ATNX Athenex Inc

Athenex, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATNX), a global biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel therapies for the treatment of cancer and related conditions, today provides an update to its shareholders.

Short seller reports on Athenex were recently published and the Company believes these reports are unfounded and contain inaccurate information. The Company believes the reports are a malicious attempt by certain market participants attempting to coordinate a short seller attack, seeking to profit from a decline in the Company’s stock price, and this has resulted in unwanted stock price volatility at the expense of legitimate shareholders.

Athenex would like to take this opportunity to reiterate its confidence in the Company’s ability to execute on clinical development, regulatory and commercialization fronts, and to capture the potential opportunity of its oral paclitaxel and encequidar program as well as the broader oncology-focused pipeline. 

Athenex also reiterates its firm commitment to strong corporate governance. The Board provides governance oversight to ensure fairness and transparency, and periodically reviews its governance policies and practices.  In particular, when considering related party transactions, Athenex’s Board of Directors has established special independent committees who retain independent legal counsel, financial advisors and other third-party experts as appropriate to ensure the fairness of any proposed transaction to the Company and its stockholders.     

The Company issues the following statement: “We take pride in the integrity, acumen and vast experience of the entire Athenex management team and Board of Directors as we continue to build a world-class and fully-integrated biopharmaceutical company with strong governance that delivers long-term shareholder value. We are focused on our mission of becoming a global leader in bringing innovative cancer treatments to patients in need. We look forward to many clinical and other business updates ahead, including our data presentation at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in December, and we remain on track in our preparations for the NDA submissions for our two lead product candidates.”

Shareholders should refer to the Company's disclosure documents filed with U.S. securities regulatory authorities, which are available online under the Company’s EDGAR profile at www.sec.gov, and on the Company's website at www.athenex.com. Investors should exercise caution in relying on any information promoted by certain market participants who stand to profit from a decline in the Company’s stock price.

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