Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - June 28, 2024) - Defence Therapeutics Inc. (CSE: DTC) (OTCQB: DTCFF) (FSE: DTC) ("Defence" or the "Company"), a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing novel immune-oncology vaccines and drug delivery technologies, is please to announce that Defence's Accum-002^TM ("AccuTOX") has different mode of actions: AccuTOX is working as a tumor killing molecule and as an immune booster. AccuTOX mode of action synergizes with the activity of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors ("ICI") and the immune system itself.

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors produces promising therapeutic effects in treatments of solid tumors. However, their overall response rate is still very low for a few patients suffering of solid tumors. For example, melanoma patient is one population group having the best response with only 20% of patients having a complete or partial response to ICI treatment. To explain the intrinsic resistant of those majority of patients to the ICI treatment, the scientific community discovered that those tumors have a cold tumor environment which block the patient immune system to recognize and attack the cancer cells. This cold environment is translated in part by a low level of immune infiltrating cell inside the tumor and by decreasing the potential of the immune system to recognize tumor as a non healthy tissue and to promote the attack and destruction of tumor cells.

The scientific and medical community is seeking solutions to this intrinsic resistance by transforming this cold tumor into hot tumor by using combination treatments with ICI. This transformation into hot tumor will increase tumor vulnerability to ICI treatment and to the immune system attacks.

Defence Therapeutics team have discovered that the mode of action of AccuTOX exploits this tumor vulnerability by inducing immune system recruitment and increasing the tumor recognition by the immune system, which synergized with ICI mode of actions. Surprisingly and compared to competitors, AccuTOX induces the recruitment and/or the activation of different immune cells and transforms the cold tumor into very hot tumor which is easily recognized and attacked by the immune cells. These immune cells are responsible of tumor regression in context of ICI and other immunotherapy treatments. In other words, AccuTOX acts as an intelligent spotlight having specialized lens and biometric recognition software (facial and fingerprint recognition) for the immune system to recognize, focus, track and attack cancer tumors inside the body. AccuTOX has shown that it induces the death of cancer cells on its own mode of action and, more importantly, AccuTOX has the potential to transform a cold tumor into a hot tumor which the immune system will recognize, attack, and destroy.

AcccuTOX has the potential to treat more efficiently the patient who already has a positive response to ICI treatment and, in fact, AccuTOX can increase the patient population eligible to ICI treatment which shall increase the market of each existing ICI. The Company believes that AccuTOX is a strong candidate to enhance and boost the therapeutic value of the ICI and is open to potential partnerships and collaborations in that regard.

Defence's scientific team has shown in many in vivo preclinical studies that AccuTOX significantly increases the efficacy of several ICI (anti-PD1, anti-CD47, anti-LAG3 and anti-CTLA4) when combined with AccuTOX, by at least a factor of 10 folds, to treat different cancer indications. The PD1/PDL1 (which is the ICI used in most of Defence's AccuTOXin vivo preclinical studies) market is projected to grow from USD 36.4 Billion in 2023 to USD 139.7 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a CAGR of 18.3% during the forecast period of 2023-2032.

According to Allied Market Research, the global immune checkpoint inhibitors market was valued at USD $40.1 billion in 2022, and is projected to reach USD $189.4 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 16.8% from 2023 to 2032. The primary driver fueling the immune checkpoint inhibitors market is the rising global prevalence of cancer.

About Defence:
Defence Therapeutics is a publicly-traded clinical-stage biotechnology company working on engineering the next generation vaccines and ADC products using its proprietary platform. The core of Defence Therapeutics platform is the ACCUM technology, which enables precision delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs inside target cells and favoring their processing and activities. As a result, increased efficacy and potency can be reached against catastrophic illness such as cancer and infectious diseases.

For further information:
Sebastien Plouffe, President, CEO and Director
P: (514) 947-2272
Splouffe@defencetherapeutics.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding "Forward-Looking" Information

This release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". All statements in this release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause the actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include regulatory actions, market prices, and continued availability of capital and financing, and general economic, market or business conditions. Investors are cautioned that any such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs, estimates and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made. Except as required by applicable securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in the event that management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change.

Neither the CSE nor its market regulator, as that term is defined in the policies of the CSE, accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.