Helix BioPharma Corp. Announces Appointment of New Directors to the Board of Directors

AURORA, ON--(Marketwired - Jan 29, 2016) - Helix BioPharma Corp. (TSX: HBP) (FRANKFURT: HBP), a biopharmaceutical company developing drug candidates for the prevention and treatment of cancer, has today announced the appointment of Mr. Albert Beraldo and Mr. George J. Anders to the board of directors. The appointments are effective as of January 28, 2016. At the same time, Mr. Gary Littlejohn and Mr. Yvon Bastien submitted their resignations to the board of directors for its consideration.

Mr. Albert Beraldo is the former founder/ President and CEO of Alveda Pharmaceuticals Inc., a privately owned Canadian company that is a leading supplier of pharmaceuticals to the Canadian health care market. IGI Laboratories, Inc., a New Jersey-based specialty generic pharmaceutical company, announced in October 2015 it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Alveda Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The transaction was closed on November 13, 2015.

Mr. Beraldo formerly served as the President and CEO of Bioniche Pharma Group Limited until 2006. He also previously served as a Director of Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. from 1984 to 2005. Mr. Beraldo holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Windsor and has a Chartered Accountant designation from the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. Mr. Beraldo worked in public accounting with Ernst and Whinney until he joined Vetrepharm Canada Inc. as a Financial Controller in 1983.

Mr. George Anders is the President of Anders Consulting. Between 1975 and 2012 he was employed by Ontario Hydro and its successor companies in Toronto, Canada. He was a Principal Engineer/Scientist in the Electrical Systems Technologies Department of Kinectrics Inc. for many years. Dr. Anders is a Professor at the Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering of the Technical University of Lodz in Poland and an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Toronto. Dr. Anders is a registered Professional Engineer in the Province of Ontario and a Fellow of IEEE. He is also a Project Management Professional registered with the Project Management Institute.

Commenting on the appointment, the Chairman of the Board, Dr. Sven Rohmann said, "Mr. Beraldo and Prof. Anders perfectly complement the board skills, fostering strategic planning and adding decades of experience in varying leadership roles within the industry, including deal-making, M&A transactions and serving the financial markets."

Dr. Zbigniew Markowski, the CEO, said, "I feel that we now have the excellence on board necessary to achieve the milestones according to our strategy and to start the growth of the Company. I warmheartedly welcome Mr. Beraldo and Prof. Anders."

At the same time, the Board of Directors accepted both Mr. Gary Littlejohn's and Mr. Yvon Bastien's resignations.

About L-DOS47

L-DOS47 is Helix's first immunoconjugate based drug candidate in development based on the Company's novel DOS47 platform technology, which is designed to use an innovative approach to modify the microenvironmental conditions of cancer cells in a manner that leads to their destruction.

About L-DOS47 clinical development

L-DOS47 is currently being clinically evaluated in two clinical studies, in the United States and Poland and, as a treatment for certain patients with non-small cell lung cancer ("NSCLC").

LDOS001 is a Phase I, open-label, dose escalation study being conducted in the United States at three centers: The University of Texas, M.D. Anderson Cancer Centre, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center; and University Hospitals Case Medical Center. The primary objective of the study is to determine the safety and tolerability of L-DOS47 in combination treatment with pemetrexed/carboplatin. The study will also evaluate the potential clinical benefit of L-DOS47 with this combination.

LDOS002 is an open-label Phase I/II clinical study being conducted in Poland to evaluate the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of ascending doses of L-DOS47, initially as a monotherapy, in patients with inoperable, locally advanced, recurrent or metastatic, non-squamous, stage IIIb/IV NSCLC. Patients are being enrolled in the fifteenth dosing cohort at a dose of 10.19 micrograms of L-DOS47 per kilogram of patient body weight.

Forward-Looking Statements and Risks and Uncertainties

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements and information (collectively, "forward-looking information") within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Forward-looking information means disclosure regarding possible events, conditions or other matters that is based on assumptions about future economic conditions and courses of action and includes statements regarding plans, goals, objectives, intentions and expectations with respect to Helix's future business, operations, research and development, including Helix's activities relating to L-DOS47 and other information in future periods. Forward-looking information includes, without limitation, statements relating to the patients participating in the LDOS001 and LDOS002 clinical studies and the potential of LDOS001 to provide information on the use of L-DOS47 as a potential first-line therapy in combination with the standard of care in NSCLC, and other statements which may be identified by words including, without limitation, "continue", "expect", "intend" and other similar expressions, which are intended to provide information about management's current plans and expectations regarding the conduct of the clinical studies of L-DOS47 and the other operations of Helix.

Although Helix believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated and no assurance can be given that these expectations will be realized, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Risk factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements include, without limitation, (i) the inherent uncertainty involved in scientific research and drug development; (ii) the risks associated with delay or inability to complete clinical trials successfully, including that patient recruitment for the Polish Phase I/II clinical trial for L-DOS47 does not continue as scheduled or at all, and the long lead-times and high costs associated with obtaining regulatory approval to market any product which may result from successful completion of such trials; (iii) need to secure additional financing on terms satisfactory to Helix or at all; (iv) clinical trials that yield negative results, or results that do not justify future clinical development, including that the Polish Phase I/II clinical trial for L-DOS47 will yield negative results; and (v) those risks and uncertainties affecting the company as more fully described in Helix's most recent Annual Report, including under the headings "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors", filed under Helix's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com (together, the "Helix Risk Factors"). Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, that the Helix Risk Factors will not cause Helix's actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements and information are based on the beliefs, assumptions and expectations of Helix's management on the date of this news release, and Helix does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statement or information should those beliefs, assumptions or expectations, or other circumstances change, except as required by law.