VACCINE? TECHNOLOGY IN AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
-AVAX Australia Pty. Ltd. Receives $3.6 Million (AUD) from NIHL to Begin Commercialization Process-
- Joint Venture on Track to Market Melanoma Vaccine in 2000 -
Kansas City, MO, December 1, 1999 -- AVAX Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVXT) today announced that it has executed its joint venture agreement with Neptunus International Holdings Limited (NIHL) in Australia, under the subsidiary name, AVAX Australia Pty. Ltd. AVAX Australia will manufacture and market AVAX?s autologous cancer vaccine (AC Vaccine?) for melanoma, M-Vax?, in Australia and has similar rights in New Zealand. As part of the agreement, AVAX Australia has received $3.6 million (AUD) and will receive an additional $0.4 million (AUD) within thirty days from NIHL for the purchase of a 20% interest in the joint venture. NIHL also has the option to purchase an additional 30% interest for $6.0 million (AUD). Under the terms of the agreement, AVAX has also been granted options to purchase common stock equivalent to 5% of NIHL?s fully diluted shares. In June 1999, AVAX announced that it had received notice from Australia?s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) that M-Vax may be made available for commercial sale, subject only to licensure of a manufacturing facility. M-Vax, AVAX?s lead cancer vaccine, is currently in pivotal registration trials in the United States for patients with Stage III melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.
Jeffrey M. Jonas, M.D., President and CEO of AVAX Technologies, Inc., stated, ?We are very pleased to execute this important agreement with NIHL, another step in becoming the first company to market an autologous melanoma vaccine. We are very excited by the commercialization opportunities present in Australia, as this market allows us to demonstrate once again the validity of our business model and the ease of marketing a custom product. At this time, we are in the final stages of choosing a location for our clean-room facility, which will be the manufacturing and distribution center for M-Vax in Australia. We expect to begin the build-out of this facility by January 2000.?
M-Vax, a therapeutic cancer vaccine, is an essentially non-toxic, post-surgical experimental treatment for Stage III melanoma. To date, over 350 patients have been treated with M-Vax on an outpatient basis in the U.S. In Phase 2 studies, patients with Stage III melanoma demonstrated a five-year survival rate of 55%.
AVAX Technologies, Inc. specializes in the development and commercialization of novel biotechnologies, immunotherapies and pharmaceuticals for cancer and other life-threatening diseases using three core technologies: the AC Vaccine technology, topoisomerase inhibitors and anti-estrogens.
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