Aptorum Group Establishes Smart Pharma to Focus on Computational Repurposed Drug Discovery for Orphan and Unmet Diseases

April 24, 2019 Off By BusinessWire

SINGAPORE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aptorum Group Limited (Nasdaq: APM) today announced the establishment of
a new subsidiary group, Smart Pharma (“SmartP”), which operates its
novel computational repurposed drug discovery, modeling and validation
platform, together referred to as the “Smart-ACT^TM” platform.

Smart-ACT^TM stands for Accelerated Commercialization of
Therapeutics and encompasses state-of-the-art technology in systematic
screening of existing approved drug molecules against selected
therapeutic targets. Specifically, the Smart-ACT^TM platform
comprises of a network of modules and processes that simulate the
effectiveness of drug molecules against diseases for outcome prediction
and selection. The Smart-ACT^TM platform will initially focus
on the screening drug molecules for orphan diseases or unmet medical
needs.

To date, SmartP has, under the recently established Smart-ACT^TMplatform,
successfully screened 1,615 compounds against 3 therapeutic target
proteins which are related to poor prognosis of neuroblastoma (“NB”). NB
is a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue and most
frequently in the adrenal glands as well as spine, chest, abdomen or
neck. The preliminary results from the Smart-ACT^TM platform
have now identified a number of potential repurposed drug candidates
that could show promise against such disease. SmartP will next move on
to conduct further in vitro and in vivo validation of
these candidates through collaboration with Aptorum Group Limited to
assess and validate the candidates’ usage for such new indication.

Drug repurposing typically involves the use of an approved drug or a
drug under development for an indication than that for which it was
originally developed. The safety profiles and CMC perspectives of these
drug molecules are typically well-established and therefore drug
repurposing represents a lower risk approach for drug
discovery/development. One of the better-known examples of successful
drug repurposing is thalidomide, which was originally developed to treat
morning sickness but withdrawn from the market due to its birth defect
side effects. Later, it was repurposed for the treatment of multiple
myeloma.

SmartP targets to discover up to 10 repurposed drug candidates per annum
under the Smart-ACT^TM platform, which will continue to
develop and enrich its library of intellectual property for such
discoveries.

Further information on the Smart-ACT^TM platform can be found
on our website: http://www.smtph.com.

Founder of Aptorum Group and Smart Pharma, Mr. Ian Huen, commented: “Our
Smart-ACT^TM platform is a novel tool that we believe
completely transforms the drug repurposing and discovery industry which
traditionally relied on scattered and serendipitous discoveries.
Instead, our Smart-ACT^TM platform is based on computerized
processes to perform systematic screening and prediction of drug
molecules to accelerate the commercialization of therapeutics, with
initial focus on orphan diseases and unmet medical needs. Aptorum Group
is very excited with the development of Smart Pharma, with whom it will
be actively seeking collaboration and co-development opportunities with
the wider industry.”

About Aptorum Group Limited

Aptorum Group Limited (Nasdaq: APM) is a pharmaceutical company
dedicated to developing and commercializing a broad range of therapeutic
and diagnostic technologies to tackle unmet medical needs. Aptorum Group
is pursuing therapeutic and diagnostic projects in neurology, infectious
diseases, gastroenterology, oncology and other disease areas as well as
non-therapeutic areas such as surgical robotics and the operations of
its medical clinic in Hong Kong, Talem Medical, with the initial focus
on treatment of chronic diseases resulting from modern sedentary
lifestyles and aging population.

For more information about Aptorum Group Limited, please visit www.aptorumgroup.com.

About Smart Pharma

Smart Pharma’s holding company, SMTPH Limited, and its group companies
are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Aptorum Group Limited, focuses on
deploying its Smart-ACT^TM platform to revolutionize
pharmaceutical discovery and development.

For more information about Smart Pharma, please visit www.smtph.com.

Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes statements concerning Aptorum Group Limited
and its future expectations, plans and prospects that constitute
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. For this purpose, any
statements contained herein that are not statements of historical fact
may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can
identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “should,”
“expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “could,” “intends,” “target,”
“projects,” “contemplates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,”
“potential,” or “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other
similar expressions. Aptorum Group has based these forward-looking
statements largely on its current expectations and projections about
future events and trends that it believes may affect its business,
financial condition and results of operations. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are
subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions including,
without limitation, risks related to its announced management and
organizational changes, the continued service and availability of key
personnel, its ability to expand its product assortments by offering
additional products for additional consumer segments, the company’s
anticipated growth strategies, anticipated trends and challenges in its
business, and its expectations regarding, and the stability of, its
supply chain, and the risks more fully described in Aptorum Group’s Form
20-F and other filings that Aptorum Group may make with the SEC in the
future. Aptorum Group assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result
of new information, future events or otherwise.