Mateon Provides Update on its Rapid Antiviral Response Program Initially Targeting COVID-19

Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. dedicated to development OT-101, a TGF-Beta antisense drug candidate, provided an update on its rapid antiviral response program initially targeting the COVID-19 virus. The company has been evaluating its therapeutic and AI platforms to aid in the treatment of the current COVID-19 virus outbreak, in response to inquiries about the potential of its technologies. The company has made significant progress in deploying its clinical assets against the COVID-19 virus and realigning them against rare tropical diseases to take advantage of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Tropical Disease Priority Review Vouchers (RPVs) around these diseases. The new division will be dedicated to the development of rapid responses to the current COVID-19 virus outbreak, as well as future virus outbreaks, and will be led by Dr. Cyril Empig, who has been appointed Head of the Rapid Antiviral Response Program.

Dr. Empig has over 20 years of experience in infectious diseases, HIV biotherapeutics and vaccines, and viral response programs including herpes simplex virus and smallpox. He helped lead a $44 millionDefense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) project for the treatment of hemorrhagic fever viruses (e.g., Ebola and Junín) using human monoclonal antibodies. Dr. Empig managed cross-functional teams and been involved in all stages of pharmaceutical product development from pre-clinical (inception to IND submission) to clinical research (Phase II/III) at Nantbio, Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Pain Therapeutics, and Vaxgen.

The new division has already identified initial anti-viral candidates and has entered into collaborations with researchers at leading Institutions to help advance new product candidates, while simultaneously evaluating the most effective way to test candidates from the Company’s current therapeutic pipeline and AI capabilities. Taken together, the company plans to develop a rapid response program for therapeutics not just for the current COVID-19 virus, but for other future viruses. The program will encompass multiple approaches including: 1) proprietary small molecules, that modulate cathepsin activity, particularly cathepsin L or cathepsin K, which have shown promise for treating coronaviruses, including SARS and COVID-19 viruses, and Ebola; 2) OT-101, a known TGF-beta inhibitor, as treatment for viral-induced pneumonia, Human respiratory virus infections frequently result in pneumonia, which is partially the result of TGF-beta production by lung tissues; 3) deploying the company’s internal antibody discovery/engineering capabilities based on the extensive in-house experience of Dr. Chulho Park, our Chief Technology Officer and Dr. Vuong Trieu, our Chief Executive Officer, to rapidly produce new therapeutic monoclonal antibodies or to identify antibodies derived from patients that have mounted a protective response to the COVID-19 virus infection; and 4) undisclosed proprietary approaches based on the Company’s core antisense and AI capabilities.

Dr. Empig stated “I am excited about the opportunity to build a program to leverage the unique resources available at Mateon to combat emerging viruses including the COVID-19 virus. We have already initiated testing of initial drug candidates and are exploring avenues to rapidly progress these into clinical testing as soon as possible.”

In addition to therapeutic approaches for inhibiting virus replication and treating the consequences of infection, the Company is also evaluating the potential of its AI Vision technology to be deployed to help monitor patients infected with the current COVID-19 virus, or any future viruses, while simultaneously reducing the need for direct contact with hospital personnel, which poses a risk to the caregivers.

Saran Saund, GM of AI Division of Mateon, stated: “We look forward to supporting this exciting new program to deal with the continual threat from zoonotic viruses. We are poised to deploy our AI technology as part of the new Rapid Response division of Mateon. By adapting our AI Vision/Blockchain technology, which is already being deployed in the Retail sector, we plan to create rapid response vision grid to monitor interactions within quarantine areas to maintain safe and effective monitoring of patients. Similar to the Amazon-Go cashier-less stores, this technology is already being used to follow shopper traffic flow and purchases in convenience stores without the need for human intervention and could readily be modified for rapid response applications in the field.”

Dr. Vuong Trieu, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mateon stated: “We are cognizant of the broad technology base and tremendous value locked up within Mateon and we will look for unlocking shareholder value throughout our technology base as evidenced by this new effort. This Rapid Antiviral Response Program will be modeled after the ongoing EdgePoint AI development model at Mateon, which aims to grow the technology base and once established to have it function as a separate company or to have it acquired by a larger entity.”