Helix Biopharma Corp. Announces Upcoming Poster Presentation at the 20th European Molecular Imaging Meeting in Bilbao, Spain

(Toronto, Ontario) – Helix BioPharma Corp. (TSX: “HBP”, OTC PINK: “HBPCD”, FRANKFURT: “HBP0”) (“Helix” or the “Company”), a clinical-stage oncology company shaping a near future where today’s hard-to-treat cancers are vincible, is pleased to announce an upcoming poster presentation highlighting the effects of Tumour Defence Breaker™, L-DOS47, in CEACAM6-expressing head and neck cancer cells and colon adenocarcinoma cells in tumor-bearing mice at the 20th European Molecular Imaging Meeting (“EMIM 2025”) taking place 11–14 March in Bilbao, Spain.

The study demonstrated that L-DOS47 effectively neutralizes the acidic tumor microenvironment (TME) in new CEACAM6-expressing solid tumors, a critical factor in tumor progression and immune evasion. In head and neck cancer and colon adenocarcinoma models, treatment with L-DOS47 raised tumor pH levels within 24 hours with a transient but measurable effect lasting up to 48 hours, effectively neutralizing acidity that fuels tumor growth. MRI scans and tissue analysis also revealed signs of tumor necrosis, underscoring L-DOS47’s impact on tumor viability. Importantly, the study confirmed that L-DOS47 precisely targets CEACAM6-expressing tumors while being safely cleared from the body. These results add to the growing evidence that L-DOS47 is a powerful Tumour Defence Breaker™, shifting the tumor microenvironment to make prevalent, hard-to-treat cancers more vulnerable to treatment.

The abstract and poster are publicly available on EMIM 2025’s Event Class platform via the following link: https://www.eventclass.it/emim2025/scientific/online-program/poster-session?s=PO+01 

Poster details:

Title: Paradigm Change in Oncoimmunology: Tumor antigen specific normalization of the extracellular pH in the tumor microenvironment of solid tumors by L-DOS47. 

Session: Poster Session I

Presentation date: Wednesday, 12 March 2025

Abstract Number: ONCO-011 

Presenters: Dimitri Stowbur, PhD, Postdoctoral Reasearch Fellow in Cancer Immunotherapy and Modulation of the Tumor Microenvironment, and Csaba Toemboely, PhD, Senior Researcher in Imaging probe development and cancer immunotherapy at the University of Tuebingen. 

About the European Molecular Imaging Meeting (EMIM) Annual Meeting
The European Molecular Imaging Meeting (EMIM) is a leading international conference dedicated to advancing molecular imaging and its applications in biomedical research. Organized by the European Society for Molecular Imaging (ESMI), the 20th EMIM brings together over 1,100 scientists, clinicians, and industry experts to explore the latest breakthroughs in imaging technologies, biomarkers, and translational research. The 2025 meeting will take place in Bilbao, Spain, from March 11–14, providing a platform for cutting-edge presentations, collaborative discussions, and emerging innovations that drive the future of molecular imaging. For more information, visit: https://e-smi.eu/. 

About Helix BioPharma
Helix BioPharma Corp. is an oncology company shaping a near future where today’s hard-to-treat cancers are made vincible by novel therapies that rise to the challenge. The Company innovates from strength to tackle cancer’s biggest, most urgent challenges with a diverse pipeline of drug candidates with great potential and a head start, honed into first- and best-in-class oncology medicines. Its pipeline is spearheaded by a clinical-stage proprietary technology platform of bio-conjugates that score with precision against prevalent CEACAM6-expressing solid tumors. Its lead candidate, Tumour Defence BreakerTM L-DOS47, is a clinical-stage antibody-enzyme conjugate (AEC) that neutralizes the microenvironment of common, hard-to-treat solid tumors, taking the brakes off anti-cancer immunity and delivering a game-changing assist to today’s front-running anti-cancer therapies. L-DOS47 has completed Phase Ib studies in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), with novel strategically designed bi-specific ADCs targeting CEACAM6 in discovery. 

Helix is listed on the TSX under the symbol “HBP”, on OTC PINK under the symbol “HBPCD” and on FWB under the symbol “HBP0”. For more information, please visit: https://www.helixbiopharma.com/

For more information, please contact:
Helix BioPharma Corp.
Bay Adelaide Centre – North Tower
40 Temperance Street, Suite 2
Toronto, ON M5H 0B4
Tel: 604-428-7050
Jacek Antas, Director
corporate@helixbiopharma.com

Forward-Looking Statements and Risks and Uncertainties 
This news release contains certain statements regarding Helix BioPharma Corp. that constitute forward-looking statements and information (collectively, “forward looking statements”) as defined by Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking statements include and are not limited to financial projections and expectations regarding Helix’s future business and operations, particularly related to the Company’s CEACAM6 platform, DOS47 and new asset transactions that Helix intends to close. These statements use terms like “estimates,” “expects,” “will,” and similar language indicating future events, or the negative thereof or any other comparable terminology referring to future events or results. 

