Neovacs and Stellar Biotech Announce Launch of Neostell, Joint Venture to Manufacture Kinoids

PARIS, BOSTON, and PORT HUENEME, Calif., July 19, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEOVACS (Alternext Paris:ALNEV) and STELLAR BIOTECHNOLOGIES Inc. (Nasdaq:SBOT) today announced the start of their joint venture company, Neostell SAS, with the holding of its first general assembly. At the meeting, the bylaws for Neostell were approved and the Administrative Board and management team were appointed.

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The following executives were appointed to the Administrative Board: Bernard Fanget, (Vice President Pharmaceutical Development, Neovacs); Frank Oakes (CEO, Stellar Biotechnologies) and Miguel Sieler (CEO, Neovacs).

In addition, the management team will include Bernard Fanget as Chairman of the Board of Directors and President and Olivier Dhellin as CEO. Both also will remain in their current positions at Neovacs.

Mr Fanget and Mr Dhellin’s experiences in the pharmaceutical industry are essential assets to oversee and ensure the efficient launch of the joint venture production company. Their first mission at Neostell will consist of identifying and reserve trough an option agreement a site for the manufacturing facility. However, major investment in the joint venture will not occur until after the results of the Neovacs ongoing Phase IIb trial with IFNa Kinoid in the treatment of lupus are known.

Neostell, with initial capital of 400,000 euros, will be based in the Paris area and set up to manufacture all kinoids developed by Neovacs, starting with IFNa-Kinoid, the company’s most advanced product candidate. Neostell also plans to manufacture and sell other KLH-based immunotherapy products for third-party customers worldwide.

Bernard Fanget, Chairman and President of Neostell, said: «The Neostell corporation will first focus on the production scale-up of Neovacs’ IFNa-Kinoid immunotherapy in anticipation of a Korean market launch, as well as the planned Phase III trial for the treatment of lupus and the Phase IIa study in dermatomyositis. My objectives as president are to make Neostell operational, to effectively access the conjugated vaccines development market and to ultimately make Neostell a profitable business. »

This joint venture demonstrates Stellar’s commitment to ensuring that immunotherapy developers like Neovacs have both ample capacity of high-quality KLH as well as the infrastructure and expertise to manufacture their KLH-based immunotherapies as they advance to market,” said Frank Oakes, President, CEO and Chairman of Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. “With the Neostell corporation in place and its leadership appointed, we look forward to putting operational teams together to map out the next steps for this growth initiative.”

About Bernard Fanget, Chairman of Neostell: Bernard leads pharmaceutical development activities at Neovacs. He brings more than 30 years of industrial experience in biologics pharmaceutical development. Bernard was Corporate Vice President, Global Industrialization at Sanofi Pasteur. He was previously Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development of Flamel Technologies.

About Olivier Dhellin, CEO of Neostell: Olivier has 9 years of experience in immunotherapy development and cell-based vaccine manufacturing. He previously held positions at Anosys – a US/French cell therapy biotech company – and conducted research activities for 7 years at Gustave Roussy Institute (molecular biology and genomics) and Pasteur Institute, where he was a post-doctorate fellow in molecular pharmacology. Prior to that, he spent 4 years as a resident in several hospital departments (pediatrics, pharmacology and biochemistry). Olivier holds a degree in pharmacy (Paris XI University, France) and a PhD in virology (Pierre et Marie Curie University, France).

About Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc.

Stellar Biotechnologies, Inc. (Nasdaq:SBOT) is the leader in sustainable manufacture of Keyhole Limpet Hemocyanin (KLH), an important immune-stimulating protein used in wide-ranging therapeutic and diagnostic markets. KLH is both an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) in many new immunotherapies (targeting cancer, immune disorders, Alzheimer's and inflammatory diseases) as well as a finished product for measuring immune status. Stellar Biotechnologies is unique in its proprietary methods, facilities, and KLH technology. We are committed to meeting the growing demand for commercial-scale supplies of GMP grade KLH, ensuring environmentally sound KLH production, and developing KLH-based active immunotherapies.

About Neovacs

Neovacs is a leading biotechnology company that has a proprietary active immunotherapy technology platform (Kinoids) with applications in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and cancer. The goal of the Kinoid approach is to enable patients to have access to safe, effective, long-lasting treatments for these often life-long diseases. Neovacs is focusing its clinical development efforts on IFNa-Kinoid, an immunotherapy being developed for lupus and dermatomyositis. Neovacs also has several therapeutic vaccines in preclinical development for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, cancer and allergies. www.neovacs.fr

Contacts NEOVACS – Corporate Communication & Investor Relations Charlène Masson +33 (0)1 53 10 93 14 cmasson@neovacs.com Investor Relations / Financial Communications Germany – MC Services Raimund Gabriel +49-89-21-02-28-30 raimund.gabriel@mc-services.eu Press / U.S. Inquiries – The Ruth Group Lee Roth / Joseph Green +1-646-536-7012 / 7013 lroth@theruthgroup.com / jgreen@theruthgroup.com

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