Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 28, 2023) - Defence Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: DTC) (FSE: DTC) (OTC Pink: DTCFF) ("Defence" or the "Company") is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing novel immune-oncology vaccines and drug delivery technologies. Sitting at the core of its innovative technologies is the proprietary Accum™-based platform, which Defence is harnessing to develop innovative therapeutics and prophylactics against cancers and infectious diseases.

Although initial ground-breaking results demonstrating the original Accum™'s ability to greatly enhance the potency of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) were first published in 2016, Defence's continued research and development efforts have given rise to a robust and versatile platform, including novel applications and second-generation molecular entities having greater potency. In lockstep with each innovation has been Defence's aggressive pursuit of patent protection. To date, seven distinct patent families relating to four different central functions of Accum™ have been published, which are highlighted below.

Defence's ADC platform technology is based on the ability of the original Accum™ to form potent antibody-drug conjugates, leading to targeted cellular accumulation of a drug was demonstrated in international (PCT) patent application WO/2017/156630A1, with patents granted in the United States (US 11,352,437), Japan (JP 7,126,956), and Israel (IL 261765), and patent applications currently pending in Europe, Canada, and Australia. Second-generation Accum™-based ADCs are being pursued in recently filed PCT application WO/2023/065017A1, currently in the international phase. In these patent families, Accum™ molecules were covalently linked to antibodies or ADCs (e.g., trastuzumab-DM1 ADC), and were shown to enhance their delivery and cytotoxicity in various cancer cell lines compared to controls.

Defence's vaccine platform technology is based on the discovery that Accum™ and variants thereof have the ability to enhance presentation of various tumor, viral, or bacterial antigens by anti-gen-presenting cells, either by covalent conjugation to or simple admixture with the antigen. PCT patent applications WO/2022/126239 A1 and WO/2022/232945 A1 were filed covering this technology, with respective US patents (US 11,291,717 and US 11,612,651) being already granted and corresponding patent applications currently pending worldwide. In these patent families, the Accum™ technology was shown to produce very powerful therapeutic and prophylactic protein subunit- and cell-based vaccines for treating or preventing infectious diseases, including SARS-CoV-2 and cancers such as lymphoma.

Defence's AccuTOX™ platform technology is based on the ability of some Accum™ variants, either as stand alone agents or in combination with other cytotoxic agents, to induce cancer cell death by triggering heightened metabolic stress and the production of reactive oxygen species, as shown in PCT patent application WO/2023/087103 A1. In this patent family, the AccuTOX™ technology was shown to induce cell death in a plurality of different tumor cell lines in vitro, in many cases via apoptosis, and was shown to reduce lymphoma tumor volumes and enhance survival in treated mice compared to controls. In a separate discovery, standalone Accum™-based agents were found to form hydrogels (WO/2023/023869 A1) upon dissolution and subsequent incubation in different aqueous solvents, providing further avenues in the innovation of drug delivery systems.

Finally, the ability of Accum™ and its variants to efficiently deliver multiple therapeutically relevant cargoes, including polynucleotides, recombinant proteins, and even nucleoprotein complexes, into the cyotosol or nucleus of cells is demonstrated in PCT patent application WO/2023/102661 A1. Importantly, in this patent family, the Accum™ technology was shown to successfully deliver functional CRISPR/Cas9 and guide RNA ribonucleoprotein complexes into the nucleus of cells, leading to intriguing commercial avenues in the field of genome editing. Furthermore, this patent family further contains in vivo data demonstrating the efficacy of Defence's Accum™-based technology in transforming traditionally non-antigen presenting and immune quiescing mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) into efficient antigen presenters and immunostimulatory cells, in the form of a highly efficacious anti-cancer cellular vaccine. These MSC-based cellular vaccines led to Defence's potent second-generation MSC-based therapeutic ARM vaccine that is on its way into Phase I clinical trials.

A summary of selected key patent families in Defence's portfolio is shown in the graphic below solely for illustrative purposes:

Figure 1

Defence patent families are currently managed by ROBIC LLP, a Montreal-based, Canada, law firm specializing in all facets of intellectual property in many different fields since 1892, notably in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals.

"Defence's proactive and aggressive approach in securing patent protection for all aspects of our technologies serves to maximize the commercialization potential and increase the company's intrinsic value, as we continue to march toward the goal of bringing our innovative therapeutic technologies to market and making a lasting global impact on the lives of patients," says Sebastien Plouffe, President and Chief Executive Officer of Defence.

The global biotechnology market size is expected to reach USD 3.88 trillion by 2030, registering a CAGR of 13.96% over the forecast period. The market is driven by factors including the advent of innovative and advanced technologies.
https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/4396357/biotechnology-market-size-share-and-trends

About Defence:
Defence Therapeutics is a publicly-traded biotechnology company working on engineering the next generation vaccines and ADC products using its proprietary platform. At the core of Defence Therapeutics platform lie two ground-breaking technologies, Accum™ and AccuTOX™, which enable precision delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs in their intact form to target cells and induce potent killing of cancer cells, respectively. 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
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.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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