Bergen, Norway, 15 May 2019 – BerGenBio ASA (OSE: BGBIO) a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel, selective AXL kinase inhibitors for multiple cancer indications, notes the publication of abstracts relating to new interim clinical and biomarker data that the company and its collaborators will present from its extensive Phase II clinical development programme with bemcentinib at the 2019 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois (31 May – 4 June 2019).

The abstracts have been made available online at abstracts.asco.org today and details of the presentations are below.

The posters presented at ASCO will be made available at www.bergenbio.com in the Investors / Presentations section to coincide with the following conference sessions:

Sunday 2 June, 8:00 AM – 11:30 AM Central Daylight Time

A Phase II study of bemcentinib (BGB324), a first-in-class highly selective AXL inhibitor, with pembrolizumab in patients with advanced NSCLC: OS for stage I and preliminary stage II efficacy.

• Enriqueta Felip et al
• Session: Lung Cancer – Non-Small Cell Metastatic
• Location: Hall A, poster board #421, abstract 9098

Data highlights:

• Phase II clinical trial assessing bemcentinib in combination with pembrolizumab (KEYTRUDA) in advanced lung cancer patients post chemotherapy.
• The combination treatment of bemcentinib and pembrolizumab was overall well-tolerated.
• Promising clinical activity continues to be seen overall, particularly in patients with AXL positive tumours including those with weak or no PD-L1 expression.
• Updated results will be reported at the meeting, including the 12-month overall survival for stage 1 and preliminary efficacy of Stage 2.

Monday 3 June, 8:00 AM – 11:30 AM Central Daylight Time

First-in class selective AXL inhibitor bemcentinib (BGB324) in combination with low dose AraC (LDAC) or decitabine exerts anti-leukaemia activity in AML pts unfit for intensive chemotherapy: Phase II open-label study.

• Dr Sonja Loges et al
• Session: Hematologic Malignancies – Leukaemia, Myelodysplastic Syndromes, and Allotransplant
• Location: Hall A, poster board #418, abstract 7043

Data highlights:

• Bemcentinib in combination with LDAC exerted early onset and durable responses in patients with both de novo and relapsed AML, whilst the combination of bemcentinib and decitabine exerted comparably fewer and later responses in de novo AML.
• Both combinations were generally well-tolerated.
• Updated results will be presented.

Richard Godfrey, Chief Executive Officer of BerGenBio, commented: “We are encouraged by the promising data that continues to emerge from our clinical development programme with bemcentinib in AML and NSCLC. Following the data that was gathered in January, we have expanded our clinical programmes in both indications and, together with our investigators, look forward to providing further important findings at ASCO.

“Most NSCLC patients in Europe now receive anti-PD(L)-1 therapies like KEYTRUDA as a first- or second-line treatment for their advanced disease. Improving responses to these novel agents, particularly in patients with no or limited expression of PD-L1, who may not have benefitted from such therapies, is significant. Similarly, positive responses in a less fit AML patient population considered to have unfavourable prognosis after the failure of first-line therapies, or those with high risk cytogenetics is very encouraging.”

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About BerGenBio  

BerGenBio is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformative drugs targeting AXL as a potential cornerstone of therapy for aggressive diseases, including immune-evasive, therapy resistant cancers. The company’s proprietary lead candidate, bemcentinib, is a potentially first-in-class selective AXL inhibitor in a broad Phase II oncology clinical development programme focussed on combination and single agent therapy in lung cancer and leukaemia. A first-in-class functional blocking anti-AXL antibody is undergoing Phase I clinical testing. In parallel, BerGenBio is developing a companion diagnostic test to identify those patient populations most likely to benefit from bemcentinib: this is expected to facilitate more efficient registration trials supporting a precision medicine-based commercialisation strategy. BerGenBio is based in Bergen, Norway with a subsidiary in Oxford, UK. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (ticker: BGBIO). For more information, visit www.bergenbio.com

Contacts

Richard Godfrey CEO, BerGenBio ASA
+47 917 86 304

Rune Skeie, CFO, BerGenBio ASA
rune.skeie@bergenbio.com
+47 917 86 513

International Media and Investor Relations 

Mary-Jane Elliott, Chris Welsh, Nicholas Brown, Carina Jurs, Consilium Strategic Communications
bergenbio@consilium-comms.com 
+44 20 3709 5700

Media Relations in Norway

Jan Petter Stiff, Crux Advisers
stiff@crux.no
+47 995 13 891

Forward looking statements

This announcement may contain forward-looking statements, which as such are not historical facts, but are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. These assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this announcement by such forward-looking statements.