<PAGE>
EXHIBIT 99.5
COMPANY CONTACTS: Ernest W. Yankee, Ph.D.
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
AVAX TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
(816) 960-1333
INVESTORS/MEDIA: Olga Fleming/Lisa Bradlow
CPR FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONS
(201) 641-2408
AVAX TECHNOLOGIES' O-VAX-TM- CANCER VACCINE INDUCES POSITIVE IMMUNOLOGICAL
AND CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED OVARIAN CANCER
- DATA PRESENTED AT THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF
CLINICAL ONCOLOGY -
KANSAS CITY, MO, MAY 22, 2000 -- AVAX TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (NASDAQ: AVXT) today
announced the presentation of data at the 36th Annual Meeting of the American
Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) (May 20-23) in New Orleans on the company's
autologous cell vaccine (AC Vaccine-TM-) O-Vax-TM-, for ovarian cancer. The data
gathered from an ongoing Phase 1/2 trial of O-Vax in patients with advanced
ovarian cancer extend earlier findings indicating that O-Vax induces a positive
immunological and clinical response in ovarian cancer patients who are
refractory to conventional chemotherapy. The presentation, entitled
"IMMUNOLOGICAL AND CLINICAL EFFECTS OF AUTOLOGOUS, HAPTEN-MODIFIED VACCINE IN
PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED OVARIAN CARCINOMA," offers data based on studies
conducted by David Berd, M.D., Professor of Medicine, and Charles Dunton, M.D.,
Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Thomas Jefferson University.
The extended data reflect the follow-up of 10 ovarian cancer patients with
metastatic ovarian carcinoma whose tumors had progressed after failing to
respond to both first and second-line chemotherapy. They were treated with seven
weekly intradermal injections of O-Vax. Despite their large tumor burdens and
prior chemotherapy, 8 out of 10 patients responded favorably to the vaccine, as
measured by a delayed type hypersensitivity test (DTH), a skin test that
measures the patient's immune response against that patient's own unmodified
tumor cells. Favorable clinical responses were also observed: one patient
exhibited complete regression of an abdominal mass as evidenced by a CT scan and
a concomitant normalization of the CA-125 level, a protein found in the blood,
which is useful for detecting and evaluating ovarian cancer. In 3 other
patients, there was a transient (1-3 months duration) fall in CA-125 without
radiological evidence of tumor regression. Seven of the study patients have died
with a median survival of 11.5 months and 3 are surviving for 6-16 months.
Dr. Berd stated, "We are very encouraged by the data gathered to date in ovarian
cancer, especially since we are continuing to observe key immunological and
clinical responses in a group of patients with very poor prognoses. Particularly
significant is the vaccine's potential ability to elicit an immune response and
decrease CA-125 in the blood, a known tumor marker for ovarian cancer. The
observation of an objective anti-tumor response in a patient with
chemotherapy-refractory disease is surprising. Certainly, these data provide
additional validation for evaluating AVAX's AC Vaccine technology further in
ovarian and other cancers."
Jeffrey M. Jonas, President and CEO of AVAX Technologies, Inc., added, "At this
time, we are recruiting clinical sites and patients for the first of several
planned multi-center O-Vax studies that are expected to enroll over 400
patients. We also expect to use the AC Vaccine to treat other cancer indications
and are currently working with the University of Tokyo on studying the
application of the technology to breast cancer, and with the MD Anderson Cancer
Center with application to acute myelogenous leukemia. Our intention has always
been to use the AC Vaccine technology as a broad based platform from which to
treat
- over -
<PAGE>
AVAX TECHNOLOGIES' O-VAX-TM- CANCER VACCINE INDUCES POSITIVE IMMUNOLOGICAL
AND CLINICAL OUTCOMES IN PATIENTS WITH ADVANCED OVARIAN CANCER
Page 2
a variety of cancers and the data recorded to date continue to support the
promise of our novel approach to treating cancer."
O-Vax is AVAX Technolgies' AC Vaccine for the treatment of advanced ovarian
cancer. Ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cancer among women and the
leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancy in the U.S. It is estimated
that one in 55 women will develop ovarian cancer in her lifetime. In 1999,
approximately 25,400 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer and approximately
57% will die from the disease. O-Vax is made from the patient's own cancer cells
by modifying the tumor cells with a molecule called a "hapten." This process,
known as "haptenization," alters the tumor cells and makes them appear foreign
to the patient's immune system. When the hapten-modified cells are injected into
patients, they are intended stimulate the immune system to recognize the cancer
cells and destroy them.
In addition to the O-Vax program, AVAX is also currently conducting a
multi-center pivotal registration trial of its lead product candidate,
M-Vax-TM- for the treatment of stage III metastatic melanoma. To date, more
than 350 patients have been treated with M-Vax, which received orphan drug
status in the U.S. in February 1999. It is expected to become commercially
available to patients in Australia by mid-2000.
AVAX Technologies, Inc. specializes in the development and commercialization of
novel biotechnologies, immunotherapies and pharmaceuticals for cancer and other
life-threatening diseases using three core technologies: autologous cell (AC)
vaccines, topoisomerase inhibitors and anti-estrogens.
# # #
EXCEPT FOR STATEMENTS THAT ARE HISTORICAL, THE STATEMENTS IN THIS RELEASE ARE
"FORWARD-LOOKING" STATEMENTS THAT ARE MADE PURSUANT TO THE SAFE HARBOR
PROVISIONS OF SECTION 27A OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933 AND SECTION 21E OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934. FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS INVOLVE SIGNIFICANT
RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES, AND IN LIGHT OF THE SIGNIFICANT UNCERTAINTIES INHERENT
IN SUCH STATEMENTS, THE INCLUSION OF SUCH INFORMATION SHOULD NOT BE REGARDED AS
A REPRESENTATION BY AVAX THAT THE OBJECTIVES AND PLANS OF THE COMPANY WILL BE
ACHIEVED. IN FACT, ACTUAL RESULTS COULD DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THOSE
CONTEMPLATED BY SUCH FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. MANY IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECT
THE COMPANY'S ABILITY TO ACHIEVE THE STATED OUTCOMES AND TO DEVELOP SUCCESSFULLY
AND COMMERCIALIZE ITS PRODUCT CANDIDATES, INCLUDING THE ABILITY TO OBTAIN AND
MAINTAIN ALL NECESSARY PATENTS OR LICENSES, TO DEMONSTRATE THE SAFETY AND
EFFICACY OF PRODUCT CANDIDATES AT EACH STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT, TO MEET APPLICABLE
REGULATORY STANDARDS AND RECEIVE REQUIRED REGULATORY APPROVALS, TO MEET
OBLIGATIONS AND REQUIRED MILESTONES UNDER ITS LICENSE AGREEMENTS, TO BE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING DRUG CANDIDATES IN COMMERCIAL QUANTITIES AT REASONABLE COSTS, TO
COMPETE SUCCESSFULLY AGAINST OTHER PRODUCTS, TO OBTAIN SUBSTANTIAL ADDITIONAL
FUNDS, AND TO MARKET PRODUCTS IN A PROFITABLE MANNER, AS WELL AS OTHER RISKS
DETAILED FROM TIME TO TIME IN AVAX'S PUBLIC DISCLOSURE FILINGS WITH THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION, INCLUDING ITS ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-KSB
FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,1999. AVAX DOES NOT UNDERTAKE ANY OBLIGATION TO
RELEASE PUBLICLY ANY REVISIONS TO THESE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS OR TO REFLECT
THE OCCURRENCE OF UNANTICIPATED EVENTS.
