Prima Biomed Announces Immutep S.A.'s IMP321 Patent Application Receives Australian Notice Of Allowance

SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwired - October 14, 2014) - Prima BioMed Ltd (ASX: PRR) (NASDAQ: PBMD) ("Prima", the "Company") is pleased to announce that Immutep S.A. ("Immutep") has received a Notice of Allowance from the Australian Patent Office for Patent Application AU 2008306576 "Use of recombinant LAG-3 or the derivatives thereof for eliciting monocyte immune response". As announced on 2 October, 2014 Prima has reached an agreement to acquire Immutep subject to obtaining shareholder approval at its AGM to increase its share placement capacity to fund the acquisition. The AGM will be held on 14 November 2014.

The patent provides protection for the use of soluble recombinant LAG-3 Ig (IMP321) or derivatives thereof, notably in combinations, in order to boost a monocyte-mediated immune response, in particular to elicit an increase in the number of monocytes in the blood. This invention is currently in clinical trials for the treatment of cancer and the broad claims allowed will provide options for numerous clinical applications.

By increasing the number of monocytes or antigen presenting cells in the blood, IMP321 can stimulate increased cytotoxic T cell responses against cancer antigens. Immutep has conducted clinical trials using IMP321 as a monotherapy, an adjuvant and in combination with chemotherapy.

Chief Executive Officer, Marc Voigt said: "We congratulate Immutep on the allowance of this patent which is quite timely given the first patent to issue as a merged entity is likely to be Australian; this really seems quite an appropriate beginning for our proposed journey together."

About Immutep

Immutep is a biopharmaceutical company developing immunotherapeutics in oncology. Products include a T cell immunostimulatory factor (APC activator) IMP321 for cancer chemoimmunotherapy and a therapeutic antibody for immune response modulation in cancer. The Company's technologies are based on the LAG-3 immune control mechanism which plays a vital role in the regulation of the T cell immune response.

Immutep's lead product IMP321 (a LAG-3Ig fusion protein) works by binding to a receptor on antigen presenting cells (APC's) such as dendritic cells to activate them. The APC's are important for showing cancer antigens to T cells and activating them to destroy cancer cells. IMP321 is a first-in-class APC activator.

Immutep's other products include IMP701, an antagonist antibody that acts to stimulate T cell proliferation in cancer patients, licensed to CoStim (Novartis) and IMP731, a depleting antibody that removes T cells involved in autoimmunity, licensed to GSK. In addition, there is the potential for a number of other products coming out of the company's research efforts.

About Prima BioMed
Prima BioMed is a globally active leader in the development of personalized immunocellular therapeutic products for the treatment of cancer. Prima is dedicated to leveraging its technology and expertise to bring innovative treatment options to market for patients and to maximize value to shareholders. Prima's lead product is CVacTM, an autologous dendritic cell-based product currently in clinical trials. www.primabiomed.com.au