Spring Bank and Arbutus Biopharma Announce Preclinical Collaboration in Study of Chronic Hepatitis B

HOPKINTON, Mass., Dec. 19, 2016 -- Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SBPH), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of viral infections, cancer, and inflammatory diseases, and Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (NASDAQ:ABUS) today announced an agreement to perform collaborative preclinical studies in chronic Hepatitis B virus (HBV) involving the co-administration of Spring Bank’s SB 9200, an orally-available selective immune-modulator, and Arbutus Biopharma’s AB-423, a capsid assembly inhibitor. SB 9200 and AB-423 are each investigational compounds currently under development by the respective companies for the treatment of chronic HBV.

“The preclinical study of the combination of SB 9200 and AB-423 is the first step in evaluating how a capsid assembly inhibitor can be combined with an oral immune-modulator in the treatment of chronic HBV and potentially lead to novel combination therapeutic strategies for patients with chronic HBV," stated Nezam Afdhal, M.D., chief medical officer of Spring Bank. “We look forward to working with the team at Arbutus as we advance this collaboration.”

About SB 9200

SB 9200 is Spring Bank’s novel small molecule, orally-available selective immune-modulator compound being developed as both monotherapy and combination therapy as a backbone for the treatment of chronic HBV and other viral diseases. SB 9200 is currently being studied in the ACHIEVE Phase II global trial. Part A of the ACHIEVE study is a placebo-controlled, sequential cohort, double blind trial to evaluate increasing doses of SB 9200 as monotherapy for 12 weeks followed by tenofovir disoproxil fumarate 300mg (Viread® Gilead Sciences Inc.) for a further 12 weeks. Part B of the ACHIEVE study will evaluate SB 9200 in combination with tenofovir and as monotherapy versus tenofovir monotherapy after the optimal doses of SB 9200 are determined in Part A.

About Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals

Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery and development of a novel class of therapeutics using its proprietary small molecule nucleic acid hybrid, or SMNH, chemistry platform. SMNH compounds are small segments of nucleic acids that the company designs to selectively target and modulate the activity of specific proteins implicated in various disease states. The company is developing its most advanced SMNH product candidate, SB 9200, for the treatment of viral diseases, including hepatitis B virus. SB 9200 has been designed to selectively activate within infected cells the cellular proteins, retinoic acid-inducible gene 1, or RIG-I, and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-containing protein 2, or NOD2, which have been implicated in the body’s immune response to viral infections. Spring Bank believes that SB 9200 may play an important role in antiviral therapy by modulating the body’s immune response through its mechanisms of action to fight viral infections such as HBV.

Spring Bank Safe Harbor Statement:

Any statements in this press release about Spring Bank’s future expectations, plans and prospects, including statements about Spring Bank’s financial prospects, future operations and sufficiency of funds for future operations, clinical development of Spring Bank’s product candidates, expectations regarding future clinical trials and future expectations and plans and prospects for Spring Bank and other statements containing the words "believes," "anticipates," "estimates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "predicts," "projects," "targets," "may," "potential," "will," "would," "could," "should," "continue," and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including whether Spring Bank’s cash resources will be sufficient to fund its continuing operations for the periods anticipated; whether results obtained in clinical trials will be indicative of results obtained in future clinical trials; whether Spring Bank’s product candidates will advance through the clinical trial process on a timely basis; whether the results of such trials will warrant submission for approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies; whether Spring Bank’s product candidates will receive approval from regulatory agencies on a timely basis or at all; whether, if product candidates obtain approval, they will be successfully distributed and marketed; and other risks and uncertainties identified under the heading "Risk Factors" included in the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on December 16, 2016, and in other filings Spring Bank makes with the SEC from time to time. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent Spring Bank’s views as of the date hereof. Spring Bank anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Spring Bank’s views to change. However, while Spring Bank may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Spring Bank specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Spring Bank’s views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.

Contact:

Jon Freve
Chief Financial Officer
Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals
(508) 473-5993
[email protected]