Celator Pharmaceuticals® Announces VYXEOS™ Granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation

EWING, N.J., May 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPXX) today announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted Breakthrough Therapy designation to VYXEOS (also known as CPX-351). VYXEOS is an investigational product in development as a treatment for AML and other blood cancers.

The Breakthrough Therapy designation is primarily based upon the positive results from the pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in older patients with previously untreated high-risk (secondary) AML.  The designation is for the treatment of adults with therapy-related AML (t-AML) or AML with myelodysplasia-related changes (AML-MRC).  This designation includes the patient populations enrolled in the Phase 3 clinical trial.

The Phase 3 trial met its primary endpoint demonstrating a statistically significant improvement in overall survival.  Data will be presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2016 Annual Meeting on Saturday, June 4^th.

The median overall survival for patients treated with VYXEOS in the study was 9.56 months compared to 5.95 months for patients receiving 7+3, representing a 3.61 month improvement in favor of VYXEOS.  The hazard ratio (HR) was 0.69 (p=0.005), which represents a 31% reduction in the risk of death versus 7+3.   The percentage of patients alive 12 months after randomization was 41.5% on the VYXEOS arm compared to 27.6% on the 7+3 arm.  The percentage of patients alive 24 months after randomization was 31.1% on the VYXEOS arm compared to 12.3% on the 7+3 arm.

Sixty-day all-cause mortality was 13.7% versus 21.2%, in favor of patients treated with VYXEOS.

No substantial difference in Grade 3-5 adverse events was observed between VYXEOS and 7+3. In the intent-to-treat population, Grade 3-5, hematologic adverse events were similar for overall infections, febrile neutropenia, and bleeding events. In the intent-to-treat population, Grade 3-5, non-hematologic adverse events were similar across all organ systems, including cardiac, gastrointestinal, general systems, metabolic disorders, musculoskeletal, nervous system, respiratory, skin and renal.

"We are very happy the FDA granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for VYXEOS," said Scott Jackson, Chief Executive Officer of Celator Pharmaceuticals.  "The breadth of the designation, which includes all adults with t-AML and AML-MRC, is encouraging as AML patients are in need of advancements in treatment.  We look forward to working with the FDA to bring VYXEOS to patients as quickly as possible."

FDA awards Breakthrough Therapy designation in order to expedite the development and review of new medicines that are intended to treat serious or life-threatening diseases when the therapy has demonstrated substantial improvement over available therapies on at least one clinically significant endpoint or when there is significant unmet medical need.

Celator plans to submit a New Drug Application (NDA) to the FDA by the end of the third quarter of 2016.

About Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc., with locations in Ewing, N.J., and Vancouver, B.C., is an oncology-focused biopharmaceutical company that is transforming the science of combination therapy, and developing products to improve patient outcomes in cancer. Celator's proprietary technology platform, CombiPlex®, enables the rational design and rapid evaluation of optimized combinations of anti-cancer drugs, incorporating traditional chemotherapies as well as molecularly targeted agents to deliver enhanced anti-cancer activity. CombiPlex addresses several fundamental shortcomings of conventional combination regimens, as well as the challenges inherent in combination drug development, by identifying the most effective synergistic molar ratio of the drugs being combined in vitro, and fixing this ratio in a nano-scale drug delivery complex to maintain the optimized combination after administration and ensuring exposure of this ratio to the tumor. Celator's lead product is VYXEOS™ (also known as CPX-351), a nano-scale liposomal formulation of cytarabine:daunorubicin that has completed a Phase 3 trial for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. Celator has also conducted clinical development on CPX-1, a nano-scale liposomal formulation of irinotecan:floxuridine studied in colorectal cancer; and have a preclinical stage product candidate, CPX-8, a hydrophobic docetaxel prodrug nanoparticle formulation. More recently, the company has advanced its CombiPlex platform and broadened its application to include molecularly targeted therapies. For more information, please visit Celator's website at www.celatorpharma.com. Information on ongoing trials is available at www.clinicaltrials.gov.

Forward-Looking Statements 
To the extent that statements contained in this press release are not descriptions of historical facts regarding Celator, they are forward-looking statements reflecting the current beliefs and expectations of management made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "may," "will," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "intend," and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, among others, statements regarding the safety, potential efficacy, therapeutic potential, our expectations regarding the timing of our regulatory filings and the timing of regulatory approvals, and commercial potential of VYXEOS, our expectations regarding our research and development programs, expanding our pipeline and advancing our CombiPlex platform, our ability to pursue R&D collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and our expectation regarding the sufficiency of our working capital. Forward-looking statements in this release involve substantial risks and uncertainties that could cause our clinical development programs, future results, working capital, performance or achievements to differ significantly from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, among others, the uncertainties inherent in the regulatory process, whether the final results of our clinical studies will be supportive of regulatory approval to market VYXEOS and other matters that could affect the commercial potential of our drug candidates, the uncertainties inherent in the conduct of future clinical studies, enrollment in clinical studies and whether clinical trial results obtained to date will be predictive of future results. Celator undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of Celator in general, see Celator's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and other filings by Celator with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

CONTACTS:
Media:

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Investors:

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SOURCE Celator Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

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