Family Foundation of Business Leader Invests $4.55 Million In Northwest Biotherapeutics For Promising Clinical Trials In The US and Europe
Investment Follows Recent $3 Million Whitebox Hedge Fund Investment and $25 Million Equity Facility Agreement With Toucan Partners
Bethesda, MD, July 8, 2011 - Northwest Biotherapeutics (OTC Bulletin Board: NWBO) ("NWBT") announced today a $4.55 million equity investment on June 28, 2011, by The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation (the "Foundation"). The sale of newly issued common stock of the Company to the Foundation follows the investment of $3 million, on May 31, 2011, by investment funds managed by Whitebox Advisors, a multi-billion dollar hedge fund group headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota ("Whitebox"). The Foundation has been focused for a number of years on game-changing medical research and treatment breakthroughs. The Foundation has been a major supporter of basic research at universities, and clinical programs at medical centers such as the University of Minnesota and the Mayo Clinic.
NWBT is developing DCVax® immune therapies for personalized treatment of a wide range of cancers. DCVax® is a platform technology which uses a patient's own dendritic cells (the master cells of the immune system), and biomarkers of the patient's specific type of cancer. In essence, the dendritic cells are activated and "educated" to recognize that patient's cancer and mobilize the patient's immune system to attack it. As such, DCVax® is a non-toxic, broad platform technology which is expected to be applicable to most cancers.
The Company's lead product candidate is DCVax®-L, which targets solid tumor cancers (i.e., cancers in various tissues) such as Glioblastoma multiforme (‘‘GBM''), the most lethal form of brain cancer. DCVax®-L for GBM is currently in a 240-patient Phase II clinical trial. In prior clinical trials of DCVax®-L for GBM, the results have been striking. The patients who received DCVax®-L showed a median survival of 3 years, compared with median survival of only 14.6 months with standard of care today (surgery, radiation and chemotherapy). The patients treated with DCVax®-L did not have their tumor recur for approximately 2 years, on average, as compared with tumor recurrence in just 7 months with standard of care today. Moreover, these patients did not experience any toxicity from DCVax®-L.
"With these additional resources from the Foundation and Whitebox, augmented by the $25 million equity financing facility through Toucan Capital which we recently announced, NWBT now has a strong resource base to pursue the completion of its clinical trials and progress toward commercialization," said Ms. Linda Powers, CEO of NWBT. "It is gratifying to see growing support for our vision of DCVax® as a more effective, non-toxic, easier to administer, and less expensive new treatment for multiple cancers."
"I am impressed by the clinical trial results to date, and encouraged that the Company is pursuing these trials in both the US and Europe," commented Richard M. Schulze, President of The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. "I share NWBT's vision that with its cost-effective manufacturing, and the simplicity of the DCVax® product, like a flu shot, this new treatment can be made available at reasonable cost to patients."
About Whitebox Advisors
Whitebox Advisors is an SEC-registered investment adviser located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 2000, the firm currently manages over $2.5 billion and employs 65 professionals.
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. The Company has two broad platform technologies: dendritic cell-based vaccines and certain therapeutic antibodies. The Company's lead clinical trial is a 240-patient Phase II trial in newly diagnosed Glioblastoma multiforme ("GBM"), the most aggressive and lethal form of brain cancer. The Company also previously received clearance from the FDA for a 612-patient Phase III trial in prostate cancer, and clearance from the FDA for Phase I trials in five other cancers. The Company has also conducted a Phase I/II trial with DCVax® for recurrent metastatic ovarian cancer. The Company's second technology platform, involving antibodies to CXCR4, is at the pre-clinical development stage.
For further information about clinical sites and Company information please visit the company web site at www.nwbio.com.