However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties beyond Helix’s control, which may lead to actual results differing materially from those anticipated. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks relating to Helix’s financial condition, including (a) lack of significant revenues to date and reliance on equity and other financing; (b) business, including its stage of development, government regulation, development success of and market acceptance for its products, rapid technological change and dependence on key personnel; (c) intellectual property including the ability of Helix to protect its intellectual property and dependence on its strategic partners; and (d) capital structure, including its lack of dividends on its common shares, volatility of the market price of its common shares and public company costs. Forward-looking statements reflect the management’s current beliefs and are based on information available to the management on the date of this news release, and the Company does not assume the obligation to update any forward-looking statement should those beliefs change, except as required by law. Further information regarding these risks and uncertainties can be found in Helix’s periodic reports and information forms on the Company’s SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca.
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Jacek Antas

Chief Executive Officer


Jacek Antas is a shareholder of the Company, has spent more than 25 years in the financial services industry holding various positions in sales and consulting.

Mr. Antas obtained a master’s degree from the Warsaw School of Economics and has served as a board member of various
companies throughout his career.

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James B. Murphy

Chief Financial Officer


Mr. Murphy is a certified public accountant with over thirty years of experience in finance and operations management. He is currently a consultant with Danforth Advisors LLC (“Danforth”), a leading provider of outsourced strategic and operational specialists across functions in the life sciences industry. While at Danforth, Mr. Murphy has served over fifteen private and publicly held life sciences companies as CFO and CFO Advisor, helping them secure over USD 0.5 billion in financing and successfully execute pivotal asset transactions. Mr. Murphy functions as a consultant to Helix pursuant to a consulting agreement between the Company and Danforth.

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Thomas Mehrling

Medical Adviser


Thomas Mehrling (PhD in Pharmacology and MD) has over 20 years’ experience in multinational Pharma companies developing novel oncology compounds from preclinical research through to registration. Prior to entering the industry, he spent 13 years as an MD at the University Hospital in Frankfurt, working on preclinical and translational projects. He served as Director of European Oncology at Mundipharma International (2003–2013), building the company’s first European oncology business from the ground up out of Cambridge, UK, and completing the clinical development, registration and launch of two major products in Europe, DepoCyte® and Levact® (Ribomustin® and Treanda®). In 2013, he led the establishment of the Mundipharma Group’s start-up, Mundipharma EDO, developing anti-cancer therapeutics for solid tumours out of Basel, Switzerland.

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Kim Gaspar

Director Quality Assurance


Kim is the Director of Quality Assurance at Helix BioPharma Corp. An experienced quality assurance professional with expertise in Canadian, US, and EU regulations, she has been involved in all aspects of Phase I/II biopharmaceutical product development over the years, including regulatory submissions, QC laboratory compliance, tech transfer and third-party oversight of CMC activities, clinical QA, and bioanalytical data analysis. Kim joined Helix in 2000, transitioning into QA in 2003. She holds a B.Sc in Biochemistry and a Ph.D in Veterinary Physiological Sciences, both from the University of Saskatchewan.

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Brenda Lee

Director Clinical Operations


Brenda is the Clinical Operations Director at Helix Biopharma Corp. A clinical research operations professional with 25 years of experience managing clinical trials, ranging from early Phase I to late Phase IIIb/IV studies, she brings experience in clinical study protocol writing and development, trial start-up and vendor management, and a proven track record in planning and managing clinical trials to quality standards, timelines and budget. Brenda joined Helix Biopharma Corp. in 2018, working to advance the clinical program of L-DOS47. She holds B.Sc and M.Sc. degrees from the University of Toronto, specializing in Nutritional Sciences and Human Biology.

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Jerzy Leszczynski

Director


Jerzy Leszczynski is a shareholder of the Company, has spent more than 35 years developing businesses and has served in the capacity of board member of various real estate development companies. Mr. Leszczynski obtained his Master of Science in Chemistry from the Warsaw Institute of Technology.

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Janusz Grabski

Director, Chair of Audit Committee


Janusz (John) Grabski is a lawyer specialized in corporate and real estate law with over twenty years of experience.

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Malgorzata Laube

Director


Malgorzata Laube has over 19 years of experience in nuclear medicine. In her last role with Alberta Health Services, she was the Department Supervisor, Nuclear Medicine at Royal Alexandra Hospital. Ms. Laube obtained a MSc degree in Environmental Engineering from the Warsaw University of Technology and is based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

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Jacek Antas

Chairman of the Board


Jacek Antas is a shareholder of the Company, has spent more than 25 years in the financial services industry holding various positions in sales and consulting.

