Jennerex Completes Successful Private Placement for Gross Proceeds of $8.6 Million

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Jennerex, Inc., a private clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class targeted oncolytic virus products for cancer, today announced that it has completed a successful private placement financing with gross proceeds of approximately $8.6 million.

Proceeds from this transaction will be primarily used to advance the late-stage clinical development of Jennerex's lead product candidate, JX-594, a novel oncolytic agent that has demonstrated promising antitumor activity in Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials.

"This is an important round of financing for us as we move toward the initiation of a global Phase 2b clinical trial of JX-594 for liver cancer in the coming months," stated Gregory W. Schafer, senior vice president and chief financial officer of Jennerex.  "This offering was completed with the support of many of our existing stockholders, and we were also pleased to have the participation of a number of new investors as well."

"This financing will allow us to continue to build on the promising results we have reported from our clinical trials in advanced liver cancer—in particular the recently completed randomized Phase 2 clinical trial in advanced liver cancer indicating an overall survival benefit for patients in the high dose JX-594 group," stated David Kirn, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Jennerex.

About Jennerex

Jennerex, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company focused on the development and commercialization of first-in-class, breakthrough targeted oncolytic products for cancer. The Company's lead product JX-594 is currently in two Phase 2 clinical trials in patients with primary liver cancer—an international, randomized, Phase 2 clinical trial, and a Phase 2 study of JX-594 in combination with sorafenib. A Phase 1b clinical trial evaluating JX-594 in patients with colorectal cancer is also under way. Published studies designed to establish optimal dose levels and the safety profile of JX-594 have shown its ability to selectively target and cause destruction of a variety of common cancer types. JX-594 and other product candidates under development are designed to attack cancer tumors through three diverse mechanisms of action: the lysis of cancer cells through viral replication, the ablation of the blood supply to tumors through vascular targeting and destruction and the stimulation of the body's immune response against the cancer, i.e., active immunotherapy. Jennerex is headquartered in San Francisco and has related research and development operations in Ottawa, Canada and Pusan, South Korea. For more information about Jennerex, please visit www.jennerex.com.

SOURCE Jennerex, Inc.