WPD Pharmaceuticals' New Discovery For Cancer Targeting Drugs Is Granted Patent

Vancouver, BC (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) - WPD Pharmaceuticals (CSE: WBIO) (the “Company” or “WPD”), a clinical stage pharmaceutical company, is pleased to announce that on December 31, 2019, Wake Forest University received a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) for patent 105019210 (issued under application number 16/262,195v) licensed to WPD. The patent is in respect to a protein critical in the development of Th2 immune responses, which are associated with allergy, asthma, fibrosis and aggressive forms of cancer.

IL-13 proteins were shown to be important factors in eliminating tumor cells related to various forms of cancer. Recombinant IL-13 protein armed with potent bacteria toxins preferentially bind to tumor-specific receptors and selectively deliver highly cytotoxic payload to tumor cells. This highly specific targeting of aggressive brain tumor glioblastoma (GBM) and other tumor cells is designed to allow for selective elimination of tumor cells by bacteria-toxins-induced cytotoxic effects without affecting normal cells. IL-13 protein can also assist in the survival and the development of tumor-associated immune cells, which could be beneficial for individuals with autoimmune diseases and forms of cancer associated with Th2 immune responses.

Mariusz Olejniczak, CEO of WPD commented, “WPD continues to develop its robust drug portfolio and the patent granted for our cancer targeting IL-13 proteins strongly protects our IP as we advance development of our brain cancer focused therapeutic program. We will continue to work closely with Wake Forest University on the IL-13 and Ephrine technology platforms to rapidly advance our current pre-clinical studies.”

About WPD Pharmaceuticals
WPD is a biotechnology research and development company with a focus on oncology, namely research and development of medicinal products involving biological compounds and small molecules. WPD has 8 novel drug candidates with 4 that are in clinical development stage and 4 in pre-clinical development. These drug candidates were researched at institutions including MD Anderson Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic and Emory University, and WPD currently has ongoing collaborations with Wake Forest University and leading hospitals and academic centers in Poland.

WPD has entered into license agreements with Wake Forest University Health Sciences and sublicense agreements with Moleculin Biotech Inc. and CNS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., respectively, each of which grant WPD an exclusive, royalty-bearing sublicense to certain technologies of the licensor. Such agreements provide WPD with certain research, development, manufacturing and sales rights, among other things.

Cautionary Statements:
Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the Company’s CSE listing statement, prepared in accordance with the policies of the CSE, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that contemplate activities, events or developments that the Company anticipates will or may occur in the future. Forward-looking statements in this press release include those regarding the Company’s plan to continue to work closely with Wake Forest University on the IB-13 and Ephrine technology platforms. These forward-looking statements reflect the Company’s current expectations based on information currently available to management and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause outcomes to differ materially from those projected. Readers should refer to the risk disclosure included from time-to-time in the documents the Company files on SEDAR, available at www.sedar.com. Although the Company believes that the assumptions inherent in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, they should not be relied upon and there can be no assurance that any of them will prove to be accurate. Finally, these forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company assumes no obligation to update them except as required by applicable law.

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