Yumanity Therapeutics (Nasdaq: YMTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative, disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative disease, today provided an update on recent corporate developments.
Yumanity achieves research milestone in its collaboration with Merck; Yumanity to receive $5 million milestone payment
Michael J. Fox Foundation awards grant to accelerate early proof-of-concept testing of promising Parkinson’s disease therapy
BOSTON, Jan. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yumanity Therapeutics (Nasdaq: YMTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative, disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative disease, today provided an update on recent corporate developments. This includes the achievement of a research milestone for our joint amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) / frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD) program, which triggered a $5 million milestone payment to Yumanity from Merck and the awarding of a research grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research (MJFF) to accelerate early proof-of-concept testing of a promising Parkinson’s disease therapy.
“Development of effective treatments for neurodegenerative disease has been challenging in the past when there was a lack of deep understanding of the underlying pathophysiological processes of these diseases,” said Paulash Mohsen, Chief Business Officer of Yumanity. “Our target discovery engine is designed to reveal these processes and identify targets for therapeutic intervention. We are very gratified to further validate the strength of our platform through our collaborations with Merck and the Michael J. Fox Foundation and look forward to their future progress.”
Merck-Yumanity collaboration agreement update
Under the collaboration agreement announced in June 2020, Merck gained exclusive rights to two novel Yumanity programs for the treatment of ALS and FTLD. Yumanity and Merck are collaborating to advance the two preclinical programs during the research term, after which Merck has the right to continue preclinical discovery efforts, clinical development and commercialization. Yumanity received an upfront payment and is eligible to receive research, development and sales-based milestone payments of up to $525M associated with the successful development of marketed products for pipeline programs, as well as royalties on net sales.
MJFF grant award
Yumanity was awarded a $500,000 grant to further investigate preclinical efficacy and biomarker development for YTX-7739, which is in clinical development for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. YTX-7739 is Yumanity Therapeutics’ proprietary lead small-molecule investigational therapy designed to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and inhibit the activity of a novel target, stearoyl-CoA desaturase. Yumanity recently announced top-line results from its successful Phase 1b clinical trial for YTX-7739 in patients with Parkinson’s disease and is expecting to start its randomized Phase 2 clinical trial in 2022.
“MJFF is a globally recognized advocate and supporter of innovative research toward new treatments to stop Parkinson’s and ease symptoms,” said Dan Tardiff, Vice President, Translational Research at Yumanity and principal investigator on the grant. “We are proud to be recognized by the awarding of this grant as a contributor to the urgent pursuit of a cure for Parkinson’s disease.”
About Yumanity Therapeutics
Yumanity Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to accelerating the revolution in the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases through its scientific foundation and drug discovery platform. The Company’s most advanced product candidate, YTX-7739, is currently in Phase 1 clinical development for Parkinson’s disease. Yumanity’s drug discovery platform enables the Company to rapidly screen for potential disease-modifying therapies by overcoming the toxicity of misfolded proteins associated with neurogenerative diseases. Yumanity’s pipeline consists of additional programs focused on Lewy body dementia, multi-system atrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease), frontotemporal lobar dementia (FTLD), and Alzheimer’s disease. For more information, please visit www.yumanity.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements may be identified by words and phrases such as “aims,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “could,” “designed to,” “estimates,” “expects,” “forecasts,” “goal,” “intends,” “may,” “plans,” “possible,” “potential,” “seeks,” “will,” and variations of these words and phrases or similar expressions that are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, statements regarding the potential therapeutic benefits of our prospective product candidates and results of preclinical studies, including YTX-7739, and the design, commencement, enrollment, and timing of ongoing or planned clinical trials, clinical trial results, product approvals and regulatory pathways, and the anticipated benefits of our drug discovery platform. Any such statements in this press release that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Results in preclinical or early-stage clinical trials may not be indicative of results from later stage or larger scale clinical trials and do not ensure regulatory approval. You should not place undue reliance on these statements, or the scientific data presented.
Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on Yumanity Therapeutics’ current expectations, estimates and projections about our industry as well as management’s current beliefs and expectations of future events only as of today and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the risk that any one or more of our product candidates will not be successfully developed or commercialized, the risk of cessation or delay of any ongoing or planned clinical trials of Yumanity Therapeutics or our collaborators, the risk that Yumanity Therapeutics may not successfully recruit or enroll a sufficient number of patients for our clinical trials, the risk that Yumanity Therapeutics may not realize the intended benefits of its drug discovery platform, the risk that our product candidates will not have the safety or efficacy profile that we anticipate, the risk that prior results, such as signals of safety, activity or durability of effect, observed from preclinical or clinical trials, will not be replicated or will not continue in ongoing or future studies or trials involving Yumanity Therapeutics’ product candidates, the risk that we will be unable to obtain and maintain regulatory approval for our product candidates, the risk that the size and growth potential of the market for our product candidates will not materialize as expected, risks associated with our dependence on third-party suppliers and manufacturers, risks regarding the accuracy of our estimates of expenses and future revenue, risks relating to our capital requirements and needs for additional financing, risks relating to clinical trial and business interruptions resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak or similar public health crises, including that such interruptions may materially delay our enrollment and development timelines and/or increase our development costs or that data collection efforts may be impaired or otherwise impacted by such crises, and risks relating to our ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for our product candidates. For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause Yumanity Therapeutics’ actual results to differ materially and adversely from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Yumanity Therapeutics’ most recent Annual or Quarterly Report, and other important factors in Yumanity Therapeutics’ subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Yumanity Therapeutics explicitly disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking statements except to the extent required by law.
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