Quest PharmaTech Inc. Announces Signing of $8,000,000 Investment Agreement to Support Oregovomab Clinical Trial Programs
TSX Venture: QPT
EDMONTON, June 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ - Quest PharmaTech Inc. (TSX-V: QPT) ("Quest" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products for the treatment of cancer, today announces the signing of an $8,000,000 investment agreement to primarily support the Company's clinical trial programs.
Quest has signed an investment agreement with parties from South Korea to provide up to $8,000,000 over the next 12 months to fund the Company's clinical trial programs and for operational expenditures, in return for the issuance of up to 15,000,000 common shares and undisclosed terms associated with successful commercialization. The funding is to be used to accelerate the Company's ongoing Italian and pending U.S oregovomab clinical trial, and to re-initiate the anti-MUC1 clinical trial program.
As the shares to be issued may create a Control Person (an investor holding greater than 20% of Quest's shares), shareholder approval will be sought for the investment arrangement at Quest's upcoming AGM to be held on July 26, 2012.
In the interim, Quest has received a $500,000 interest free loan from Mr. Gi Ho Park, an insider of Quest. As funding under the $8,000,000 investment arrangement is received, Quest will repay the $500,000 bridge loan, or the amount could be converted into Quest's common shares at the higher of $0.40 per share or the market price of Quest's common shares at the time of conversion, less a 10% discount.
The issuance of Quest common shares will be subject to TSX Venture Exchange approval.
About oregovomab
Quest PharmaTech is developing oregovomab, a high affinity monoclonal antibody for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer. Oregovomab targets the circulating tumour associated antigen CA125. The unique mechanism of action of this treatment involves infusion of oregovomab at immune stimulatory doses (2mg) that specifically bind circulating and local CA125. The antibody-antigen complex is taken up by dendritic cells that, after processing, present the antigen fragments to T-cells via the MHC system. The robust CD4 and CD8 T-cell response that follows has been shown to be associated with a survival advantage, especially when administered in combination with chemotherapy. A phase 2 clinical trial with oregovomab in combination with front-line chemotherapy is currently ongoing at eight centers in Italy and pending at three centers in the U.S.
About Quest PharmaTech Inc.
Quest is a publicly traded, Alberta-based biotechnology company committed to the development and commercialization of oncology product candidates. It is developing a series of products for the treatment of cancer based on its pipeline of SonoLight compounds; and monoclonal antibodies which target certain tumour antigens that are presented in a variety of cancers. The Company has active collaborations with major comprehensive cancer care centers, and international experts, to further the growing understanding of how to use antibodies to make a patient's own tumour markers become the patient's own vaccine.
Quest believes that combinatorial immunotherapy, which exploits the immune modulating effects of selected cytotoxic agents normally used in standard chemotherapy regimens along with specific immune adjuvants, will lead to important commercial applications of the Company's proprietary platform. Quest is currently conducting two carefully planned, risk mitigating confirmatory clinical trials, not only to validate the superiority of the combinatorial approach, but also to design a definitive product registration study. The Company's MUC1 antibody program has the potential to permit tumour specific immunization to a broad range of additional cancers, including colon, non small cell lung, breast and pancreas.
Neither 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.
SOURCE Quest PharmaTech Inc.