First Subject Dosed in Lipigon’s Phase I Clinical Study with Antisense Oligonucleotide Candidate Derived from Secarna Pharmaceutical’s LNAplus(TM) Technology Platform

• First antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) derived from Secarna's LNAplus™ technology platform to enter the clinic after a series of successful pre-clinical proof-of-concept programs in various indications
• Lipigon received approval from the Swedish Medical Products Agency to commence a phase I clinical study with LNAplus™ ASO lead candidate, Lipisense, targeting ANGPTL4 for the treatment of severe hypertriglyceridemia as well as the rare disease Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome (FCS): first subject dosed
• Development progress triggered undisclosed milestone payment to Secarna

MUNICH and MARTINSRIED, GERMANY / ACCESSWIRE / May 31, 2022 / Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG ("Secarna"), a biopharmaceutical company focusing on the discovery and development of next-generation antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) therapies to address challenging or previously undruggable targets, is pleased to announce that the Company's partner Lipigon Pharmaceuticals AB ("Lipigon") has advanced their lead candidate, Lipisense , into a phase 1 clinical study . Lipisense is an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) discovered and developed with Secarna's proprietary LNAplus™ platform for the treatment of rare lipid-related-diseases. The Swedish Medical Products Agency approved the trial last week and the first subject has already been dosed. Progression of the drug candidate into the clinic triggered an undisclosed milestone payment to Secarna.

"We congratulate our partner Lipigon on advancing their lead candidate into the clinic," said Alexander Gebauer, M.D. Ph.D., CEO of Secarna Pharmaceuticals . "This is a major milestone for Secarna as well because Lipisense is the first ASO derived from our LNAplus™ technology platform which has progressed into clinical development. This achievement demonstrates the versatility and robustness of our LNAplus™ technology platform. We are proud to have supported Lipigon's success story and look forward to following their next advancements in developing a new, effective treatment option for patients suffering from rare lipid disorders."

The Lipigon trial aims to document the safety profile of Lipisense , as well as its pharmacokinetic properties and pharmacodynamic effects. Lipisense is a first-in-class therapeutic that addresses elevated levels of plasma lipid triglycerides in patients suffering from severe hypertriglyceridemia as well as the rare disease Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome (FCS), diseases that may lead to the painful and potentially life-threatening syndrome, acute pancreatitis. The RNA-based drug candidate allows for the specific targeting of the disease-inducing protein while maintaining overall safety profiles. The molecule downregulates the cellular production of Angiopoietin like 4 ("ANGPTL4"), a protein that plays an important role in lipid metabolism, resulting in the reduction of lipids, specifically in the liver.

Secarna has several successful pharma/biotech-partnered programs including multi-program collaborations with Evotec, Denali Therapeutics and Achilles. The Company also maintains a diversified in-house pipeline of 11 promising ASO programs with most advanced pre-clinical projects in the immune oncology and fibrotic/inflammatory disease spaces.

About Secarna's proprietary drug discovery and development platform, LNAplus™
Secarna's proprietary, customized LNAplus™ platform is being applied to the discovery, testing and selection of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) for pre-clinical and clinical development. LNAplus™ encompasses all aspects of drug discovery and pre-clinical development and has proven to be fast, reliable, scalable and efficient, enabling the discovery of novel antisense-based therapies for challenging or currently undruggable targets.The platform includes the powerful proprietary Oligofyer™ bioinformatics pipeline, a streamlined, high efficiency screening process, including Secarna's proprietary LNA-Vit(r)ox™ safety test system, as well as target-specific functional assays. Secarna's platform and ASOs have been validated by numerous in-house projects as well as in several academic and industry collaborations.

About Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG
Secarna Pharmaceuticals is the leading independent European next-generation antisense drug discovery and development company addressing high unmet medical needs in immuno-oncology and immunology, as well as viral, neurodegenerative and cardiometabolic diseases. Secarna's mission is to maximize the performance and output of its proprietary LNAplus™ antisense oligonucleotide discovery platform, as well as to develop highly specific, safe, and efficacious best-in-class antisense therapies. With over 15 development programs, including both proprietary pipeline projects and partnered programs, Secarna focuses on targets in indications where antisense-based approaches have clear potential benefits over other therapeutic modalities. www.secarna.com

Contact

Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG

Alexander Gebauer, MD, PhD
CEO
alexander.gebauer@secarna.com
Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG
Am Klopferspitz 19
82152 Planegg/Martinsried
Tel.: +49 89 215 46 375

For media enquiries
Anne Hennecke/Brittney Sojeva
MC Services AG
secarna@mc-services.eu
Tel.: +49 211 529252 14

SOURCE: Secarna Pharmaceuticals GmbH & Co. KG