Biomunex is nominated for the Prix Galien USA in the "Best Startup" category, further recognizing the innovative nature of its bi- and multi-specific antibody technologies in immunotherapy of cancer

• The 2023 edition of Prix Galien USA, an internationally recognized award for biopharmaceutical research, includes for the first time the "Best Startup" category, which highlights the scientific excellence of biopharmaceutical startups.
• The nomination of Biomunex Pharmaceuticals confirms the scientific excellence and quality of its proprietary BiXAb® bi- and multi-specific antibody platform, whose innovation had already been rewarded in 2019 with a nomination for the Prix Galien Medstart'up, following the licensing agreement with Sanofi. It also highlights the unique and disruptive approach to MAIT engagers that Biomunex is currently developing.
• The winners of the 2023 Prix Galien USA will be presented at the Prix Galien USA Forum on October 26, 2023, at the Alexandria Center for Life Science in New York, USA.

Paris, France, and Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, September 05th, 2023 - Biomunex Pharmaceuticals (Biomunex), a French biopharmaceutical company that develops cutting-edge immunotherapies through the discovery and development of bi- and multi-specific antibodies for the treatment of cancer, announced today that it has been nominated for the Prix Galien USA 2023 in the "Best Startup" category, among other innovative companies selected from the network of young companies and innovative start-ups from all countries.

The Prix Galien USA, whose jury is made up of top pharmaceutical industry executives, leading institutional investors and renowned scientists, is an award recognizing scientific excellence and innovation developed by companies and other actors of the pharmaceutical industry. It is awarded each year by the Galien Foundation, a world-renowned organization whose aim is to support outstanding scientific research and reward innovations likely to improve human health. Created in 1970, the Prix Galien is today recognized as the equivalent of the Nobel Prize in biopharmaceutical research. Conducted in partnership with Business France, the international development agency for the French economy, the Prix Galien USA has included for the first time the "Best Startup" category, for which Biomunex is a nominee.

The quality of the work carried out by Biomunex teams had already been recognized by the Galien Foundation at the Prix Galien Medstart'up in October 2019, in the "Best collaboration in the pharmaceutical or the biotechnology industry" category, following the signing of a licensing agreement between Biomunex and Sanofi. This agreement enabled Sanofi to get access to the Biomunex technology for the generation, optimization and development of bi- and multi-specific therapeutic antibodies.

"It's a great honor for Biomunex and our teams to be selected and nominated today for such a prestigious award as the Prix Galien USA," said Dr. Pierre-Emmanuel Gerard, Founder, President and CEO of Biomunex Pharmaceuticals. "Biomunex is a company whose objective is to develop new generations of immunotherapies to improve the treatment of cancers, solid and liquid. This nomination demonstrates the scientific and technological value of our proprietary BiXAb platform, a best-in-class technology for the identification, generation and development of innovative bi- and multi-specific antibodies, through which we have already established leading industrial partnerships. This new nomination for one of the Galien Foundation’s awards, which follows on from the 2019 nomination for our agreement with Sanofi, is a testament to the continuity of the high-quality work carried out at Biomunex.”

Dr. Simon Plyte, Chief Scientific Officer of Biomunex, added: “We are convinced that the new generation of immunotherapies, based on bi- and multi-specific antibodies, will contribute to change the paradigm of treatment for certain forms of cancers, solid and liquid. In particular, our MAIT cell redirection approach based on our BiXAb platform could lead to breakthrough therapeutic solutions for the treatment of solid cancers with unmet medical needs.”

Unlike conventional T-cell engagers, which target all CD3+ T cells, Biomunex's BiXAb-MAIT engagers target a receptor specific to MAIT cells, a cell subpopulation present in most tissues of the human body, and discovered by Dr. Olivier Lantz, from Institut Curie in Paris (FR), co-inventor of MAIT engager approach and scientific adviser of Biomunex. This unique mode of action enables them to enhance their efficacy in solid tumors, while reducing the risk of serious side effects, thus extending the therapeutic window. Biomunex intends to prepare and launch clinical trials for the evaluation of several BiXAb-MAIT engagers as soon as possible.

About Biomunex Pharmaceuticals: www.biomunex.com

Biomunex Pharmaceuticals is a biopharmaceutical company based in Paris (France) and Cambridge, MA, USA, led by an international and experienced team. Biomunex specializes in the discovery and development of breakthrough immunotherapeutic approaches, based on solid data and proven biological and clinical evidence, to address unmet medical needs in oncology.

Biomunex has created and developed BiXAb®, a robust, 'Plug and Play', next-generation bi- and multi-specific antibody technology platform, using a proprietary computational modeling approach, with a very robust IP and patent portfolio. The BiXAb platform, which allows the generation of bispecific antibodies from any pair of monoclonal antibodies in a simple, fast and cost-effective manner, has been validated through licensing agreements and collaborations with the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, with Sanofi in 2019 and Onward Therapeutics in 2021.

Biomunex is also the first company worldwide to develop an immuno-oncology approach that allows, through bispecific antibodies from its BiXAb platform, to specifically target, engage and redirect MAIT cells, a subpopulation of T cells naturally present throughout the body, most specifically in mucosal and barrier tissues, to kill cancer cells, for the treatment of solid tumors.