Sapience Therapeutics Renews Drug Discovery Pact with the University of Bath

HARRISON, NY / ACCESSWIRE / November 19, 2020 / Sapience Therapeutics, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing peptide therapeutics to address difficult to treat oncology indications, announced today that it has renewed its research collaboration agreement with the University of Bath for the discovery of new therapeutic agents.

"The continuation of this drug discovery partnership with Dr. Jody Mason and the University of Bath speaks to the success of our initial two-year collaboration." said Dr. Barry Kappel, founder and chief executive officer of Sapience Therapeutics. "Although separated by distance, our teams have worked seamlessly with one another to produce promising peptide "hits" to several important therapeutic targets within the cancer cell. The next phase of this joint effort will focus on the characterization and development of these hits into lead compounds as well as the discovery of new hits against additional promising cancer targets."

Dr. Mason added, "Protein-protein interactions represent a class of drug targets conventionally considered ‘undruggable' with small-molecule approaches. We are incredibly excited by the prospect of targeting previously undruggable oncogenic protein-protein interactions with peptide-based therapeutics. During our initial collaboration with Sapience, we identified six promising peptides, each of which binds to a different protein target implicated in cancers that are difficult to treat. I am pleased to continue with our ambitious discovery program and am looking forward to identifying new and interesting molecules."

Under the terms of the agreement, Sapience will have exclusive rights to the development and commercialization of any novel compounds arising from this research. For molecules developed under the agreement, University of Bath will receive milestone payments associated with clinical development and a royalty on future commercial sales.

About University of Bath

The University of Bath is one of the UK's leading universities both in terms of research, reputation for excellence in teaching, learning and graduate prospects.

In the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 research assessment 87 percent of research was defined as ‘world-leading' or ‘internationally excellent'. From developing peptide-based drugs, or fuel-efficient cars of the future, to identifying infectious diseases more quickly, or working to improve the lives of female farmers in West Africa, research from Bath is making a difference around the world. Find out more: http://www.bath.ac.uk/research/

Well established as a nurturing environment for enterprising minds, Bath is ranked highly in all national league tables. We are ranked 5th in the UK by The Guardian University Guide 2018, 6th for graduate employment and 4th in the Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2018. Bath has also been named Sports University of the Year 2018 by The Times and Sunday Times.

The University is rated Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF), the Government's assessment of teaching quality in universities, meaning its teaching is of the highest quality in the UK.

About Sapience Therapeutics

Sapience Therapeutics, Inc., is a privately held, clinical stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing peptide-based therapeutics for major unmet medical needs, particularly high mortality cancers. With platform-based discovery of peptide therapeutics that disrupt protein-protein interactions, Sapience's molecules hold potential to target intracellular interactions that are traditionally considered "undruggable targets". Its lead compound, ST101, is a first-in-class molecule with potential applications in various solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. For more information on Sapience Therapeutics, please visit www.sapiencetherapeutics.com.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements. Any statements herein other than statements of historical fact could be deemed to be forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements may include, among other things, statements regarding future events that involve significant risks and uncertainties (including with respect to Sapience's preclinical and clinical development programs). These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations, and actual results and future events may differ materially as a result of certain factors, including, without limitation, risks related to the application of the net proceeds from the offering to Sapience's product development objectives, our ability to obtain additional funds, and meet applicable regulatory standards and receive required regulatory approvals. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Sapience does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events, changed assumptions or otherwise, except as required by law.

Contacts

Sapience Therapeutics, Inc.:
Barry Kappel, Ph.D., M.B.A.
President and Chief Executive Officer
info@sapiencetherapeutics.com

SOURCE: Sapience Therapeutics, Inc.

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