HitGen Announces Research Agreement with Nitrase Therapeutics Focused on DNA-Encoded Library Based Drug Discovery

CHENGDU, China, Dec. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH) today announced that it has entered into a research agreement with Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc. ("Nitrase"), a biopharmaceutical company deploying its NITROME platform to build a pipeline of therapies targeting nitrases, which is a new class of enzymes discovered by Nitrase that are involved in a broad variety of diseases. 

Nitrases have been implicated in numerous devastating diseases, including Parkinson's, cancer, respiratory diseases, fibrosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. Nitrase's NITROME platform has generated leads for the inhibition of nitrase enzymatic reactions that can cause disease, and is developing drugs based on the newly discovered role that protein nitration plays in disease.

HitGen will apply its DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology platform centered around the design, synthesis and screening of DELs to discover compounds that bind to certain targets that are of interest to Nitrase. Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and will be eligible for milestone payments from Nitrase.

HitGen is a world leader in the development of the DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. The availability of over 1.2 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology and the efficiency of the screening process have made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

Nitrase Therapeutics has made breakthrough discoveries in the role of protein nitration, caused by company-discovered enzymes called nitrases, in various diseases," said Pierre Beaurang, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Nitrase Therapeutics. "We have identified over 30 nitrases thus far, and we look forward to working with HitGen to expand our existing pipeline of compounds that are capable of modulating nitration for the development of novel therapeutics."

"It's really exciting for us to work on this novel target class with Nitrase. As one of HitGen's four core technology platforms, DEL is an efficient 'engine' to advance drug discovery. We look forward to working closely with Nitrase's scientists to identify novel hits from HitGen's DNA-encoded libraries and generate new lead compounds for their research programs to address unmet medical needs associated with Parkinson's and other diseases," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen.

About Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc.

Nitrase Therapeutics is a pioneering biopharmaceutical company deploying its unique NITROME platform to unlock the therapeutic potential of nitrases, a new class of enzymes that it discovered, to develop a pipeline of therapies against a broad range of diseases. The medicines that Nitrase Therapeutics is developing will target these enzymes and potentially help slow or halt the progression of numerous diseases in which nitrases and nitro-substrates play a role, including Parkinson's, cancer, immunological and fibrotic diseases. Nitrase Therapeutics (under the former name Nitrome Biosciences) has been widely recognized and has won multiple awards including the prestigious Target Advancement grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF). Nitrase Therapeutics is located in Brisbane, CA, and its investors include Sofinnova Partners, AbbVie Ventures, Dementia Discovery Fund, Bristol Myers Squibb, Mission Bay Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.nitrasetx.com.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company with headquarters in Chengdu, China, and subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs. Our key technology platforms include DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnership with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

For more information, please call +86-28-85197385, +1-508-840-9646 or visit www.hitgen.com.

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SOURCE HitGen Inc.