MagForce AG Announces Opening of New NanoTherm Treatment Center for Brain Tumor Patients at Mühlhausen Hufeland Clinic in Thuringia, Germany

DGAP-News: MagForce AG / Key word(s): Miscellaneous
08.12.2020 / 08:30
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

MagForce AG Announces Opening of New NanoTherm Treatment Center for Brain Tumor Patients at Mühlhausen Hufeland Clinic in Thuringia, Germany

• All audits of the new NanoTherm treatment center at the Mühlhausen Hufeland Clinic have been completed, first patients are anticipated to be treated in December 2020
• The center is managed by PD Dr. Johannes Wölfer, head physician of the Department of Neurosurgery and Spinal Surgery at the Mühlhausen site, who has many years of experience in using the NanoTherm Therapy System
• New range of therapies to strengthen specialization in neurology/neurosurgery at the Hufeland Clinic and create a medical light-house project in Central Germany

Berlin, December 08, 2020 - MagForce AG (Frankfurt, Scale, Xetra: MF6, ISIN: DE000A0HGQF5), a leading medical device company in the field of nanomedicine focused on oncology, today announced the installation completion of the new NanoTherm treatment center for patients with brain tumors at the Hufeland Clinic in Mühlhausen, Thuringia, Germany. The audit to certify electrical and medical safety has been concluded positively. Hence, the treatment of brain tumor patients is expected to commence still in December 2020. With the opening of the new NanoTherm treatment center, patients with recurrent malignant brain tumors can now be treated with MagForce's novel NanoTherm technology.

The center is managed by Privatdozent (PD) Dr. Johannes Wölfer, head physician of the Department of Neurosurgery and Spinal Surgery. "The insidious thing about a malignant brain tumor or glioma is that, as a rule, the tumors return some months after the initial operation and standard treatment. At this point there are no longer any standard therapies that can be applied. This is where NanoTherm therapy begins," said Chief Physician PD Dr. Johannes Wölfer. " For many gliomas, surgery, i.e. the removal of the tumor as far as possible, is top priority. If the tumor returns despite all treatments, which in 90 percent of cases occurs at the edges of the former resection, then we use a new application method, in which we apply nanoparticles at the tumor resection rim. These particles are subsequently heated so that cancer cells are irreparably destroyed, or weakened and made more sensitive to concomitant radiotherapy or chemotherapy. There are also signs that the heat generated by thermotherapy not only burns the malignant tissue, but can also rearm the immune system against the tumor."

As a long-standing expert in the use of MagForce's NanoTherm Therapy System, PD Dr. Wölfer has treated brain tumor patients with the NanoTherm Therapy System since the beginning of 2015. In his previous position as assistant director of the neurosurgical department at the University Hospital Münster, PD Dr. Wölfer successfully used the new application method for nanoparticles, "NanoPaste", for the first time in 2016. The team was able to show that the effectiveness of thermotherapy can be significantly enhanced, if the heat-generating nanoparticles are applied around the edge of the resection cavity that remains after the brain tumor has been removed. For its research, the team was awarded the "Best Abstract Award" of the EANS congress, among others.

The Hufeland Clinic at the Mühlhausen site in Thuringia is the fourth clinic in Europe offering MagForce's NanoTherm Therapy System for the commercial treatment of brain tumors. As one of the academic teaching hospitals of the University of Göttingen, the hospital draws on over 100 years of experience as a successful healthcare and medical service provider.

"We are very pleased that despite the current difficult global situation, another competent center for the treatment of brain tumor patients with our NanoTherm Therapy System has been established in Central Germany. Time is of the essence for these patients. This understanding continues to motivate us to work hard to achieve our European expansion goals and provide NanoTherm therapy conveniently to those in need," said Dr. Ben Lipps, Chief Executive Officer of MagForce AG and MagForce USA, Inc.

The role of NanoTherm therapy in the treatment of brain tumors

NanoTherm therapy is a relatively new procedure for the focal treatment of solid tumors. Simplified summary: Magnetic nanoparticles are instilled either directly into the tumor or into the resection cavity wall. These particles are then heated by an alternating magnetic field, thereby destroying the cancer cells.

The nanoparticles are tiny particles of iron oxide suspended in water, i.e. very finely distributed, with a diameter of approximately 15 nanometers. One nanometer corresponds to a millionth of a millimeter. As soon as they are applied, the particles agglomerate and remain in the tissue to be treated like an implant. The particles are then made to generate heat in an alternating magnetic field that changes polarity at up to 100,000 times per second.

Depending on the therapeutic temperatures reached in the tumor or individual remaining cancer cells in the resection cavity wall and the duration of treatment, the cancer cells are either irreparably destroyed, or they become weakened and more sensitive to accompanying radio- or chemotherapy. The application method of the nanoparticles is decided individually by the treating neurosurgeon.

This new technique makes it possible to fight the tumor from the inside or, after surgical removal of the tumor, to ensure that isolated residual tumor cells in the resection cavity wall - which could trigger recurrences - are fought and destroyed. The surrounding healthy tissue is spared, since the particles remain at the site of application due to their special surface structure.

About MagForce AG and MagForce USA, Inc.

MagForce AG, listed in the Scale segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (MF6, ISIN: DE000A0HGQF5), together with its subsidiary MagForce USA, Inc. is a leading medical device company in the field of nanomedicine focused on oncology. The Group's proprietary NanoTherm(R) therapy system enables the targeted treatment of solid tumors through the intratumoral generation of heat via activation of superparamagnetic nanoparticles.

NanoTherm(R), NanoPlan(R), and NanoActivator(R) are components of the therapy and have received EU-wide regulatory approval as medical devices for the treatment of brain tumors. MagForce, NanoTherm, NanoPlan, and NanoActivator are trademarks of MagForce AG in selected countries.

For more information, please visit: www.magforce.com
Get to know our Technology: video (You Tube)
Stay informed and subscribe to our mailing list

Press and investor contact information:

Barbara von Frankenberg
VP Communications & Investor Relations
T +49-30-308380-77
M bfrankenberg@magforce.com

Disclaimer:
This release may contain forward-looking statements and information which may be identified by formulations using terms such as "expects", "aims", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates" or "will". Such forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and certain assumptions, which may be subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties. The results actually achieved by MagForce AG may substantially differ from these forward-looking statements. MagForce AG assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements or to correct them in case of developments, which differ from those, anticipated.

08.12.2020 Dissemination of a Corporate News, transmitted by DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Archive at www.dgap.de