LOUISVILLE, CO – March 23, 2017 – GlobeImmune, Inc. today announced it has entered into a definitive purchase agreement for the sale of 12,835,490 shares of its common stock to NantCell, Inc., a member of the NantWorks ecosystem of companies. In connection with the sale of its common stock, NantCell has agreed to pay GlobeImmune $100,000 in cash and issue to GlobeImmune 200,000 shares, an estimated $2.0 million in value, of NantCell’s common stock.
“We are pleased to enter into this strategic agreement with NantCell,” said Timothy C. Rodell, M.D., Chairman of GlobeImmune. “We believe that, with NantCell’s resources, this combination could leverage GlobeImmune’s Tarmogen technology platform to accelerate development of our programs in oncology and infectious disease,” continued Dr. Rodell.
“GlobeImmune has continued to impact the oncology industry by putting innovative drug candidates forward to treat cancer and infectious diseases,” said Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, founder of NantCell. “In our mission to win the war against cancer, our team welcomes opportunities to engage with companies who are revolutionizing cancer care and treatments. We are looking forward to leveraging the expertise of GlobeImmune.”
About NantCell
NantCell, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NantWorks, LLC, is an immuno-oncology company focused on the discovery of innovative antibody, T cell and NK cell based treatments by developing molecularly targeted therapeutics, based on the proteomic profile of the patient’s tumor, independent of the cancer’s anatomical type. Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, the creator of Abraxane® and the founder of the nab® technology platform established NantCell to develop a pipeline of human antibodies and inhibitors of proteins which drive tumor growth and pursue Chimeric Receptor Antigen platforms in both T and NK cells. NantCell’s mission is to make obsolete the standard method of clinical trial design of “trial and error” and replace it with a level of quantitative predictability based on both the genomic and proteomic profile performed a priori. The Company will tap into comprehensive “omic” analytic tools and “big data” generated from supercomputing to develop molecularly designed drugs in this era of genomics and proteomics and identify patients and their tumor signature at the most granular cellular, DNA and protein levels. Patients entering clinical trials would be identified after a comprehensive “omic” analysis from tissue to cell to DNA to RNA to protein to peptide to drug, and tested based on this molecular profile to maximize clinical outcome and minimize side effects. Through these integrated diagnostic methods, the Company is pursuing the vision of treating the biology of cancer rather than the anatomy, and drive the immune system inherited by all to defeat cancer. For more information please visit www.nanthealth.com and follow Dr. Soon-Shiong on Twitter @Dr.PatSoonShiong.
About GlobeImmune
GlobeImmune is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing products for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases based on its proprietary Tarmogen® platform. Tarmogens activate the immune system by stimulating cellular immunity, known as T cell immunity, in contrast to traditional vaccines that predominately stimulate antibody production. To date, Tarmogen product candidates have been generally well tolerated in clinical trials for multiple disease indications and are efficient to manufacture. In 2009, the Company entered into a worldwide strategic collaboration and option agreement with Celgene Corporation focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of product candidates intended to treat cancer. Under this agreement, Celgene exercised their option to take an exclusive worldwide license to the GI-6300 and GI-6200 Tarmogen product series targeting brachyury and the carcinoembryonic antigen, respectively. For additional information, please visit the Company’s website at www.globeimmune.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” for purposes of the safe harbor provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the success of GlobeImmune and NantCell to effectively integrate operations following the transaction, the potential for Tarmogens to treat or prevent any disease, GlobeImmune and its collaborator’s abilities to successfully complete clinical trials, timing and eventual prospects for completion of clinical trials and any approval to market any of GlobeImmune’s product candidates and the prospects for GlobeImmune’s collaborations. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results and performance could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of many factors, including, without limitation, the risks and uncertainties associated with: GlobeImmune’s financial resources and whether they will be sufficient to meet its business objectives and operational requirements; results of earlier studies and trials may not be predictive of future clinical trial results, the protection and market exclusivity provided by the GlobeImmune’s intellectual property; risks related to the drug discovery and the regulatory approval process; and, the impact of competitive products and technological changes. GlobeImmune’s forward-looking statements also involve assumptions that, if they prove incorrect, would cause its results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and GlobeImmune undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Tarmogen is a registered trademark of GlobeImmune, Inc.
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GLOBEIMMUNE INVESTOR CONTACT:
Susan Noonan
S.A. Noonan Communications
T: 212-966-3650
susan@sanoonan.com
NANTCELL INVESTOR CONTACT:
Jen Hodson
NantWorks
jhodson@nantworks.com
562-397-3639