology is currently one of the fastest growing therapeutic fields in medicine.

The Company's development pipeline is based on two novel proprietary platforms:

The first platform, ONCOS, uses oncolytic viruses, an emerging class of biological therapy. ONCOS exclusively uses an adenovirus that has been engineered to be a tumor-targeted immune activator. The platform has the potential to generate therapies with superior efficacy and safety compared to the first approved oncolytic virus therapy, Imlygic®, launched by Amgen. We continue to expect key proof of concept data for this platform in 2017 from a clinical study of lead program ONCOS-102 in patients with refractory malignant melanoma.

The second platform, TG-Peptides (TGP), solely targets tumors that express mutated forms of the RAS protein. Mutations to this protein are common in many cancers and are known to drive aggressive disease progression and treatment resistance. There is a high unmet medical need for therapies that are effective against tumors that express these mutations.  The TGP platform's therapeutic potential stems from its ability to enable a patient's immune system to identify and then destroy tumors bearing any RAS mutations. In early 2017, key proof of concept data for the TGP platform from a clinical study of TG01 in resected pancreatic cancer patients showed encouraging overall survival and will determine plans for the future clinical development of this platform.

Targovax's development pipeline has three novel therapeutic candidates in clinical development covering six indications. Already promising safety and tolerability data and early signs of clinical response have been demonstrated.

Both platforms are protected by an extensive portfolio of IP and know-how and have the potential to yield multiple product candidates in a cost-effective manner. We have a number in early stages of development in addition to the three outlined above.

In July, 2016 the Company listed its shares on Oslo Axess.

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ba2db826-d97c-4172-9f13-31fd7c3815ed

Attachments:

http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/77d07454-0784-4135-9e51-eefbd0d9868c


Attachments

Targovax fourth quarter 2016 report.pdf Targovax fourth presentation 2016 report.pdf