Saint-Gobain Announces Agreement with Argos Therapeutics...

Saint-Gobain Announces Agreement with Argos Therapeutics for Production of Disposables Used in Automated Manufacturing of Fully Personalized Immunotherapies

Collaboration will support commercial production of Argos immunotherapies based on the Arcelis® technology platform

AURORA, OH – Jan. 7, 2015 Saint-Gobain, a global leader in high-performance components and solutions using engineered polymers for the biopharmaceutical, pharmaceutical and medical industries, has entered into an agreement with Argos Therapeutics to design, integrate and scale production of a range of plastic disposables for use in the automated manufacturing of Argos’ lead product candidate, AGS-003. AGS-003 is currently being tested in a phase III clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC).

“We believe Saint-Gobain is the ideal partner to provide us with disposables that meet the technical specifications we need in the manufacturing of our personalized immunotherapies,” says Jeff Abbey, president and CEO of Argos. “Their commitment to this development program and to Argos is a critical step in our effort to bring together all of the high quality resources and expertise we need to support the potential future commercialization of AGS-003. The utilization of their disposables with our automated production technology positions us to maximize throughput while processing biomaterials from multiple patients simultaneously in the same automated manufacturing suite.”

“Argos’ Arcelis® technology platform shows clear potential to support development of a range of autologous cell therapies that could change the future of patient care in cancer and infectious diseases. We are excited about the opportunity to partner with the Argos team to develop and supply the essential range of disposables that will be required to advance AGS-003 through late stage development and on to commercialization” says Steve Maddox, General Manager of Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics’ Life Sciences business unit. We believe our capabilities in design, component manufacturing and custom fluid transfer assemblies, as well as testing and validation, are ideally suited to this cell therapy manufacturing automation project.”

About the Arcelis® Technology Platform
Arcelis® is a fully personalized immunotherapy technology that captures mutated and variant antigens that are specific to each patient's disease. It is designed to overcome immunosuppression by producing a durable memory T-cell response without adjuvants that may be associated with toxicity. The technology is potentially applicable to a wide range of different cancers and infectious diseases and is designed to overcome many of the manufacturing and commercialization challenges that have impeded other personalized immunotherapies. The Arcelis® process uses only a small tumor or blood sample and the patient's own dendritic cells, which are collected and optimized following a single leukapheresis procedure. The proprietary process uses RNA isolated from the patient's disease sample to program dendritic cells to target disease antigens. The activated, antigen-loaded dendritic cells are then formulated into the patient's plasma and administered via intradermal injection.

About Argos Therapeutics
Argos Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of fully personalized immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases using its Arcelis® technology platform. Argos' most advanced product candidate, AGS-003, is being evaluated in the pivotal ADAPT phase 3 clinical trial for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). The Company is also developing a second Arcelis®-based product candidate, AGS-004, for the treatment of HIV, currently being evaluated in a phase 2 clinical trial in combination with a latency reversing drug for HIV eradication in adult patients. For more information about Argos Therapeutics, visit www.argostherapeutics.com.

About Saint-Gobain
Saint-Gobain’s Performance Plastics business is headquartered in Aurora, Ohio, and employs approximately 6,000 people in 22 countries. It is a world leader in high-performance plastics, including flexible tubing, seals, coated fabrics, foams, window film, barrier/release films, tapes, medical components, fluid handling systems and bearings.

Saint-Gobain, the world leader in the habitat and construction markets, designs, manufactures and distributes building and high-performance materials, providing innovative solutions to the challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection. With 2013 sales of $55.8 billion, Saint-Gobain operates in 64 countries and has nearly 190,000 employees.

For more information visit www.plastics.saint-gobain.com, www.biopharm.saint-gobain.com, www.saint-gobain.com and www.saint-gobain-northamerica.com.