Apthera, Inc. Receives Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) From FDA for Pivotal Phase III Trial of NeuVax in Early-Stage Breast Cancer

SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(Marketwire - June 25, 2009) -

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Apthera, Inc. today announced that it reached an agreement with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under a Special Protocol Assessment (SPA) for its planned Phase III clinical trial of the Company's lead drug, NeuVax. The SPA is a written agreement between the trial's sponsor and the FDA regarding the design, endpoints, and planned statistical analysis of the Phase III trial to be used in support of a Biologics License Application (BLA).

The SPA approval letter was received from the FDA on June 19, 2009, concluding a 21-month reiterative process between Apthera, the breast oncology community in the U.S. and the Agency.

Chief Medical Officer, William E. Gannon, M.D., said, "We would like to thank FDA reviewers for their input and guidance during the SPA approval process and are pleased that the Agency has indicated an agreement to proceed with the Phase III protocol." The multicenter, double-blind, randomized pivotal trial is expected to enroll 700 women diagnosed with HER2/neu-expressing tumors and who have completed standard of care consisting of surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Women must have a common HLA haplotype (HLA-A2 or -A3) and must agree to be followed for 5-10 years. The primary endpoint of the study is disease-free survival (DFS) as determined by disease recurrence or death from any cause, and the first analysis of the data will occur after 70 recurrence events or approximately 3 years from the start of the study.

Alton C. Morgan, Ph.D., President and CEO, added, "The positive outcome of the SPA process means Apthera has reached a major developmental milestone for NeuVax. With regulatory approval of the design of the pivotal trial, this achievement has created a value inflection milestone for both the product and the Company."

About Apthera

Apthera, Inc. is a privately held, Arizona-based biotechnology company developing a pipeline of peptide-based immunotherapies for cancers that express HER2/neu, a well-validated and established oncology target. The Company's lead product, NeuVax, contains the E75 peptide which is one of the rare T-cell peptides that has been documented to elevate or boost pre-existing anti-cancer immunity in cancer patients. High-level immune responses in patients administered NeuVax are consistent with recall responses of T-cells. NeuVax's initial indication is for early-stage breast cancer patients who don't qualify for trastuzumab (Herceptin®) therapy. For more information about the Company visit www.apthera.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements. These statements are not historical facts and are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from those set forth in or implied herein including, without limitation, risks associated with clinical development, regulatory approvals, product commercialization, intellectual property claims litigation and other risks associated with the Company's proposed activities.