Quest PharmaTech Announces Funding Support from National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program for IgE Antibody Cancer Immunotherapy Development (AllergoOncology)

TSX Venture: QPT

EDMONTON, Jan. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ - Quest PharmaTech Inc. (TSX-V: QPT) ("Quest" or the "Company"), a pharmaceutical company developing and commercializing products for the treatment of cancer, today announced that it will receive financial support from the National Research Council's Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) towards a cell culture development project for Quest's IgE technology.

Quest's second generation of immunoglobulin E (IgE) products is a class of antibody that can effectively trigger cross-presentation by antigen presenting cells of selected tumor antigens leading to robust cellular immune responses. Additionally, multiple pathways are activated resulting in enhanced penetration by effector cells and anti-neoplastic agents adjacent to the cancer site (cancer stroma). The technology offers the promise of a new therapeutic approach to improve outcomes in the treatment of solid tissue malignancies in conjunction with current therapy with the potential to extend the new successes being achieved in the cancer immunotherapy field. Pioneering work done in this area by Quest's Clinical and Scientific advisor, Dr. Christopher Nicodemus at Advance Immune Therapeutics and AIT Strategies, has helped Quest secure a U.S. patent on IgE titled "Methods for improving the bioactivity of therapeutic IgE antibodies for the treatment of disease", with three more patents pending including one licensed from Stanford University.

The first product candidate selected from this platform technology is an IgE against the HER2/neu antigen for the treatment of advanced malignant breast cancer. This IgE was developed by Professor Manuel Penichet and licensed by Quest from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Preclinical studies for the IgE antibodies including the anti-HER2/neu IgE candidate are being conducted by Professor Manuel Penichet at UCLA and by Professor Michael Hollingsworth at the University of Nebraska. Secondary products target additional cancer antigens. The financial support of up to $206,000 from NRC/IRAP will be used for cell culture development for cGMP manufacturing of the monoclonal IgE for clinical use.

"We are the first company in the world that is engaged in moving this cutting edge IgE immunotherapy technology to the clinical stage", said Dr. Madi R. Madiyalakan, CEO of Quest. "The current funding from NRC/IRAP will help us accomplish that objective in an efficient manner", added Dr. Madiyalakan.

About Quest PharmaTech Inc.

Quest PharmaTech is a publicly traded, Canadian based clinical stage company developing a portfolio of product candidates for the treatment of cancer by combining immunotherapeutic antibodies with chemotherapy, immune-adjuvants and photodynamic therapy. Quest has a body of clinical experience and a new appreciation of the obstacles and potential of combinatorial immunotherapeutic approaches to cancer by using either immunoglobulin G or E as immune modulators to enhance tumor specific immunity and clinical outcome.

The most advanced of its product candidates is Oregovomab, an anti-CA125 monoclonal antibody, in combination with front-line chemotherapy for the treatment of advanced ovarian cancer which is currently undergoing a Phase IIb clinical trial in 13 centers in Italy and the U.S. The Company's MUC1 program that has already undergone a Phase I clinical trial has the potential to permit tumor specific immunization in more than 70% of all cancers that kill.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE Quest PharmaTech Inc.