Mr. Antas obtained a master’s degree from the Warsaw School of Economics and has served as a board member of various
companies throughout his career.

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Jonathan Davis

Advisor, ADC Discovery


Jonathan Davis received his Ph.D. from University of California, San Francisco, where he studied protein structure and function using NMR. After a post-doc at Harvard Medical School exploring RNA selection and structure in the labs of Jack Szostak and Gerhard Wagner, he went to work at EMD Serono, where his work involved improving antibody-based therapeutics, inventing a platform technology for generating heterodimeric Fcs as a basis for multifunctional molecules, and developing a novel scaffold based on an artificially-designed protein from David Baker’s lab. In 2008 he took a job at Bristol-Myers Squibb in Waltham/Cambridge MA, working on antibody discovery and platform development in a wide range of therapeutic areas, with a particular focus on multispecific therapeutics. He moved to Madison, WI in 2019 to take on the role of VP of Innovation and Strategy at Invenra, a biotech focused on bispecific antibodies, and where he is currently head of the Scientific Advisory Board. In early 2024 he left the corporate world to found Creative Antibodies, a consulting firm that helps guide companies to successful antibody discovery and development projects, from mAbs to multispecifics, ADCs, and other formats. Outside of science, Jonathan is a conservatory trained cellist, plays numerous other instruments, and founded the UCSF Orchestra (now Symphony Parnassus) in San Francisco, where he was Music Director for six years.

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Davide Guggi

Advisor, CMC


Davide graduated as a pharmacist and received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology from the University of Vienna. He has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, principally in the field of oncology. At the beginning of his career, Davide led oncology business units and commercial departments at Mundipharma and Gilead across Austria and Eastern Europe. Since over 10 years he has been working as a CMC expert, covering operational and regulatory CMC functions on behalf of over 20 different small- and medium-sized biotech companies across the world. He has served as CMC Director and CSO/CTO for several years, developing both small molecules and biologics (mABs, Fab, ADCs and Radio-immuno-conjugates) from early discovery to NDA/BLA in the US, EU and Canada, with a focus on First-in-Human and Phase I/II studies in oncology indications.

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Tumor Defense Breaker™, L-DOS47


L‑DOS47 is a first‑in‑class, clinical-stage antibody‑enzyme conjugate designed to deliver a game-changing assist to anti-cancer immunity and today’s leading cancer immunotherapies for the treatment of prevalent, hard-to-treat solid tumors. The compound precisely targets CEACAM6, a cell-surface protein overexpressed in non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and other aggressive tumors, where it delivers an enzymatic payload that raises the extracellular pH of the acidic tumor microenvironment (TME). By neutralizing tumor acidity, L-DOS47 restores immune cell infiltration and activity, helps turn immunologically “cold” tumors “hot”, and enhances the therapeutic reach of immune checkpoint inhibitors. With patented composition-of-matter coverage through 2036 and demonstrated synergy with PD-1 inhibitor, pembrolizumab, L-DOS47 is poised to significantly increase the efficacy of immune checkpoint blockade and unlock broader and more durable responses in NSCLC and other aggressive solid tumors.

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LEUMUNA™


LEUMUNA™ is an oral immune checkpoint modulator designed to activate the donor immune system to recognize and fight relapsing leukemia in patients who have undergone allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT). Although a life-saving procedure, up to 30% of patients who undergo allo-SCT see their cancer return, facing a median survival of just four months. LEUMUNA aims to offer these patients a new lease on life, by activating an immune cascade and inciting graft-versus-leukemia (GvL) effect, potentially offering long-term remission. Backed by strong preclinical data and a promising safety record from trials with its precursor compound, ulodesine, LEUMUNA offers a patient‑friendly, oral approach to a difficult-to-treat condition, with patent protection through 2041 and an Orphan Drug Designation granted by the US FDA.

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GEMCEDA™


GEMCEDA is a first-in-class oral prodrug of gemcitabine that opens up the possibility for convenient at-home administration, metronomic dosing and seamless integration into combination regimens with immune checkpoint inhibitors. To date, gemcitabine is only administered intravenously because oral forms have shown poor bioavailability of about 10%. GEMCEDA was developed as a prodrug to enable new uses of gemcitabine by combining it with cedazuridine, an enzyme inhibitor that helps boost its bioavailability to 90%. This remarkable innovation allows for greater flexibility in dosing schedules, fewer clinic visits, and a better quality of life, while achieving bioavailability on par with intravenous gemcitabine. Supported by a well‑established safety profile, scalable manufacturing, and patent coverage to 2043, GEMCEDA reimagines how chemotherapy can fit into patients’ lives.

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