GlobeNewswire Inc | Dec 9, 2020 07:00AM EST

December 09, 2020

-- Featuring Global Experts in Ayurveda and Pharmacology -- December 16, 2020 7 AM PST- 10 AM EST- 8:30 PM IST -- Panel Discussion and Q & A to follow

Agoura Hills, California, Dec. 09, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (Mateon or Oncotelic) (OTCQB.MATN) today announced that it is hosting a webinar titled, Ayurveda, Artemisia, and Covid-19. This webinar will address the Covid-19 pandemic, and the healing therapies Artemisia and Ayurveda, one of the worlds oldest holistic healing systems developed more than 3,000 years ago in India, with the principles and processes of modern drug development.

The webinar will take place on December 16, 2020 at 10 AM EST/7AM PST/8:30 PM IST. The event is free and you may register in advance here.

https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_eBswjPA1Tg2DJqOcpQspYw

For thousands of years Ayurveda has been a safe and trusted approach to healing. Now during the Covid-19 pandemic, our clinical trials are studying its potential to treat inflammation, fevers and respiratory viruses, said Saran Saund, CBO of Mateon. We believe that with Windlas Biotechs partnership, this new therapy will be a potential game-changer not only for India, but for other countries who dont have the medical infrastructure in place to treat Covid-19.

As we enter the colder months in India, there is perhaps no other country that needs medical assistance with Covid-19 treatments more than India. India has lost 140,000 citizens and 9.5 million people have been infected, second only to the U.S., said CEO Vuong Trieu, Ph.D., Mateon Therapeutics. Our studies are proving that inhibiting TGF-B is an effective treatment against many of the coronaviruses, including Covid-19. We are excited to bring safe and cost-effective treatments to those suffering.

Presenters include:

-- Dr. Geetha Krishnan, M.D. (Ayurveda), BAMS -- Dr. Renu Dixit, MD (Ayurveda) Ph.D., BAMS -- Professor Maurice Iwu Ph.D. -- Dr. Wanjun Chen, M.D. -- Saran Saund, CBO Mateon Therapeutics -- Hitesh Windlas, Founder and Managing Director Windlas Biotech Pvt. Ltd.

ARTIVeda - an Ethnobiology Drug

Mateon is pursuing several avenues with respect to the development and commercialization of ARTIVedain the treatment of COVID-19. ARTIVedais Ayurveda - Dvipaantara Damanaka - and is labeled as a capsule containing Artemisia Powder 500mg. It is a demonstration of how Ethnobiology can be used to drive drug development against emerging pandemics.

The classical pharmaceutical regulatory pathways have failed to provide fast-track to treatment. Government resources have concentrated on a few candidates most of which have failed. The Ayurvedic medicine route is proving to be an accelerated pathway to deploy a well-known, abundantly available and cost effective Ayurvedic medicine that is safe and being proven in-vitro and large-scale clinical trial to be effective.

ARTIVeda - Commercialization in India

Mateon announced that ARTIVedahas been approved for manufacture and marketing by theMinistry of AYUSH(Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) in India for the treatment of various symptoms including fever and inflammation, which can be associated with COVID-19. ARTIVedais in co-development withWindlas Biotech Pvt. Ltd., Mateons commercial partner forIndia and is designed to be a readily available and cost-effective agent to combat COVID-19. Mateon expects sales of ARTIVedawill commence in India by year end.

ARTI-19 Multi-national Phase IV Trial, Currently in India

Mateon announced the enrollment of its first patient in a Phase IV study ARTI-19, A Prospective, Randomized, Multi-center, Open label, Interventional Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of Artemisinin 500 mg capsule in Treatment of Adult Subjects with COVID-19. This trial will compare the efficacy of oral doses with standard-of-care (SOC) versus SOC alone.This is a global study withIndiato contribute at least 300 patients to the total aggregate of 3000 patients.

About Mateon Therapeutics

Mateon was created by the recent reverse merger with Oncotelic, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of Mateon, thereby creating an immuno-oncology company dedicated to the development of first in class RNA therapeutics as well as small molecule drugs against cancer and infectious diseases. OT-101, the lead immuno-oncology drug candidate of Mateon/Oncotelic, is a first-in-class anti-TGF-RNA therapeutic that exhibited single agent activity in some relapsed/refractory cancer patients in clinical trial settings. OT-101 also has activity against SARS-CoV-2. Mateon/Oncotelic is seeking to leverage its deep expertise in oncology drug development to improve treatment outcomes and survival of cancer patients with a special emphasis on rare pediatric cancers. Mateon has rare pediatric designation for OT-101 for DIPG, CA4P for melanoma, and OXi4503 for AML.

For more information, please visitwww.oncotelic.comandwww.mateon.com and https://quantdata.us/news/18670223.

Mateon's Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this communication regarding strategy, future operations, future financial position, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. Words such as may, expect, anticipate hope, vision, optimism, design, exciting, promising, will, conviction, "estimate," "intend," "believe", quest for a cure of cancer, innovation-driven, paradigm-shift, high scientific merit, impact potential and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements about future plans, the progress, timing, clinical development, scope and success of future clinical trials, the reporting of clinical data for the companys product candidates and the potential use of the companys product candidates to treat various cancer indications. Each of these forward-looking statements involves risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements. Many factors may cause differences between current expectations and actual results, including unexpected safety or efficacy data observed during preclinical or clinical studies, clinical trial site activation or enrollment rates that are lower than expected, changes in expected or existing competition, changes in the regulatory environment, failure of collaborators to support or advance collaborations or product candidates and unexpected litigation or other disputes. These risks are not exhaustive, the company faces known and unknown risks, including the risk factors described in the companys annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on May 20, 2020 and in the companys other periodic filings. Forward-looking statements are based on expectations and assumptions as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the company does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in expectations, whether as a result of new information future events, or otherwise.

Contact Information:For Mateon Therapeutics, Inc.: Amit Shahashah@oncotelic.com

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-- Mateon Therapeutics, Inc.