MATEON ADVISOR DR. SUHAS KSHIRSAGAR WILL PRESENT AT DELHI UNIVERSITY ON ARTISHIELD™ FOR IMPROVING SYMPTOMS FOR COVID-19

• Dr. Kshirsagar will speak on ARTIShield™ at Delhi University on Oct 28, 2020 in his talk titled “Ayurveda concepts of Pandemic and Immunity”
• Dr. Kshirsagar is advisor to Mateon on its Ayurvedic product ARTIShield™ in a global clinical trial to treat COVID-19.

AGOURA HILLS, Calif., Oct. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Mateon Therapeutics, Inc. (“Mateon” or the “Company”) (OTCQB: MATN) announced Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar, B.A.M.S, M.D. (Ayurveda), a worldwide renowned ayurvedic expert, as an advisor for Mateon’s Ayurvedic product ARTIShield™ in a global clinical trial for COVID-19. On Oct 28, 2020 he will present at the Delhi University forum “Advancement in Biological Sciences and Career Opportunities” on the status of the company’s global, multi-site, 2-arm control study of Dvipaantara Damanaka which has the pharmacopoeia name equated with Artemisia Absinthium. Artemisia is found throughout the hilly regions of India, ascending to an altitude of 3600 m in the Western Himalayas and to 2400 m in Sikkim and Khasi hills.

Dr. Suhas Kshirsagar BAMS, MD is a classically trained Ayurvedic Physician with over 30 years of clinical experience. He has worked extensively in the field of Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine and has designed several nutraceutical products with over $100 million in sales. He is the director of the Ayurvedic Healing and Integrative Wellness Clinic, and the author of The Hot Belly Diet and Change Your Schedule, Change Your Life. He has over 30 years of clinical experience, and is an acclaimed motivational speaker, a clinician, and a wellness educator. He has been instrumental in starting many Ayurvedic schools, designing curriculum, and training healthcare professionals. He has been featured on numerous radio & television shows, including the Dr. Oz show. He holds a B.A. in Ayurvedic medicine and completed a three-year residency as an M.D. (doctorate in Ayurvedic internal medicine) with a gold medal at the prestigious Pune University. He is an advisor and consultant at the Chopra Center and a faculty member at several Ayurvedic institutions.

ARTIShield™ is an ethnobiology drug approved for manufacture and marketing by the Ministry of AYUSH (India), for the treatment of flu-like symptoms including fever and inflammation. The clinical study expands the company’s in-vitro testing of the formulation, which showed activity better than remdesivir. The product, in co-development with its partner Windlas Biotech Pvt Ltd., is designed to be a readily available and cost-effective agent to combat COVID-19, with Windlas providing the capability to manufacture the doses necessary to support this endeavor.

"I look at this as an opportunity to create a perfect blend of ancient Ayurvedic wisdom with the latest science. It will inspire many Ayurvedic Doctors and researchers to explore the ethno-pharmacological model for drug discovery without diluting the strength of Ayurveda which is Lifestyle & Personalized Medicine", said Dr. Kshirsagar. He continued, “We anticipate bringing together key thought leaders, including Ayurvedic physicians, to study the benefits of ARTIShield™, which combines traditional medicine with scientific rigor applied by the Mateon team.”

“We are leveraging on the rich ethnobiology of Artemesia/Artemisinin for the rapid deployment of ARTIShield to address the COVID-19 global pandemic,” said Saran Saund, CBO of Mateon. “Dr. Kshirsagar will provide the company with leadership in the Ayurvedic physician community to study this safe and effective herb that has been used for centuries for common ailments such as fever and inflammation. It brings together the best of both worlds of traditional ayurvedic medicine combined with the pharmaceutical rigor of the biotech industry.”

COVID-19

ARTIShield™- an ethnobiology drug

Mateon is pursuing several avenues with respect to the development and commercialization of ARTIShield in the treatment of COVID-19. ARTIShield™ is Ayurveda - Dvipaantara Damanaka - and is labeled as a capsule containing Artemisia absinthium Powder 500mg. In October 2020, Mateon announced the following developments with respect to ARTIShield™.

Commercialization in India

Mateon announced that ARTIShield™ has been approved for manufacture and marketing by the Ministry 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. ARTIShield™ is in co-development with Windlas Biotech Pvt. Ltd., Mateon’s commercial partner for India and is designed to be a readily available and cost-effective agent to combat COVID-19. Mateon expects sales of ARTIShield™ will commence in India in the near future.

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 with India to contribute at least 300 patients to the total aggregate of 3000 patients. We expect preliminary top-line data for ARTI-19 sometime in the near future.

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-βRNA 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 DIPG (OT-101), melanoma (CA4P), and AML (OXi4503). For more information, please visit and .

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Contact Information:

For Mateon Therapeutics, Inc.:

Amit Shah

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