BETHESDA, Md., April 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwest
Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: NWBO) (NW Bio), a biotechnology company
developing DCVax® personalized immune therapies for solid tumor
cancers, announced today that ASCO (the American Society for
Clinical Oncology) has announced in its Annual Meeting program that
the Company will present its DCVax-Direct clinical trial and
technology in a general poster session at this year's ASCO meeting,
taking place in Chicago
May 30 through June 3. The
abstract is number TPS3133, and the poster is number 189(a).
ASCO is the largest and most important annual conference on
cancer treatments, with some 30,000 oncologists and other medical
personnel, analysts and others attending from all over the
world. Last year, immune therapy emerged as the top new focus
area. This year, the focus on immune therapies like DCVax is
expected to be even greater.
ASCO's acceptance of the abstract about the Company's
DCVax-Direct technology and its large Phase I/II trial provides an
opportunity for leading oncologists, analysts, investors and media
to learn more about the unique DCVax-Direct program, now in trials
on a range of multiple inoperable cancers. The abstract will
be presented in a general poster session.
The Company will also have a large exhibit booth in the ASCO
exhibit hall, where further information will be provided about the
Company's DCVax technology. Its DCVax-L and DCVax-Direct
clinical trial programs provide a series of customized vaccine
injections which educate a patient's immune system to attack that
individual's specific cancer without any toxic side effects.
In clinical trials to date on a variety of solid tumor
cancers, the results have been encouraging.
DCVax-Direct specifically is a personalized immune therapy for
inoperable solid tumors, using dendritic cells (the master cells of
the immune system) to mobilize the immune system to attack the
patient's cancer. DCVax-Direct is administered by direct
injection into the patient's tumors. It can be injected into
any number of tumors, enabling patients with locally advanced
disease or with metastases to be treated. DCVax-Direct can
also be injected into tumors in virtually any location in the body
(with ultra-sound guidance for interior locations).
Very large numbers of patients suffer from inoperable tumors
today, and the outlook for these patients is bleak. The
Company is currently conducting a 60-patient Phase I/II trial with
DCVax-Direct for five main types of inoperable tumors, including
lung, colon, breast with brain metastases, melanoma and pancreatic
cancers, as well as some others. The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center is
the lead site of the trial. In pre-clinical animal studies,
injection of DCVax-Direct into inoperable tumors was able to cause
tumor cell death, and the shrinkage or elimination of existing
solid tumors.
"Our increased presence at ASCO this year reflects the progress
of our clinical programs with both DCVax-Direct and DCVax-L,"
commented Linda F. Powers, CEO of NW
Bio. "We especially look forward to the opportunity to share
information with key opinion leaders and clinicians about our
DCVax-Direct technology and Phase I/II trial."
About Northwest Biotherapeutics
Northwest
Biotherapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on developing
immunotherapy products to treat cancers more effectively than
current treatments, without toxicities of the kind associated with
chemotherapies, and on a cost-effective basis, in both the United States and Europe. The
Company has a broad platform technology for DCVax dendritic
cell-based vaccines. The Company's lead program is a
312-patient Phase III trial in newly diagnosed Glioblastoma
multiforme (GBM). GBM is the most aggressive and lethal form
of brain cancer, and is an "orphan disease." The Company is
under way with a 60-patient Phase I/II trial with DCVax-Direct for
all inoperable solid tumors cancers, with a primary efficacy
endpoint of tumor regression. The Company previously received
clearance from the FDA for a 612-patient Phase III trial in
prostate cancer. The Company conducted a Phase I/II trial
with DCVax for metastatic ovarian cancer together with the
University of Pennsylvania. The
Company's DCVax-L product for brain cancers recently became the
first such newly developed product to be granted a Hospital
Exemption approval in Germany, for
a period of 5 years, for early access to DCVax-L treatment for
patients outside the clinical trial, to treat any glioma brain
cancers, both newly diagnosed and recurrent.
Disclaimer
Statements made in this news
release that are not historical facts, including statements
concerning future treatment of patients using DCVax and future
clinical trials, are forward-looking statements within the meaning
of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Words such as "expect," "believe," "intend," "design," "plan,"
"continue," "may," "will," "anticipate," and similar expressions
are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual
results may differ materially from those projected in any
forward-looking statement. Specifically, there are a number
of important factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those anticipated, such as risks related to the
Company's ability to raise additional capital, risks related to the
Company's ability to enroll patients in its clinical trials and
complete the trials on a timely basis, uncertainties about the
clinical trials process, uncertainties about the timely performance
of third parties, risks related to whether the Company's products
will demonstrate safety and efficacy, risks related to the
Company's and Cognate's abilities to carry out the intended
manufacturing expansions announced earlier this year, risks related
to the Company's ability to carry out the Hospital Exemption
program, and risks related to possible reimbursement and
pricing. Additional information on these and other factors,
including Risk Factors, which could affect the Company's results,
is included in its Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC")
filings. Finally, there may be other factors not mentioned
above or included in the Company's SEC filings that may cause
actual results to differ materially from those projected in any
forward-looking statement. You should not place undue
reliance on any forward-looking statements. The Company
assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a
result of new information, future events or developments, except as
required by securities laws.
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SOURCE Northwest Biotherapeutics, Inc.