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TARRYTOWN, N.Y., Oct. 3, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sapience Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of peptide therapeutics to address oncogenic and immune dysregulation that drive cancer, today announced its participation at the 4th Annual Needham Private Biotech Company Virtual 1x1 Forum, taking place October 8-9, 2024. Company management will participate in one-on-one meetings with investors during the conference. About Sapience Therapeutics Sapience Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing peptide therapeutics to address oncogenic and immune dysregulation that drive cancer. With in-house discovery capabilities, Sapience has built a pipeline of therapeutic candidates called SPEARs™ (Stabilized Peptides Engineered Against Regulation) that disrupt intracellular protein-protein interactions, enabling targeting of transcription factors which have traditionally been considered undruggable, and can direct cargo to cell surface targets with their new class of molecule called SPARCs™ (Stabilized Peptides Against Receptors on Cancer), enabling delivery of payloads such as α-particles to cancer cells. Sapience is advancing two clinical programs through Phase 2 studies: ST316, a first-in-class antagonist of β-catenin, and ST101, a first-in-class antagonist of C/EBPβ. For more information on Sapience Therapeutics, please visit and engage with us on LinkedIn. Media and Investor Contact: Amy Conrad Juniper Point (858) 366-3243 [email protected] SOURCE Sapience Therapeutics, Inc. WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM? 440k+ Newsrooms & Influencers 9k+ Digital Media Outlets 270k+ Journalists Opted In GET STARTED

-ST316 will be evaluated in several combinations and lines of treatment- TARRYTOWN, NY, USA I October 1, 2024 I Sapience Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of peptide therapeutics to address oncogenic and immune dysregulation that drive cancer, announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in its Phase 2 dose expansion study evaluating ST316, the Company’s first-in-class antagonist of β-catenin.  Enrollment of the study’s Phase 1 monotherapy dose escalation portion was completed in July 2024. ST316 is designed to selectively shut down the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in tumor cells but not in normal cells, allowing for anti-cancer activity without the toxicity related to broad inhibition of this pathway. The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway is one of the most active pathways in several cancers and drives more than 80% of colorectal cancers (CRCs), the first indication to be evaluated in the ST316 Phase 2 expansion. There are more than 1 million people living with CRC in the United States, with another 150,000 expected to be diagnosed this year alone. Dr. Abi Vainstein-Haras, Sapience’s Chief Medical Officer, stated, “The promising results seen in our Phase 1 study demonstrate ST316’s potential to be an effective therapy for Wnt pathway-driven cancers, including CRC among others.  Given ST316’s favorable safety and tolerability profile, together with robust pre-clinical data, Sapience is committed to maximizing the potential of ST316 in various therapeutic combinations across lines of treatment.” “CRC patients who are refractory to current therapies desperately need new options like ST316,” said Dr. Barry Kappel, Sapience’s founder and Chief Executive Officer. “With CRC being the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, and with alarming increases in incidence among younger Americans, we are dedicated to widening the treatment options for this devastating disease.” ST316-101 ( NCT05848739 ) is a first-in-human, open-label, Phase 1-2 dose-escalation and expansion  study designed to determine the safety, tolerability, PK, PD and early efficacy of ST316. The Phase 1 dose escalation portion of the study tested various dose levels of ST316 in patients with select advanced solid tumors that are known to harbor abnormalities of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, including CRC.  The Phase 1 portion completed enrollment in July 2024.  In the Phase 2 dose expansion portion of the study, ST316 is being tested in CRC patients in combination with relevant standards of care and in multiple lines of treatment.  