Exhibit 99.1
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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December 8, 2008
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CONTACTS: |
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Brent Larson,
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Lee Stern,
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Vice President / CFO
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The Trout Group
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614 822.2330
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646.378.2922 |
NEOPROBE ACHIEVES FINAL MILESTONE IN $13 MILLION FINANCING WITH POSITIVE
PHASE 3 BREAST CANCER AND MELANOMA RESULTS
Lymphoseek Clinical Progress and Results Triggers Closing on $3 Million in Convertible Preferred Stock
DUBLIN, OHIO December 8, 2008 Neoprobe Corporation (OTCBB:NEOP News), a diversified
developer of innovative oncology and cardiovascular surgical and diagnostic products, today
announced that it has completed a $3 million convertible preferred stock and warrant investment by
Platinum-Montaur Life Sciences, LLC (Montaur). The investment closed following the achievement of
favorable initial Phase 3 Lymphoseek® results in patients with breast cancer or
melanoma. To date, the results show a concordance rate in excess of 96% for lymph nodes identified
with Lymphoseek and patent blue dyes. Neoprobe received the third funding of $3 million in
exchange for convertible preferred stock and warrants to purchase common stock of Neoprobe. The
third funding brings Montaurs total investment in Neoprobe to $13 million.
Michael M. Goldberg, M.D., Montaurs healthcare portfolio manager, said, We are very pleased with
the progress that Neoprobe is making. We have seen the raw data in the open label Phase 3 study and
believe the results suggest that Lymphoseek is well positioned to successfully meet the regulatory
requirements for approval. Neoprobe stands out in this difficult financing environment, in that it
is well positioned with adequate financial resources to advance its lead product to
commercialization. The Company has an excellent partner for this product and a robust pipeline with
the recent progress with their RIGS® product.
The completion of the third funding by Montaur enables us to continue the development of
Lymphoseek and validates our business strategy, said David Bupp, Neoprobes President and CEO.
The commercialization of Lymphoseek, in concert with the dominant radiopharmaceutical distributor
in the U.S., creates a commercial opportunity for Neoprobe in excess of $250 million annually. In
addition, the recent receipt of very positive scientific advice from the centralized European
regulatory authority on RIGScan® CR has provided us with a clear pathway for the
commercialization of a second drug with an annual market potential in excess of $2 billion. The
achievement of positive Phase 3 results for Lymphoseek and the affirmation of the development plan
for RIGS coupled with the continuing commercial success of our gamma device products portend an
auspicious future for Neoprobe and its shareholders.
Lymphoseek is a proprietary radioactive tracing agent being developed for use in connection with
gamma detection devices in a surgical procedure known as Intraoperative Lymphatic Mapping (ILM). A
Phase 3 multi-center clinical trial for Lymphoseek in patients with breast cancer or melanoma is
underway and a protocol for a second Phase 3 clinical study to evaluate the efficacy of Lymphoseek
as a sentinel lymph node tracing agent in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma has
been submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.
The preferred shares are fully convertible at the option of Montaur into shares of Neoprobe common
stock at a conversion price of $0.50 per share. In addition, Neoprobe issued Montaur warrants to
purchase 6,000,000 shares of Neoprobe common stock at an exercise price of $0.58 per share. WBB
Securities LLC acted as the sole placement agent in the transaction with Montaur.
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NEOPROBE CORPORATION
ADD 2
About Neoprobe
Neoprobe is a biomedical company focused on enhancing patient care and improving patient outcome by
meeting the critical intraoperative diagnostic information needs of physicians and therapeutic
treatment needs of patients. Neoprobe currently markets the neoprobe® GDS line of gamma
detection systems that are widely used by cancer surgeons and is commercializing the
Quantix® line of blood flow measurement products developed by its subsidiary,
Cardiosonix Ltd. In addition, Neoprobe holds significant interests in the development of related
biomedical systems and radiopharmaceutical agents including Lymphoseek® and
RIGScan® CR. Neoprobes subsidiary, Cira Biosciences, Inc., is also advancing a
patient-specific cellular therapy technology platform called ACT. Neoprobes strategy is to
deliver superior growth and shareholder return by maximizing its strong position in gamma detection
technologies and diversifying into new, synergistic biomedical markets through continued investment
and selective acquisitions.www.neoprobe.com
Statements in this news release, which relate to other than strictly historical facts, such as
statements about the Companys plans and strategies, expectations for future financial performance,
new and existing products and technologies, anticipated clinical and regulatory pathways, and
markets for the Companys products are forward-looking statements The words believe, expect,
anticipate, estimate, project, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements
that speak only as of the date hereof. Investors are cautioned that such statements involve risks
and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from historical or
anticipated results due to many factors including, but not limited to, the Companys continuing
operating losses, uncertainty of market acceptance of its products, reliance on third party
manufacturers, accumulated deficit, future capital needs, uncertainty of capital funding,
dependence on limited product line and distribution channels, competition, limited marketing and
manufacturing experience, risks of development of new products, regulatory risks and other risks
detailed in the Companys most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and other Securities and Exchange
Commission filings. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements.