BIONOR PHARMA ASA
STOCK EXCHANGE ANNOUNCEMENT
Bionor granted up to NOK 9.2 million from Research Council of Norway to further advance Vacc-4x in a combination treatment regimen
(Oslo, Norway, 1 February 2016) Bionor Pharma ASA (OSE:BIONOR) announces today that the Research Council of Norway (RCN) through its BIA Program (Brukerstyrt Innovasjonsarena), has awarded the company up to NOK 9.2 million to partially fund an exploratory Phase I/II trial of Vacc-4x in combination with an immune regulating agent. The BIA program supports high-quality R&D projects with good business and socio-economic potential.
Bionor's strategy is to advance Vacc-4x in combination with other medicines in order to significantly contribute to a functional HIV cure, and has, as a first step, adopted a "Shock & Kill" clinical strategy employing Vacc-4x ("Kill") as a core treatment in combination with a latency reversing agent ("Shock"). Bionor anticipates that an immune regulating agent will also be needed as part of a triple regimen combination treatment, to achieve functional cure.
This study will test an HIV-specific broadly neutralizing antibody (bNab) as a candidate third component. The bNab is expected to complement the effects of Vacc-4x by blocking infectivity of virus particles produced on latency reversal. Vacc-4x must be tested with the latency reversing agent and bNab separately to confirm safety and effect before they can be tested in a later stage clinical trial of a triple regimen as a future therapy for functional HIV cure.
The Grant from RCN is expected to correspond to around 40% of the total trial cost incurred in the trial period from 2016 to 2019.
Further information
David Horn Solomon, President and CEO, +45 22 20 63 00, dhs@bionorpharma.com
Jørgen Fischer Ravn, VP Investor Relations & Communications, +45 20 30 39 03, jfr@bionorpharma.com
About Bionor
Bionor Pharma is a Norwegian biopharmaceutical company focused on advancing its proprietary therapeutic vaccine Vacc-4x in combination with other medicines toward a functional HIV cure. The company believes it has first mover potential based on clinical results to date and early adoption of now recognized clinical strategy. In December 2015, Bionor announced that the HIV 'Shock & Kill' trial REDUC with Vacc-4x and romidepsin successfully met its primary endpoint by reducing latent HIV reservoir and further demonstrated control of viral load. Bionor is currently planning BIOSKILL, a proof-of-concept Phase II trial, which may lead to a major value inflection point and partnering opportunities. Bionor currently retains full ownership rights to Vacc-4x, i.e., the upside potential from partnering or licensing remains with the company. Bionor is based in Oslo, Norway, and also has offices in Copenhagen, Denmark and New York, USA. Bionor is listed on Oslo Børs (OSE:BIONOR). More information about Bionor is available at www.bionorpharma.com.
