Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Reiterates Position on Recent Financing, Stock Price

DUBLIN, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT:NAVB) recently completed a sale of common stock and warrants for gross proceeds of $30 million under a registered direct public offering. Since that placement, Navidea shares have experienced a serious, and in the Company’s estimation, unwarranted decline in value. The Company reiterates that it raised the funds primarily to enhance a series of initiatives underway including commercial opportunities for Lymphoseek^® (technetium 99m tilmanocept) Injection outside the U.S., the continued development of its neurodegenerative imaging portfolio, and further evaluation of Manocept™ platform initiatives.

Dr. Mark Pykett, Navidea CEO, commented, “We remain enthusiastic about the long-term prospects for Lymphoseek and are highly encouraged by key quantitative and qualitative metrics being met or exceeded. We are also encouraged in these early days of launch to have received separate reimbursement for the product which we expect to further contribute to Lymphoseek adoption. We are looking forward to a number of value creating catalysts in the near term which we believe are enabled by the additional capital. These activities include keeping our Phase 3 neurology programs moving forward and advancing Navidea’s strategic role commercially outside the US. Importantly, the financing enables the acceleration of a number of potential new opportunities from our Manocept platform, announced several weeks ago and for which we expect to provide an update on shortly. We believe these new opportunities offer compelling potential while Lymphoseek revenues continue to grow.”

Dr. Michael Goldberg, Principal, Montaur Capital Partners, LLC and Portfolio Manager of Montaur, said, “We continue to believe in Navidea and the underlying fundamentals and value, and are excited by the potential of the expanded pipeline and partnering possibilities based on the recently disclosed Manocept platform which represents an important new engine for the Company’s future.”

The Company believes the change in its share price following the transaction reflects a substantial over-reaction relative to the continued strong, underlying fundamentals of the Company. The Company believes the recent financing enhances its ability to pursue important new opportunities with Lymphoseek, its registration programs, and its pipeline efforts, including Manocept.

Dr. Pykett continued, “We remain bullish on Lymphoseek’s outlook to become the standard of care in lymphatic mapping, providing important clinical value to customers and to patients. We believe the recent financing can catalyze shareholder value by accelerating our innovative programs.”

About Lymphoseek®

Lymphoseek^® (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) Injection is a novel, receptor-targeted, small-molecule radiopharmaceutical used in lymphatic mapping procedures that are performed to help in the diagnostic evaluation of potential cancer spread for patients with breast cancer and melanoma. Lymphoseek is designed to identify the lymph nodes that drain from a primary tumor, which have the highest probability of harboring cancer. Lymphoseek was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in March, 2013 for use in lymphatic mapping to assist in the localization of lymph nodes draining a primary tumor in patients with breast cancer or melanoma. The Company anticipates continuing development of Lymphoseek into other solid tumor areas that may include head and neck cancers, prostate cancer, thyroid cancer, lung/bronchus cancers, colorectal cancer and others.

Accurate diagnostic evaluation of cancer is critical, as it guides therapy decisions and determines patient prognosis and risk of recurrence. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 232,000 new cases of breast cancer, 77,000 new cases of melanoma and 67,000 new cases of head and neck/oral cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the United States in 2013.

U.S. Indication and Important Safety Information About Lymphoseek

Indication

Lymphoseek (technetium Tc 99m tilmanocept) Injection is a lymphatic mapping agent indicated for use with a hand-held gamma counter to assist in the localization of lymph nodes draining a primary tumor site in patients with breast cancer or melanoma.

Important Safety Information

In clinical trials with Lymphoseek, no serious hypersensitivity reactions were reported, however Lymphoseek may pose a risk of such reactions due to its chemical similarity to dextran. Serious hypersensitivity reactions have been associated with dextran and modified forms of dextran (such as iron dextran drugs).

Prior to the administration of Lymphoseek, patients should be asked about previous hypersensitivity reactions to drugs, in particular dextran and modified forms of dextran. Resuscitation equipment and trained personnel should be available at the time of Lymphoseek administration, and patients observed for signs or symptoms of hypersensitivity following injection.

The most common adverse reactions are injection site irritation and/or pain (<1%).

FULL LYMPHOSEEK PRESCRIBING INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND AT:
WWW.LYMPHOSEEK.COM

About Navidea Biopharmaceuticals Inc.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE MKT:NAVB) is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of precision diagnostics and radiopharmaceutical agents. Navidea is actively developing four radiopharmaceutical agent platforms – Lymphoseek^® (technetium 99m tilmanocept) Injection, NAV4694, NAV5001 and RIGScan^TM – to help identify the sites and pathways of undetected disease and enable better diagnostic accuracy, clinical decision-making and, ultimately, patient care. Navidea’s first commercial agent, Lymphoseek, was approved by the FDA in March 2013. Navidea’s strategy is to deliver superior growth and shareholder return by bringing to market novel radiopharmaceutical agents and advancing the Company’s pipeline through selective acquisitions, global partnering and commercialization efforts. For more information, please visit www.navidea.com.

The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the Act) provides a safe harbor for forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Statements in this news release, which relate to other than strictly historical facts, such as statements about the Company’s plans and strategies, expectations for future financial performance, new and existing products and technologies, anticipated clinical and regulatory pathways, and markets for the Company’s products are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Act. 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 Company’s 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 Company’s 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.

Navidea Biopharmaceuticals
Brent Larson, 614-822-2330
Executive VP & CFO

Source: Navidea Biopharmaceuticals, Inc.

Released October 23, 2013