DGAP-News: CO.DON AG: CO.DON signs Letter of Intent with Xintela

CO.DON signs Letter of Intent with Xintela

Teltow / Berlin, 9th of July 2018 - As announced today per adhoc CO.DON has signed a Letter of Intent with Xintela. The parties intend to co-develop a stem cell product for the treatment of osteoarthritis, based on Xintela's stem cell technology.

CO.DON and Xintela intend to jointly develop stem cells for therapy of cartilage disorders including osteoarthritis in the European and North American markets. The parties have entered into discussions toward a joint venture arrangement where Xintela will provide its marker and stem cell technology and GMP production capabilities. CO.DON will provide funding and competence in clinical development and commercialization. The final structure and terms of the joint venture remain to be settled. CO.DON will pay an exclusivity fee covering the time needed to finalize the joint venture agreement.

"The intended cooperation with Xintela offers CO.DON the opportunity to play a leading role in the development of a forward-looking technology and, together with Xintela, to contribute to the possible development of a sustainable and causal treatment for one of the biggest "widespread diseases" of our time, osteoarthritis. We would like to seize this opportunity with our partner Xintela and look forward to the following discussions very positively," says CO.DON's CEO and project manager, Ralf M. Jakobs.

"This can be a very advantageous opportunity for Xintela. The collaboration will provide all the financing for the development of a stem cell product right from the preclinical stage. This would allow Xintela to focus on product development and manufacturing stem cells for clinical trials. In addition, CO.DON would bring valuable experience in clinical trials, regulatory and marketing. By working together with a proven cell therapy leader like codon we can lower the risk and shorten the time to market, says Xintela's CEO Evy Lundgren-Åkerlund.

Xintela AB(publ) develops medical products within regenerative medicine and oncology based on its proprietary marker technology, XINMARK(R). Xintela uses the technology to isolate and quality assure stem cells for the treatment of the joint disease osteoarthritis. Studies on horses have shown that the stem cells are safe and that they have a therapeutic effect on the articular cartilage and the underlying bone after an injury. Xintela has recently established its own GMP-facility to produce stem cells for clinical studies. Xintela is listed on Nasdaq First North Stockholm.

CO.DON AG develops, produces and markets autologous cell therapies for the minimally-invasive repair of cartilage damage in the knee joint following traumatic or degenerative defects. Spherox is a cell therapy product that uses only the patient's own cartilage cells ("autologous chondrocytes"). The treatment has been used in over 200 clinics to treat more than 12,000 patients. The company received EU marketing authorisation for Spherox in July 2017. The shares in CO.DON AG are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN: DE000A1K0227). Executive Board: Ralf M. Jakobs.

Further information is available from www.codon.de

Investor Relations and Press Contact:

Matthias Meißner, M.A.
Director Investor Relations / Public Relations
Tel. +49 (0)30 240352330
Fax +49 (0)30 240352309
Email: ir@codon.de