MATEON TO PARTICIPATE IN BIO INVESTOR FORUM DIGITAL

AGOURA HILLS, California, Oct. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (OTCQB: MATN) (“Mateon”), a leading developer of TGF-β therapeutics for oncology and COVID-19, today announced that Dr. Vuong Trieu, President and CEO of Mateon, will present a company overview and host one-on-one meetings during the 2020 BIO Investor Forum Digital, being held virtually October 13 – 15, 2020. The Company’s presentation will be available on demand for BIO Investor Forum attendees and on our websites (www.mateon.com and www.oncotelic.com).

About ArtiShield^TM

The company previous announced the first patient enrolled in its Phase IV study ARTI-19. This is a global study with the total aggregate of 3000 pts. The study evaluates the safety and efficacy of ArtiShield^TM in the treatment of adults with COVID-19. Top-line data from ARTI-19 is expected by end of 4Q20. The drug product- ArtiShield^TM- is approved for manufacturing and sales by Indian Ministry of AYUSH.

Artemisinin the active component of ArtiShield^TM is able to inhibit TGF β activity and is able to neutralize SARS CoV 2 (COVID 19) in vitro at an EC50 of 0.45 ug/ml (based on Mateon’s test result at Utah State University), and a Safety Index of 140, which is better than remdesivir. This finding was later on independently confirmed by:

1. Cao R, Hu H, Li Y, et al. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 Potential of Artemisinins In Vitro. ACS Infect Dis. 2020;6(9):2524-2531. doi:10.1021/acsinfecdis.0c00522; and
2. Gilmore, K. et al. (2020). In vitro efficacy of Artemisinin-based treatments against SARS-CoV-2. bioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.05.326637.

ArtiShield^TM is being manufactured by Windlas Biotech Private Limited. Windlas is a 20-year-old company with large scale manufacturing facilities in India employing more than 1500 employees and is the 5th largest Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) serving pharma companies across the world.

About ARTI-19 India

ARTI-19 in India is a “A Prospective, Randomized, Multi-center, Open label, Interventional Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Artemisinin 500 mg capsule in Treatment of Adult Subjects with COVID-19”. This trial will compare the efficacy of oral doses with standard-of-care (SOC) versus SOC alone. Oral administration of Artemisia absinthium Powder 500mg capsule/day for 5 days with SOC per cycle with the option to repeat as needed until disease is resolved or subject is discharged, up to a total of consecutive 3 cycles (“5 days treatment, 5 days off"). SOC is standard-of-care as per Clinical Management Protocol: COVID-19, Government of India Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Directorate General of Health Services (EMR Division). Safety is defined as: 1) Adverse events (AEs) during the study and 2) Serious adverse events (SAEs) during the study. Efficacy is defined as: 1) Relief in the sign and symptoms of COVID-19 as per WHO Clinical Progression Scale and 2) Relief in the sign and symptoms of COVID-19 per the Duration of Symptoms.