BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Catabasis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Inc. (NASDAQ:CATB), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced today it entered into an agreement with the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute (Gates MRI), a non-profit biotechnology organization, to assess CAT-5571 as a potential oral therapy to promote autophagy and clear persistent lung infections in patients with both drug-sensitive and drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB). Catabasis granted Gates MRI a non-exclusive license to CAT-5571, and will furnish samples of CAT-5571 to conduct this preclinical collaboration research program.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is known to cause TB. CAT-5571 will be studied alone and in combination with the standard of care regimen in cell and animal models of Mtb infection to determine the potential for CAT-5571 to induce autophagy and encourage Mtb elimination as well as to assess its contribution to TB drug regimens and durations.

In previous preclinical studies, CAT-5571 was shown to restore autophagy in mouse and human cells with the delta508-CFTR mutation and promote the clearance of bacteria, including Mycobacterium abscessus, from these cells. Evidence suggests that autophagy plays a crucial role in antimycobacterial resistance in TB by acting as an alternative mechanism to control Mtb infection in macrophages, as well as to defend and counteract Mtb evasion strategies.

“We are thrilled to work with Gates MRI to expand our understanding of CAT-5571,” said Andrew Nichols, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Catabasis. “We look forward to learning more about how autophagy could potentially benefit communities with tuberculosis. We hope that a new treatment option may someday benefit those affected, especially those with TB resistant to current treatments.”

About Catabasis

At Catabasis Pharmaceuticals, our mission is to bring hope and life-changing therapies to patients and their families. Our lead program is edasalonexent, an NF-kB inhibitor in Phase 3 development for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. For more information on edasalonexent and our Phase 3 PolarisDMD trial, please visit www.catabasis.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including statements about the anticipated results from the research program and CTA-5571 as a potential treatment for TB and other statements containing the words “believes,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” “may” and similar expressions, constitute forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and regulations. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: risks and uncertainties related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainties inherent in the initiation and completion of research programs and studying a potential therapy for a potential new indication, and other factors discussed in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2020, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and in other filings that the Company may make with the Securities and Exchange Commission in the future. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company’s views as of the date of this press release. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company’s views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company’s views as of any date subsequent to the date of this release.

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