Strong interest from Saudi investment funds in CEL-SCI, Multikine, and potential joint venture to address the wider Middle East and North Africa market

Patient access and reimbursement/sale in Saudi Arabia within approximately 60 days following filing for Breakthrough Medicine Designation

CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE American: CVM) today announced it has reached an agreement with one of Saudi Arabia’s premier pharmaceutical and healthcare companies for a partnership that spans regulatory and commercial activities for Multikine* (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) in the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia. The formal agreement is expected to be signed with the Saudi pharmaceutical partner which will file a Breakthrough Medicine Designation application for Multikine with the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) in the coming weeks. According to the SFDA, the response time to a Breakthrough Medicine Designation application is approximately 60 days. Following the granting of the Breakthrough Medicine Designation, Multikine would immediately become available for patient access and reimbursement/sale in Saudi Arabia. Several leading Saudi funds have expressed interest in investing in Multikine, CEL-SCI, and/or a potential joint venture to serve the wider Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market.

While CEL-SCI has the option of filing for Breakthrough Medicine Designation directly, the Company made a strategic decision to collaborate with its local partner for the regulatory filing and subsequent commercial distribution in Saudi Arabia. In a prior meeting with the SFDA, the Saudi regulatory agency provided guidance and encouragement to seek breakthrough approval for Multikine in head and neck cancer. CEL-SCI and its Saudi pharma partner believe that Multikine meets all requirements for Breakthrough Medicine Designation as published by the SFDA and are now developing a comprehensive commercialization plan. This plan leverages the partner’s deep expertise in the local healthcare market to rapidly take Multikine through regulatory approvals and into distribution.

“We have been directly, and through our representative, First Berlin of Germany and its local Saudi representatives, engaging with medical, regulatory and financial experts in Saudi Arabia in preparation for the regulatory filing to the SFDA. These meetings and the support of leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, healthcare and other sectors in Saudi Arabia, are critical ingredients to bringing our cancer drug to market in the Kingdom. Several meetings have also occurred with some of the most important Saudi Arabian funds that have expressed interest in investing in CEL-SCI directly or the venture between CEL-SCI and our Saudi pharma partner,” stated CEL-SCI CEO, Geert Kersten.

Martin Bailey, Managing Director and Founder of First Berlin, commented, “We are seeing a significant level of interest in Multikine and CEL-SCI amongst Saudi investment and healthcare leaders. What CEL-SCI offers is exactly in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative which seeks to make the Kingdom a global biotech hub. Given the SFDA’s short timeline, this is a near term opportunity for local in-country investors to help bring a much-needed cancer treatment to market while also supporting their nation’s health-tech goals.”

Multikine is an immunotherapy administered before surgery as a treatment for newly diagnosed previously untreated head and neck cancer. In the world’s largest head and neck cancer study spanning 20 countries, Multikine increased the 5-year survival rate of the target patient population to 73% vs 45% in patients treated with standard of care alone. The 5-year risk of death was halved from 55% to 27%.

About the SFDA’s Breakthrough Medicine Program

The SFDA Breakthrough Medicine Program aims to facilitate and accelerate development and review of new drugs that address unmet medical needs in the treatment of serious or life-threatening conditions in alignment with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative. The program is voluntary and based on early dialogue with drug developers to optimize development plans and speed up evaluation. The goal is to ensure that promising medicines are available as soon as it can be concluded that the medicines’ benefits justify their risks.

Eligibility include having to fulfill all of the following four criteria in order to gain a Breakthrough Medicine Designation:

• Target serious debilitating or life-threatening conditions with unmet medical need.
• The medicinal product is likely to offer major advantage over methods currently used.
• The potential adverse effects of the medicinal product are considered to be outweighed by the benefits, allowing for the reasonable expectation of a positive benefit/risk balance.
• The product is not registered at any regulatory authority at the time of submission of the designation request.

About CEL-SCI Corporation

CEL-SCI believes that boosting a patient’s immune system before surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have damaged it, should provide the greatest possible impact on survival. Multikine is designed to help the immune system "target" the tumor at a time when the immune system is still relatively intact and thereby thought to be better able to mount an attack on the tumor.

Multikine (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection), given right after diagnosis and before surgery, has been dosed in over 740 patients and received Orphan Drug designation from the FDA for neoadjuvant therapy in patients with squamous cell carcinoma (cancer) of the head and neck.

The Company has operations in Vienna, Virginia, and near/in Baltimore, Maryland.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. When used in this press release, the words "intends," "believes," "anticipated," "plans" and "expects," and similar expressions, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include an inability to duplicate the clinical results demonstrated in clinical studies, timely development of any potential products that can be shown to be safe and effective, inability to receive necessary regulatory approvals, difficulties in manufacturing any of the Company's potential products, inability to raise the necessary capital, inability to finalize a partnering agreement and the risk factors set forth from time to time in CEL-SCI's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to its report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2024. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revision to these forward-looking statements which may be made to reflect the events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

* Multikine (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection) is the trademark that CEL-SCI has registered for this investigational therapy. This proprietary name is subject to FDA review in connection with the Company's future anticipated regulatory submission for approval. Multikine has not been licensed or approved for sale, barter or exchange by the FDA or any other regulatory agency. Similarly, its safety or efficacy has not been established for any use.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250711051288/en/

We are seeing a significant level of interest in Multikine and CEL-SCI amongst Saudi investment and healthcare leaders. What CEL-SCI offers is exactly in line with Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 initiative which seeks to make the Kingdom a global biotech hub.