Sapience is conducting the Phase 2 study across several sites in the United States. About ST316 ST316 is a first-in-class peptide antagonist of the interaction between β-catenin and its co-activator, BCL9, a complex responsible for driving oncogene expression in multiple cancers where aberrant Wnt/β-catenin pathway signaling is observed. ST316 exposure in cancer cells prevents BCL9-driven nuclear localization of β-catenin and inhibits formation of the Wnt enhanceosome protein complex. Disruption of this interaction selectively suppresses the transcription of oncogenic Wnt target genes that regulate proliferation, migration, invasion and the metastatic potential of tumor cells, as well as genes that regulate the immunosuppression of the tumor microenvironment. ST316 creates a pro-immune tumor microenvironment and in preclinical models has shown to be synergistic with checkpoint inhibition. Due to its selectivity and downstream modulation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, ST316 presents an opportunity to safely and effectively target Wnt/β-catenin driven cancers without the toxicities previously seen with other Wnt pathway agents. About Sapience Therapeutics Sapience Therapeutics, Inc. is a privately held, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing peptide therapeutics to address oncogenic and immune dysregulation that drive cancer.  With in-house discovery capabilities, Sapience has built a pipeline of therapeutic candidates called SPEARs™ (Stabilized Peptides Engineered Against Regulation) that disrupt intracellular protein-protein interactions, enabling targeting of transcription factors which have traditionally been considered undruggable, and can direct cargo to cell surface targets with their new class of molecule called SPARCs™ (Stabilized Peptides Against Receptors on Cancer), enabling delivery of payloads such as α-particles to cancer cells. Sapience is advancing two clinical programs through Phase 2 studies: ST316, a first-in-class antagonist of β-catenin, and ST101, a first-in-class antagonist of C/EBPβ. For more information on Sapience Therapeutics, please visit www.sapiencetherapeutics.com and engage with us on LinkedIn . SOURCE: Sapience Therapeutics

● Xanthine oxidase reported to modulate progression of chronic kidney disease, diabetic kidney disease, polycystic kidney disease, and other indications ● CALGARY, Alberta, Aug. 29, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XORTX Therapeutics Inc. ("XORTX" or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: XRTX | TSXV: XRTX | Frankfurt: ANU), a late-stage clinical pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies to treat progressive kidney disease, is pleased to report that recent peer-reviewed, independent, published research highlights that genetic factors are linked to the over-expression of xanthine oxidase (“XO”) and play a role in several diseases, including kidney disease. These ground-breaking findings further support the Company’s approach to treating kidney and other diseases by inhibiting XO. Xanthine oxidase is an essential enzyme within the uric acid metabolic pathway and is required for the breakdown of purine nucleotides. The breakdown products of XO, including uric acid (“UA”) and reactive oxygen species (“ROS”), are released during the enzymatic reaction and may play a detrimental role in the circulatory system and within tissue during disease. XORTX sponsored discoveries in rodent models of polycystic kidney disease (“PKD”) implicate over-expression or over-activity of XO as a potentially important target in treating this disease. Evidence for over-expression of XO in human PKD has not been reported to date, although work by Wang et al. suggests linkage of genetic factors to PKD1. Recently, new emerging discoveries link genetic factors to specific populations and show that higher XO expression is associated with a variety of conditions including hyperuricemia2, sepsis, organ failure and sepsis associated acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS)3,4, kidney dysfunction3,4, diabetes5, PKD1,5 and kidney failure6,7. From a mechanistic standpoint, these studies advocate for a precision-medicine approach in which genetic risk variants would guide treatment decisions1. Commenting on the research, Allen Davidoff, Ph.D., CEO of XORTX, stated, “The combination of pioneering research in autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (“ADPKD”) sponsored by XORTX and these peer-reviewed, published research papers support our belief that pharmacologic targeting of XO holds enormous therapeutic potential, specifically where increased XO activity is associated with non-diabetic or diabetic kidney diseases. These discoveries highlight an opportunity to develop a personalized therapeutic approach for individuals whose unique genetic factors predisposed them to disease, and the need for xanthine oxidase inhibition to treat those individuals at risk. We believe that XORTX’s expertise in developing XO inhibitors, protected by a patent portfolio that anticipated this opportunity, combined with our therapeutic platform is ideally positioned to deliver targeted therapeutics to individuals. Our