 LAG-3 Therapeutic Landscape Overview Formatted version of this update available on the Companys website Australia, Aug. 17, 2020 GLOBE NEWSWIRE -- Immutep Limited ASX: IMM; NASDAQ: IMMP Immutep or the Company, a biotechnology company developing novel immunotherapy treatments for cancer and autoimmune disease, issued a newsletter to update its shareholders from Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Marc Voigt, which is available below, and a formatted version is available on the Companys website click here. Dear shareholders,I hope that this newsletter finds you and your families safe and well.All of us have been affected in some way by the current pandemic and it appears that the pandemic and global economic consequences are far from being over.However, what I have found uplifting during this time is the global community and scientific response to the coronavirus pandemic. A renewed humanitarian motivation has prompted biotech and pharma companies, as well as academia from around the world, to contribute to a potential cure or treatment. In the frontline of fighting the disease have been the doctors and nurses in all the different affected countries. We all owe them so much for their tireless work.For me and the whole Immutep team, the pandemic has served as a reminder that we have an important role to play to improve the lives of patients, albeit cancer and autoimmune disease patients. It further motivates us to continue our efforts to develop LAG-3 technologies for patients and explore other potential areas, such as infectious disease where we feel efti could benefit patients by boosting their immune systems.Celebrating 30 Years of LAG-3!Did you know that the first paper identifying and describing the LAG-3 immune checkpoint was published in May 1990; as such, we recently marked its 30th anniversary!The paper, entitled LAG-3, a Novel Lymphocyte Activation Gene Closely Related to CD4 was written by Immuteps CMO and CSO Prof Frédéric Triebel who pioneered LAG-3s discovery, along with his col- leagues at the Institut Gustave-Roussy in Paris, France. The paper was published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Experimental Medicine, a journal that has achieved a high Impact Factor in 2018 of 10.9, placing it in the top 2 of scientific journals by Impact Factor.Since then, the literature and innovation around LAG- 3 has accelerated substantially, with 784 papers now published worldwide.1 Of these papers, 42 have been written by Prof Triebel and coworkers demonstrating his leadership in this emerging immunotherapy field.Coincidentally, the first paper identifying and describing the PD-1 immune checkpoint was also published in the 1990s. MSDs KEYTRUDA pembrolizumab became the first PD-1 inhibitor to receive approval for patients with advanced or unresectable melanoma on September 4, 2014.2Now in 2020, KEYTRUDA is approved for use in many other cancer indications3 and, in 2019, KEYTRUDA generated approximately US11 billion in revenues for MSD4. This is particularly encouraging for us given the data generated to date from combining our lead product candidate, eftilagimod alpha efti with KEYTRUDA in our TACTI-mel and TACTI-002 clinical trials.Great scientific and drug discoveries are often the result of many years, if not decades of hard work!LAG-3 LandscapeImmutep is proud to be the worldwide leader in developing LAG-3 therapeutics, contributing four product candidates which are being evaluated in 13 clinical trials and almost 2,000 patients across the globe.In addition, we have the only agonist LAG-3 products efti and IMP761 being developed in the oncology and autoimmune fields.A photo accompanying this announcement is available at Myers Squibb, the American pharmaceutical company, is also advancing rapidly in the LAG-3 space. It is expected to present data later this year or early next year from its Phase III clinical trials of relatlimab, a monoclonal antibody designed for the treatment of melanoma. If the results are positive, it would signal the validation of the whole LAG-3 space, along with its first product.The LAG-3 opportunity market sizeImmutep is focused on developing LAG-3 therapies for: The global oncology drugs market which is expected to reach an estimated 176.5 billion by 2025, registering a compound annual growth rate CAGR of 7.6 from 2018 to 2025 .5 The global autoimmune treatment market which is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.34 between 2018 and 2025 to reach US149.4 billion by 2025 .6In addition, there is an opportunity to explore the use of Immuteps product candidates for the global infectious diseases market which is expected to reach US86.2 billion by 2025 and has a CAGR of 6.6 during 2018 2025. Accordingly, Immutep is well