Wall Street Transcript Interview with John Bonfiglio, the CEO and President of Oragenics Inc. (OGEN)

67 WALL STREET, New York - April 25, 2014 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs and Equity Analysts. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.

Topics covered: Health Care - Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals - Orphan Drug and Biologics Manufacturing - Oncology Drug Development - Orphan Drugs - FDA Approval Process - Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Companies Valuation - Genetic and Cell Therapies

Companies include: Oragenics Inc. (OGEN) and many more.

In the following excerpt from the Biotechnology and Pharmaceuticals Report, the CEO and President of Oragenics Inc. (OGEN) discusses company strategy and the outlook for this vital industry:

TWST: Can you tell us about any other drugs in your pipeline, such as LPT3-04, a compound for weight loss?

Dr. Bonfiglio: We recently announced in our filings that we had licensed that product to an outside third party. The Phase II trial did show a significant weight loss in some patients. But given the focus of the company on ethical therapeutic drugs, at this point in time, we didn't have the bandwidth or the resources to move that forward, so we have licensed that out.

When I joined the company in May of 2011, there were many different technologies that were under consideration by the company because the founder of the company, Dr. Jeffrey Hillman, was a prolific inventor and a really smart guy. So we had many technologies here, and what I've tried to do is to focus down into areas where we think we can make the most progress, and that is the antibiotic area. Because with our relationship with Intrexon, we not only have the lead compound that was discovered by us, but we have been able to generate a whole pipeline of new analogs of this lead compound, MU1140, that we believe have the possibility of being extremely helpful in the fight against resistant bacteria. That's one area where we think the value of the company would greatly be enhanced by the continued development of those products.

Then the second area is this genetically modified bacteria because the company was founded upon genetically modified bacteria. Way back in early 2000, the company had this therapy called SMaRT, which stands for S. mutans-replacement therapy. S. mutans is the bacteria which cause tooth decay in the mouth, and the technology that was invented here by Jeffrey Hillman and his group was essentially to take a strain of S. mutans, genetically modify that strain and use it to replace the strains of bacteria in your mouth that cause tooth decay. This new strain of bacteria would colonize preferentially in the mouth and prevent the bacteria that cause tooth decay from ever colonizing. If it worked the way it was designed, it would essentially eliminate tooth decay as a problem in humans.

And so we have experience in the genetically modified bacteria area. That technology was taken into the clinic in a couple of Phase I trials, but because of some regulatory concerns and patent issues, we decided to - at least for the time being - put it on the shelf and not develop it.

TWST: Who is your competition in genetically modified bacteria, and what advantages does Oragenics have?

For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.