Emergex Vaccines Provides an Update on Agreement with Midatech Pharma

Oxford, UK, 22 November 2016 – Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited (“Emergex”), a biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to T-cell vaccine development in the field of infectious diseases, today announced that it has paid an upfront technology access fee and option payment of £450,000 to Midatech Pharma (AIM: MTPH, NASDAQ: MTP), under the terms of the contract. This follows the licence granted to Emergex from Midatech Pharma, which was announced in January this year.

The exclusive licensing agreement covers the use of Midatech’s proprietary gold nanoparticle platform in the development of vaccines for influenza, meningitis, bacterial pneumonia, Ebola virus, Marburg virus and viruses within the Arbovirus class, such as Zika and Dengue. This is the first deployment of Midatech’s gold nanoparticles as a conventional vaccine for infectious diseases.

Under the agreement, the licence, together with the Service and Manufacturing Agreement for both the synthesis and development manufacturing of cGMP material for clinical trials, was novated from Emergex Vaccines Limited to a related entity, Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited (“Emergex”), a private UK biotechnology company focused on developing synthetic T-cell vaccines against new and emerging infectious diseases.

Midatech will continue to be entitled to receive certain milestone and royalty payments, as well as service fees, as part of the arrangement.

Commenting on the announcement, Dr. Jim Phillips, CEO of Midatech Pharma, said: “I am pleased to see progress being made in the adaptation of our gold nanoparticle technology for use in vaccines for infectious disease, which perfectly complements our type 1 diabetes collaboration in antigen specific immunotherapy, and our early-stage internal programs which address auto-immune disease and immuno-oncology.”

David Jackson of Emergex added: “The expansion of the Midatech licence with Emergex is important for the development of cross-reactive or universal vaccines against infectious agents sharing common genetic characteristics, such as flaviviruses within the Arbovirus group. There were 380 million new cases of Dengue last year and Zika is becoming a global health problem. The licence with Midatech now allows Emergex to develop vaccines that are not restricted to a single flavivirus but potentially act as a universal vaccine against Zika, Dengue and other flaviviruses. This is a continuation of our universal influenza vaccine program, which also targets genetic components common to all influenza viruses. Our synthetic T-cell mediated vaccines should also be able to safely immunize pregnant women and provide co-immunisation of the foetus, which may be required for prevention of the congenital Zika syndrome.”

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Notes to Editors

About Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited
Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited, a UK-based biotechnology company headquartered in Oxford, is pioneering a new approach to vaccine development in order to address some of the world’s most immediate health threats such as Zika, Ebola, pandemic flu and antibiotic resistant bacteria.

It has developed a novel and ground-breaking approach to vaccine manufacturing, using 100% synthetic components to activate T-cells of the immune system to destroy virus-infected human cells. It uses unique technologies together with top-notch science to develop and manufacture vaccines much faster and at a fraction of the cost of traditional vaccines.

Emergex is initially focussed on creating an internationally accessible, clinical grade vaccine repository for use by governments, non-governmental organisations and charities, to act as a first line of defence against existing and newly emerging infectious outbreaks. It also plans to develop commercially marketed vaccines in partnership with pharmaceutical companies to generate future licensing and royalty revenue streams.

Emergex is committed to making a positive impact in the communities that are most affected by these infectious outbreaks, where a lack of affordable and effective treatments adversely impacts health and prosperity.

Find out more online at www.emergexvaccines.com.

Media Contacts:

Instinctif Partners
Sue Charles/Eileen Paul//Ashley Tapp/Emma-Jane Humphreys
Phone: +44 (0)20 7457 2020
Email: Emergex@instinctif.com