DelMar Pharmaceuticals Announces Expansion of VAL-083 Development Program to Include Ovarian Cancer

VANCOUVER, British Columbia and MENLO PARK, Calif., Sept. 2, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (OTCQX: DMPI) ("DelMar" and the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new cancer therapies, today announced that it will present an abstract entitled, "A Comparison of the Mechanisms and Cytotoxic Activity of Dianhydrogalactitol (VAL-083) to Cisplatin in Ovarian Tumor Models Harboring Wild-type and Mutant p53," at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Advances in Ovarian Cancer Research: Exploiting Vulnerabilities Conference being held October 17-20, 2015 in Orlando, FL.

The presentation will summarize VAL-083's potential as a new treatment for ovarian cancer in the context of DelMar's recent research and historical data from prior NCI-sponsored clinical trials.

"These data have been developed in collaboration with researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center and are aligned with our business model to leverage historical clinical proof-of-concept with modern biological data to solve modern unmet medical needs in the treatment of cancer," said Jeffrey Bacha, DelMar's president and CEO. 

DelMar Pharmaceuticals is currently conducting a Phase II clinical trial with VAL-083 for the treatment of refractory glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Interim data from this trial presented at the American Association of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual meeting demonstrated a promising dose-response trend in patients with recurrent GBM. DelMar will present the next update of its GBM program at the 2^nd International Symposium on Clinical and Basic Research in Glioblastoma, being held September 9-12, 2015 in Toledo, Spain.

The Company has also announced plans to initiate clinical development with VAL-083 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which will be funded through DelMar's collaboration with Guangxi Wuzhou Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd.  Details of this trial will be presented at the 16^th World Conference on Lung Cancer being held September 7 – 9 in Denver, Colorado.

About VAL-083

VAL-083 is a "first-in-class", small-molecule chemotherapeutic. In more than 40 Phase I and II clinical studies sponsored by the U.S. National Cancer Institute, VAL-083 demonstrated safety and efficacy in treating a number of cancers including lung, brain, cervical, ovarian tumors and leukemia. VAL-083 is approved in China for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and lung cancer and has received orphan drug designation in Europe and the U.S. for the treatment of gliomas.

DelMar is currently studying VAL-083 in a multi-center Phase I/II clinical trial for patients with refractory glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) in accordance with the protocol that has been filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) at five clinical centers in the United States:  Mayo Clinic (Rochester, MN); UCSF (San Francisco, CA) and three centers associated with the Sarah Cannon Cancer Research Institute (Nashville, TN, Sarasota, FL and Denver, CO). As a potential treatment for glioblastoma, VAL-083's mechanism of action appears to be unaffected by the expression of MGMT, a DNA repair enzyme that is implicated chemotherapy resistance and poor outcomes following front-line treatment with Temodar^® (temozolomide).

About DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was founded to develop and commercialize proven cancer therapies in new orphan drug indications where patients are failing or have become intolerable to modern targeted or biologic treatments. The Company's lead drug in development, VAL-083, is currently undergoing clinical trials in the U.S. as a potential treatment for refractory glioblastoma multiforme. VAL-083 has been extensively studied by U.S. National Cancer Institute, and is currently approved for the treatment of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and lung cancer in China. Published pre-clinical and clinical data suggest that VAL-083 may be active against a range of tumor types via a novel mechanism of action that could provide improved treatment options for patients.

Safe Harbor Statement

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on current expectations, but are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. The factors that could cause actual future results to differ materially from current expectations include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties relating to the Company's ability to develop, market and sell products based on its technology; the expected benefits and efficacy of the Company's products and technology; the availability of substantial additional funding for the Company to continue its operations and to conduct research and development, clinical studies and future product commercialization; and, the Company's business, research, product development, regulatory approval, marketing and distribution plans and strategies. These and other factors are identified and described in more detail in our filings with the SEC, including, our current reports on Form 8-K.

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SOURCE DelMar Pharmaceuticals, Inc.