Athenex Announces European Commission Grants Orphan Designations for Paclitaxel and Encequidar for the Treatment of Soft Tissue Sarcoma

BUFFALO, N.Y., Oct. 30, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Athenex, Inc. ATNX, a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and related conditions, today announced that it has received Orphan Designations from the European Commission (EC) for paclitaxel and encequidar ("Oral Paclitaxel") for the treatment of soft tissue sarcoma, following a positive opinion from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

Dr. Rudolf Kwan, Chief Medical Officer of Athenex, commented, "We are very pleased to receive Orphan Designations from the European Commission, as this further recognizes the potential benefits of Oral Paclitaxel. Earlier this year, we shared encouraging early results from a clinical study in angiosarcoma, a form of soft tissue sarcoma, that showed rapid responses in a difficult to treat patient population. We will soon be extending this study to include sites in Europe."

The EC grants Orphan Designation status to support development of medicines for the treatment of diseases that affect fewer than 5 in 10,000 people in the European Union and provide a significant benefit to those affected by the condition. Orphan Designation may provide certain benefits, including protocol assistance, fee reductions, and a ten-year period of market exclusivity if the drug is approved.

The U.S. FDA has granted oral paclitaxel and encequidar an Orphan Drug Designation in the treatment of angiosarcoma.

The Orascovery platform was initially developed by Hanmi Pharmaceuticals and licensed exclusively to Athenex for all major worldwide territories except Korea, which is retained by Hanmi.

About Athenex, Inc.
Founded in 2003, Athenex, Inc. is a global clinical stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to becoming a leader in the discovery, development and commercialization of next generation drugs for the treatment of cancer. Athenex is organized around three platforms, including an Oncology Innovation Platform, a Commercial Platform and a Global Supply Chain Platform. The Company's current clinical pipeline is derived from four different platform technologies: (1) Orascovery, based on non-absorbed P-glycoprotein inhibitor, (2) Src kinase inhibition, (3) T-cell receptor-engineered T-cells (TCR-T), and (4) Arginine deprivation therapy. Athenex's employees worldwide are dedicated to improving the lives of cancer patients by creating more active and tolerable treatments.  Athenex has offices in Buffalo and Clarence, New York; Cranford, New Jersey; Houston, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; Hong Kong; Taipei, Taiwan; multiple locations in Chongqing, China; and Manchester, UK. For more information, please visit www.athenex.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Except for historical information, all of the statements, expectations, and assumptions contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are typically identified by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "evaluate," "expect," "foresee," "guidance," "intend," "investigate," "likely," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "preliminary," "prepare," "potential," "probable," "project," "promising," "seek," "should," "will," "would," and similar expressions.  Actual results might differ materially from those explicit or implicit in the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include: the development stage of our primary clinical candidates and related risks involved in drug development, clinical trials, regulation, manufacturing and commercialization; our reliance on third parties for success in certain areas of Athenex's business; our history of operating losses and need to raise additional capital to continue as a going concern; competition; intellectual property risks; risks relating to doing business in China; the uncertainty of when, if at all, we will be able to resume producing API in our Chongqing plant; and the other risk factors set forth from time to time in our SEC filings, copies of which are available for free in the Investor Relations section of our website at http://ir.athenex.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254495&p=irol-sec or upon request from our Investor Relations Department. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof and we assume no obligation and do not intend to update these forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

CONTACTS
 
Investor Relations:

Tim McCarthy
Managing Director, LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Tel: +1 716-427-2952 
Direct: +1 212-915-2564

Athenex, Inc.:
Randoll Sze
Chief Financial Officer
Email: randollsze@athenex.com 

Jacqueline Li
Corporate Development and Investor Relations
Email: jacquelineli@athenex.com