Targovax ASA: Second quarter and first half 2017 results

Oslo, Norway, 24 August 2017 - Targovax ASA (OSE: TRVX), a clinical stage company focused on developing immuno-oncology therapies to target solid tumors, today announces its second quarter and first half 2017 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 FOR THE SECOND QUARTER AND FIRST HALF 2017

R&D

• In February, Targovax announced encouraging top line two-year survival data from the phase I/II TG01 clinical trial in resected pancreatic cancer patients
  • 68 percent^[1] of evaluated patients (13/19) were still alive after two years
     
• Further encouraging clinical data from the phase I/II TG01 trial were presented at the 2017 ASCO Annual Meeting in June:
  • TG01 activates mutant RAS specific T cells
  • Median overall survival of 33.1 months was promising in view of previous published reports of 27.6 months for standard of care
  • The regimen was generally well tolerated
     
• In April, Targovax initiated the first clinical trial with TG02, the second product from its RAS-peptide immunotherapy platform, in patients with locally recurrent RAS-mutated colorectal cancer
   
• In May, Targovax recruited the first patient in its ONCOS-102 study in advanced or unresectable melanoma patients with progression following checkpoint inhibitor treatment

Finance

• Targovax moved its share listing from Oslo Axess to the main board on the Oslo Stock Exchange in March
   
• Targovax successfully completed a private placement, raising gross proceeds of NOK 200m (USD 25m)
   
• Erik Digman Wiklund was appointed CFO of Targovax, succeeding Øystein Soug, who was promoted to CEO in November 2016. Erik took on the role in April 2017

POST-PERIOD HIGHLIGHTS

• In July, Targovax raised NOK 6.4m (USD 0.8m) in a subsequent repair offering following the private placement in June

Øystein Soug, CEO said: "In the first half of 2017, the Company took significant strides forward, demonstrating important clinical and financial progress, as well as strengthening our team with the hire of Erik Digman Wiklund as CFO. We are especially pleased by the recent data showing a signal of efficacy of TG01 in patients with resected pancreatic cancer, which is an important milestone for the TG program. Combined with the successful fund raising this summer of NOK 206 million (approx. $26 million), we believe we are well positioned to deliver several important clinical read-outs going forward."

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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, followed by a Q&A session. CEO Øystein Soug and CFO Erik Digman Wiklund will present the company. Call-in details can be found below.

Call-in numbers:
Norway Toll-Free Number: 800 19 747
Norway Toll Number: +47 2350 0559
UK Toll-Free Number: 08082370030
UK Toll Number: +44 2031394830
US Toll-Free Number: 1 866 928 7517
US Toll Number: +1 718 873 9077

Access code: 32191771#

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:
Renate Birkeli, Investor Relations
Phone: +47 922 61 624
Email: renate.birkeli@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 as potential multi-target, neo-antigen therapeutic cancer vaccines. ONCOS exclusively uses an adenovirus that has been engineered to be an immune activator that selectively targets cancer cells. In phase I studies it has demonstrated immune activation at lesional level which was associated with clinical benefit. In an ongoing phase I trial in advanced melanoma we expect important proof of concept data for checkpoint inhibitor refractory patients.

The second, TG, is a target specific, neo-antigen therapeutic cancer vaccine platform that 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 TG 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 TG platform from a clinical trial of TG01 in resected pancreatic cancer patients showed encouraging overall survival and will give guidance for the future clinical development of this platform.

Targovax's development pipeline has three novel therapeutic candidates in clinical development covering six indications.

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. Additionally, Targovax has other products in early stages of development.

In July 2016, the Company listed its shares on Oslo Axess. In March 2017, the shares moved to Oslo Børs, the main Oslo Stock Exchange.

^[1] Survival is counted from time of resection, which occurred on average two months prior to first treatment

This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.