planned clinical trial in patients with ADPKD will test XORLO™, our proprietary formulation of oxypurinol, and will also provide an opportunity to further understand the role of these newly identified genetic factors in individuals with PKD.” References: Korsmo HW, Emerging roles of xanthine oxidoreductase in chronic kidney disease, Antioxidants, June 2024Major TJ, et all, Evaluation of the diet wide contribution to serum urate levels: Met-analysis of population based cohorts, BMJ, 363, k3952, 2018Gao, Li et al., Xanthine oxidoreductase gene polymorphism are associated with high risk of sepsis and organ failure, Respir. Res, 24, 177_2023Liu H, et al., Genetic variants in XDH are associated with prognosis off gastric cancer in a Chines population, 663, 196, 2013Wang et al., Genetic susceptibility to diabetic kidney disease is linked to promoter variants of XOR, ” The authors identified an expression quantitative trait loci (QTL) in the cis-acting regulatory region of the xanthine dehydrogenase, or xanthine oxidoreductase (XO), a binding site for C/EBPβ, to be associated with diabetes-induced podocyte loss in diabetic kidney disease in male mice. They concluded that certain types of alleles of a gene that controls the expression of xanthine oxidase can be over expressed in CKD, diabetic kidney disease and polycystic kidney disease.Kudo M et al., Functional Characterization of Genetic Polymorphisms Identified In the Promotor Region of the Xanthine Oxidase Gene, Drug Metab. Pharmacokinet., 25, 599, 2010Boban M, et al., Circulating purine compound, uric acid, and xanthine oxidase/dehydrogenate relationship in essential hypertension and end stage renal disease., Ren. Fail., 36, 613, 2014 About XORTX Therapeutics Inc. XORTX is a pharmaceutical company with two clinically advanced products in development: 1) our lead, XRx-008 program for ADPKD; and 2) our secondary program in XRx-101 for acute kidney and other acute organ injury associated with Coronavirus / COVID-19 infection. In addition, XRx-225 is a pre-clinical stage program for Type 2 Diabetic Nephropathy. XORTX is working to advance its clinical development stage products that target aberrant purine metabolism and xanthine oxidase to decrease or inhibit production of uric acid. At XORTX, we are dedicated to developing medications to improve the quality of life and future health of patients. Additional information on XORTX is available at www.xortx.com. For more information, please contact: Allen Davidoff, CEOadavidoff@xortx.com or +1 403 455 7727Kim Golodetz, LHA Investor Relationskgolodetz@lhai.com or +1 212 838 3777Nick Rigopulos, Director of Communicationsnick@alpineequityadv.com or +1 617 901 0785 Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor Nasdaq has approved or disapproved the contents of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein. Forward Looking Statements This press release contains express or implied forward-looking statements pursuant to applicable securities laws. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, the Company's beliefs, plans, goals, objectives, expectations, assumptions, estimates, intentions, future performance, other statements that are not historical facts and statements identified by words such as "expects", "anticipates", "intends", "plans", "believes", "seeks", "estimates" or words of similar meaning. These forward-looking statements and their implications are based on the current expectations of the management of XORTX only, and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Such risks, uncertainties, and other factors include, but are not limited to, our ability to obtain additional financing; the accuracy of our estimates regarding expenses, future revenues and capital requirements; the success and timing of our preclinical studies and clinical trials; the performance of third-party manufacturers and contract research organizations; our plans to develop and commercialize our product candidates; our plans to advance research in other kidney disease applications; and, our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our product candidates. Except as otherwise required by applicable law and stock exchange rules, XORTX undertakes no obligation to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. More detailed information about the risks and uncertainties affecting XORTX is contained under the heading “Risk Factors” in XORTX’s Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC, which is available on the SEC's website, www.sec.gov (including any documents forming a part thereof or incorporated by reference therein), as well as in our reports, public disclosure documents and other filings with the securities commissions and other regulatory bodies in Canada, which are available on www.sedarplus.ca.