What Does Innovation Mean To Texas

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Innovations and Technology in Healthcare and Bioscience

“What Does Innovation Mean To Texas”

Neil Warma President and CEO, Opexa Therapeutics, Inc. Board Member, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

Innovation: The Value and the Cost

The current national narrative is skewed toward a discussion of the costs of

innovative therapies, instead of a holistic focus on the value that these treatments can bring to individual patients and society as a whole.

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Opexa Therapeutics: Pioneer in Development of Innovative Personalized Immunotherapy

• Opexa’s Innovative Technology Being Developed in Texas (Houston): – Using the patient’s own T-cells to trigger an immune response to fight autoimmune disease – Licensed from Baylor College of Medicine

• Potential to Transform Lives: – Abili-T Trial: Opexa has the possibility to show the world the first therapy that could effectively and safely treat the progressive form of Multiple Sclerosis

• Potential Applications: – Opexa’s technology has the potential to address multiple autoimmune diseases 3

The Value of Innovation in Medicine Value must be viewed holistically, in terms of to whom and over what time period value accrues and in the context of the overall healthcare system. – Increasing life expectancy (20 year old diagnosed with HIV can expect to live into his/her early 70s)

– Biopharmaceuticals reduce other healthcare costs (HCV cure, prevents hospitalization, liver transplants, other costs of treating chronic illness) – Reducing rates of infectious disease; – Saving millions of children's lives; – Tailoring treatments to individuals to minimize health risks and side effects; – Creating more precise tools for disease detection. 4

Innovation Requires Individuals With Global And Relevant Experience My background: - Academic - Neuroscience degree (Toronto) and MBA (Toronto and Paris)

- Global healthcare experience (Switzerland, U.S., Canada) - 10 years with largest pharmaceutical company (Novartis) in Switzerland - Experience across every area of drug development - Worked with World Health Organization (WHO) to improve access to medicines in developing countries

- Founded and sold my own company (New York) - Biotech CEO for 13 years (U.S. and Canada) - Over 25 years of healthcare experience

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The Potential of Texas as a World Leader in Innovation •

What draws global talent to Texas? Why did I make the move? – Opexa’s science was extremely novel and pioneering – Cutting edge of a whole new treatment paradigm – Personalized cellular therapy

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Texas has conducive environment for fostering successful companies

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Houston’s reputation as a world class city

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This is a public company listed on NASDAQ market

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A chance to participate in leading Texas to become a leading center of healthcare innovation and biotech activity

A Very Attractive Opportunity with Significant Potential

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Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO): Advocate for Using Innovation to Transform the World The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is the world's largest trade association representing biotechnology companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations

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BIO’s core areas of focus: –

Delivering value through innovative and novel medicines

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Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing and Distribution Biosimilars Drug Discovery and development Food and Drug Administration (FDA) review Personalized medicine Prescription Drug User Fee act Reimbursement and Health Policy Vaccines and Biodefense 7

Texas is represented At the Table • BIO recognized the importance of Texas in healthcare and wanted a representative from Texas to be on the Board of Directors for the Organization • N Warma was invited to join the Board in June 2014 • Texas now has a voice at the global table of biotechnology • We are now involved in numerous discussions and interactions with Senators and Congress in Washington to advance healthcare innovation

• Others are recognizing our dominance in many areas • Opexa has been invited to the Vatican in April to tell its story of how it is changing the world of treating autoimmune diseases

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Building on Success: Questions to Consider • How can we continue to improve our standing in the healthcare innovation space? How can we foster more innovation in Texas? • What possible roadblocks or hurdles are there that could prevent this from happening? • What is the role of government in this area? • What does the future look like for Texas in healthcare innovation?

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