DEFENCE’S MELANOMA TARGETED VACCINE A1-REPROGRAMMED MSC (ARM) CELL POTENCY VALIDATED

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CSE: DTC  FSE: DTC  USOTC: DTCFF  PRESS RELEASE

 DEFENCE’S MELANOMA TARGETED VACCINE A1-REPROGRAMMED MSC (ARM) CELL POTENCY VALIDATED

Vancouver, BC, Canada, January 24^th, 2023 - Defence Therapeutics Inc. (“Defence” or the “Company”), a Canadian biopharmaceutical company specialized in the development of immune-oncology vaccines and drug delivery technologies, is pleased to report the validation of its ARM vaccine candidate in a melanoma model with a cure rate of 60%.  

Defence used a variant of the Accum^TM (the A1) to reprogram innate MSCs into antigen presenting cells. This "off-the-shelf" universal vaccine (e.g. allogeneic to the recipient) was able to cure animals with pre-established lymphoma, and also the observed therapeutic effects synergised with the use of the anti-PD-1 immune-checkpoint blocker. The vaccinated animals survived, and the great majority rejected the established tumor and remained tumor free for over 3 months. Based on these strong results, Defence continued to accelerate the progress on the vaccine. These recently completed results add another therapeutic validation using the melanoma cancer model. This program was prepared by the same planned protocol for a potential Phase I clinical cancer trial, where the melanoma cell lysate was used to pulse the ARM vaccine prior to vaccination. 

"This experiment constitutes an important step in our advancement plan as it shows that Defence’s ARM vaccine can be used against any cancer tumor type given", says Mr. Plouffe, the CEO of Defence Therapeutics.

Defence is currently working to begin the manufacturing of its ARM vaccine in Q1 of 2023 with the objective to start treating patients in Phase I clinical cancer trial with solid tumors by Q3/Q4 of 2023.  

About Defence:

Defence Therapeutics is a publicly-traded biotechnology company working on engineering the next generation vaccines and ADC products using its proprietary platform. The core of Defence Therapeutics platform is the ACCUM^TM technology, which enables precision delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs in their intact form to target cells. As a result, increased efficacy and potency can be reached against catastrophic illness such as cancer and infectious diseases.

For further information:

Sebastien Plouffe, President, CEO and Director

P: (514) 947-2272
Splouffe@defencetherapeutics.com
https://defencetherapeutics.com/

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This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

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