positioned with exposure to three very large and growing pharmaceutical markets.7Immutep has previously tested efti in clinical research in infectious disease, including in influenza and hepatitis vaccine studies.8 These studies showed that efti activates the bodys innate immunity and, as a consequence, boosts adaptive immunity.Immutep also has two patent families drawn to the use of efti in the treatment of infectious disease. For example, we announced the grant of a Japanese patent in September 2017 and the grant of a European patent in November 2018 with relevant claims in this field.While Immutep remains firmly focused on developing its product candidates for the oncology and autoimmune disease markets, we were approached by an investigator with an interest in funding and conducting a trial in COVID-19, as noted in our Investor Presentation released on 29 April 2020. These discussions are continuing but are not yet consummated, as the investigator is seeking the necessary approvals, including the relevant Competent Authority approval. We appreciate that investors are anxious to hear of any further developments and we will, of course, update the market as soon as we are in a position to provide further details.In general, infectious diseases present an attractive opportunity for Immutep to consider, not least because of the teams previous experience in the field and the current global humanitarian efforts to find a treatment for COVID-19. However, we remain focused and excited about our progress in oncology with efti and autoimmune diseases with IMP761, along with the progress being made by our partners with our out-licensed candidates.Recent Immunotherapy Deal ActivityImmunotherapy continues to attract strong interest from big pharma, with multiple deals announced in June 2020. CSL paid US450 million upfront for a Phase III haemophilia asset from uniQure. Gilead invested US275 million for a 49.9 share in immuno-oncology biotech Pionyr Immunotherapeutics and has the option to buy the balance of the outstanding shares, valuing the business at US1.5 billion - the key assets being two preclinical myeloid tuning assets which can help predict checkpoint inhibitor responsiveness.Lastly, Sosei inked a discovery collaboration and licensing deal with AbbVie for novel therapies that modulate G protein-coupled receptor GPCR targets with an initial focus on inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. AbbVie is paying Sosei 32 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments.Financing UpdateIn April, we raised A12 million via a placement with new and existing institutional and sophisticated investors to support the development of our LAG-3 related clinical programs in immuno-oncology and autoimmune disease. We welcomed seven new institutions to our register through the Placement which extended our cash runway to the end of calendar year 2021.Our cash position was further bolstered in May 2020 as we received a 2,173,454 A3,630,000 research and development RD tax incentive payment in cash from the French Government under its Crédit dImpôt Recherche scheme. We also received A1.4 million in June 2020 from the Australian RD tax incentive scheme.Industry Conferences and Poster PresentationsScientific conferences have taken on a virtual format since the COVID-19 pandemic and it has been good to be part of the industrys determination to push ahead with scientific innovation despite the challenges. The world needs new medicines now more than ever.Immutep was pleased to announce new data at the American Society of Clinical Oncologys ASCO Annual Meeting 2020 via two poster presentations at the end of May. ASCO is the leading global scientific meeting for oncology professionals and represents an important platform at which industry participants present clinical results.At ASCO, we presented new and improving interim data from our ongoing Phase II TACTI-002 study which we are conducting in collaboration with Merck Co., Inc., Kenilworth, NJ, USA known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. The poster can be viewed on Immuteps website click hereImmutep also presented first interim results from our ongoing INSIGHT-004 Phase I clinical trial at ASCO 2020. INSIGHT-004 is the fourth arm of the investigator-initiated INSIGHT trial being conducted by the Institute of Clinical Cancer Research at Krankenhaus Nordwest in Frankfurt IKF. It is being conducted under Immuteps collaboration with Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, and Pfizer Inc. The poster can be viewed on Immuteps website click here.The new data presented at ASCO is also summarized in the Operational Snapshot section of this newsletter. You can also listen to a webcast of the results presented at ASCO click here. 