ProMIS Neurosciences Announces Fiscal 2016 Annual Results

TSX: PMN

TORONTO, March 15, 2017 /CNW/ - ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc. ("ProMIS" or the "Company"), a company focused on the discovery and development of precision treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, today announced its operational and financial results for the year ended December 31, 2016, as well as the financial results for the fourth quarter.

"ProMIS made significant progress on our Alzheimer's disease (AD) program by identifying five therapeutic candidates with the ideal target profile of selectively binding to the neurotoxic prion-like forms of Amyloid beta (Aβ)" said Dr. Elliot Goldstein, ProMIS CEO. "We now look forward to advancing our lead product, PMN 310, as a potential best in class therapy for AD; to completing a cohort study to determine the prevalence of different prion strains in AD and to developing effective AD diagnostics for detection of toxic Aβ prion strains in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) or blood."

ProMIS also announced two new drug development programs to identify novel therapeutic targets on Tau for AD, and TDP43 for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), representing additional opportunities to apply ProMIS complementary platform technologies.

Recent Corporate Highlights

• Identified multiple therapeutic candidates during the screening stage of validation to be developed as potential treatments for AD;
  
  
• Successfully completed validation of five therapeutic candidates for AD that demonstrated the desired target profile of selective binding to cadaveric brain tissue extracts and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of AD patients without binding to Aβ plaque or monomer;
  
  
• PMN 310 declared lead development product;
  
  
• Initiated a CSF cohort study to determine the prevalence of different Aβ prion strains in AD;
   
  
• Initiated programs to identify novel therapeutic targets on toxic strains of the protein Tau for AD, and on protein TDP43 for ALS and FTD;
   
  
• Completed two non-brokered private placements providing total gross proceeds of approximately $4,200,000;
  
  
• Appointed Dr. Johanne Kaplan, as Chief Development Officer;
  
  
• Appointed Dr. Richard Gregory and Mr. Anthony Giovinazzo to the Board of Directors.

Financial Results

Annual Results of Operations

The net loss for the year ended December 31, 2016 was $3,454,975 compared to a net loss of $2,120,954 for the year ended December 31, 2015. The increased loss in the current period reflects the costs associated with operating the Company's Alzheimer's therapeutics program, supporting its patent portfolio, and associated general corporate expenditures.   In the first half of the year ended December 31, 2015, the Company had closed its research facility in Mississauga Ontario and was undergoing a strategic review of its operations, hence expenses were significantly reduced.

Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2016 were $1,865,507 as compared to $1,060,142 in the year ended December 31, 2015.    Costs are higher in the current period due to higher patent filings fees, research program costs for the company's Alzheimer's therapeutics program, including its research team, and antibody developments costs and validation studies, and offset slightly by lower stock option compensation.   Expenditures in the comparative period were significantly lower  due to cost saving measures while the Board of Directors was undergoing a strategic review of the Company's operations.

General and administrative expenses for the year ended December 31, 2016 were $1,576,271 as compared to $946,765 in the year ended December 31, 2015.  The increased expenditures in the current period reflect mostly higher investor relations expenses, and higher stock-based compensation. 

Results of Operations – Three months ended December 31, 2016 and 2015

The net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2016 was $1,211,101 compared to a net loss of $699,785 for the three months ended December 31, 2015.

Research and development expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2016 were $696,279 as compared to $348,719 in the three-month period ended December 31, 2015. The increase in expenditures in the current period related mostly to the activity supporting the Company's Alzheimer's therapeutic program, specifically higher consulting fees related to its expanded research team, both internal and provided by the University of British Columbia, and by antibody development costs and related validation studies. 

General and administrative expenses for the three months ended December 31, 2016 were $512,561 as compared to $344,814 in the three months ended December 31, 2015. The increase in expenditures in the current period resulted mainly from increased investor relations activities.

Outlook

The Company's priorities for the next year are to identify and develop precision medicine therapeutics for AD and ALS.

The Company will continue to expand its Intellectual Property (IP) estate relating to novel epitope targets on misfolded strains of proteins Aβ and Tau for AD and on misfolded strains of protein TDP43 for ALS and FTD. The Company's complementary proprietary platform technologies, ProMIS^TM and Collective Coordinates, will be employed to identify and confirm such novel targets.

Using its proprietary discovery platform the Company raised monoclonal antibodies ("mAbs") against five novel targets identified in its Aβ program for AD, and following in vitro and in vivo validation, declared PMN310 the lead product for development. ProMIS is looking forward  to completing final validation studies for the remaining therapeutic candidates  to enable their selection for further development.

Given the Company's robust IP estate relating to misfolded SOD1 in ALS and the recently announced program to identify novel ALS therapeutic targets on toxic strains of the protein TDP43, ProMIS Neurosciences is actively seeking a development partnership in this field.

About ProMIS Neurosciences, Inc.

The mission of ProMIS Neurosciences is to discover and develop precision medicine therapeutics for effective treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, in particular Alzheimer's disease and ALS.

ProMIS Neurosciences' proprietary target discovery engine is based on the use of two, complementary techniques. The Company applies its thermodynamic, computational discovery platform—ProMIS^™ and Collective Coordinates — to predict novel targets known as Disease Specific Epitopes (DSEs) on the molecular surface of misfolded proteins. Using this unique "precision medicine" approach, ProMIS Neurosciences is developing novel antibody therapeutics and specific companion diagnostics for Alzheimer's disease and ALS. The company has also developed two proprietary technologies to specifically identify very low levels of misfolded proteins in a biological sample. In addition, ProMIS Neurosciences owns a portfolio of therapeutic and diagnostic patents relating to misfolded SOD1 in ALS, and currently has a preclinical monoclonal antibody therapeutic against this target.

The TSX has not reviewed and does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. This information release may contain certain forward-looking information. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from those implied by statements herein, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. All forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current beliefs as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to it as well as other factors. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Due to risks and uncertainties, including the risks and uncertainties identified by the Company in its public securities filings, actual events may differ materially from current expectations. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further information, please consult the Company's website at: www.promisneurosciences.com

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SOURCE ProMIS Neurosciences Inc.

Dr. Elliot Goldstein, President and Chief Executive Officer, ProMIS Neurosciences Inc., Tel. [phone], [email protected]