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OptiKira Awarded Phase II SBIR Grant

May 30, 2019 Off By BusinessWire

Grant will support development of a new treatment for retinitis
pigmentosa

CLEVELAND–(BUSINESS WIRE)–lt;a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BioMotiv?src=hash" target="_blank"gt;#BioMotivlt;/agt;–OptiKira,
LLC, a privately-held biotechnology company developing drugs that
inhibit the unfolded protein response (UPR), announced today that it was
awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to
support continued development of a therapy that has the potential to
preserve vision in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The $1.6M
grant will be used to advance one or more of OptiKira’s most promising
compounds into investigational new drug-enabling studies.

“This grant will play an integral role in advancing our compound to our
next phase of development,” said Tim Pelura, PhD, CEO of OptiKira. “We
are hopeful that our novel approach to the treatment of retinitis
pigmentosa will eventually lead to a breakthrough therapy for the more
than 100,000 Americans living with this condition.”

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a rare, genetic disorder that causes the
loss of photoreceptors in the retina, resulting in progressive loss of
vision. OptiKira’s research team discovered that, by targeting the UPR
and regulating its activity to favor an adaptive rather than destructive
pathway, cell death and degeneration is prevented not only in RP, but in
a variety of other diseases, including fibrotic diseases such as
idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, cancer,
diabetes, and various neurodegenerative diseases. Proof of concept has
been demonstrated in mouse models of RP, diabetes, fibrosis, and cancer;
with ongoing proof of concept studies underway.

OptiKira was formed in 2015 by BioMotiv,
the for-profit collaborator of The
Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, the University
of California, San Francisco, and the University of Washington. The
company has received support from Arix
Bioscience, the Harrington Discovery Institute at University
Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio, which is supported in part by a grant from
the Ohio Third Frontier, two National Institutes of Health Small
Business Technology Transfer grants, and the ALS
Association. OptiKira’s technologies are exclusively licensed from
UCSF and the University of Washington.

Click here
to learn more about OptiKira.

About BioMotiv

BioMotiv is the mission-driven accelerator associated with The
Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, a $340 million
initiative for advancing medicine centered at University Hospitals in
Cleveland. The focus is to accelerate breakthrough discoveries from
research institutions into therapeutics for patients through an
innovative model that efficiently aligns capital and collaborations. The
company leverages an experienced team and advisory board to select,
fund, and actively manage and advance a portfolio of drug development
programs.

For more information, go to: www.biomotiv.com.

About The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development

The Harrington Project for Discovery & Development (The Harrington
Project) is a $340 million national initiative built to bridge the
translational valley of death. It includes the Harrington Discovery
Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland and BioMotiv, a
for-profit, mission-aligned drug development company that accelerates
early discoveries into medicines for benefit of society.

For more information, go to: HarringtonDiscovery.org.

About Arix Bioscience Limited and Group

Arix Bioscience plc is a global healthcare and life science company
supporting medical innovation. Headquartered in London and with an
office in New York, Arix Bioscience sources, finances and builds world
class healthcare and life science businesses addressing medical
innovation at all stages of development. Operations are supported by
privileged access to breakthrough academic science and strategic
relationships with leading research accelerators and global
pharmaceutical companies.

Arix Bioscience plc is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock
Exchange.

For more information, go to: www.arixbioscience.com