CARLSBAD, Calif., Sept. 21, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pardes Biosciences, Inc., a clinical--stage biopharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued a new patent No. 11,124,497 (the “’497 patent”), strengthening the Company’s intellectual property position for the Company’s antiviral drug development program.
The ‘497 patent covers compounds designed to inhibit an essential viral protein, the main protease (Mpro) of SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing COVID-19.
“We are pleased with the progress in our IP portfolio and our program developments to date. We believe that oral antivirals have the potential to play an important role in ending this pandemic and preventing the next one, and we are committed to developing viral protease inhibitors as potential oral therapies for SARS-CoV-2 infections.” said Uri Lopatin, Chief Executive Officer of Pardes. “This issued patent is the first from our growing IP portfolio and reflects our commitment to discovering and developing novel therapies for important unmet medical needs.”
About Pardes Biosciences
Pardes Biosciences is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to solving some of the world’s most pressing public health challenges. Pardes leverages structure-based drug design and a tunable, reversible covalent chemistry platform for novel drug discovery. The company’s lead product candidate, PBI-0451, is being developed as a potential direct-acting, oral antiviral drug to treat and prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections. PBI-0451 is designed to inhibit the coronavirus main protease, an essential protein for SARS-CoV-2 replication. This protease is highly similar across all coronaviruses, including known and emerging coronavirus variants. Pardes Biosciences is headquartered in Carlsbad CA. For more information, visit www.pardesbio.com.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
On June 29, 2021, Pardes entered into a definitive Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with FS Development Corp. II (Nasdaq: FSII), a special purpose acquisition company sponsored by Foresite Capital.
In connection with the Merger Agreement, FS Development Corp. II has filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) a registration statement on Form S-4, which includes a description of the terms of the business and includes a prospectus with respect to the combined company’s securities to be issued in connection with the business combination and a proxy statement with respect to the shareholder meeting of FS Development Corp. II to vote on the business combination. Before making a voting decision, investors, shareholders and other interested persons of FS Development Corp. II are urged to read, the preliminary proxy statement/ prospectus as well as other documents filed with the SEC because these documents will contain important information about FS Development Corp. II, Pardes and the business combination. After the registration statement is declared effective, the definitive proxy statement/prospectus to be included in the registration statement will be mailed to shareholders of FS Development Corp. II as of a record date to be established for voting on the proposed business combination. Once available, shareholders will also be able to obtain a copy of the Form S-4, including the proxy statement/prospectus, and other documents filed with the SEC without charge, by directing a request to: FS Development Corp. II, Attn: Secretary, 900 Larkspur Landing Circle, Suite 150, Larkspur, California 94939. The preliminary and definitive proxy statement/prospectus included in the registration statement, can also be obtained, without charge, at the SEC’s website (www.sec.gov).
Participants in the Solicitation
FS Development Corp. II and Pardes and their respective directors and executive officers may be considered participants in the solicitation of proxies with respect to the proposed business combination under the rules of the SEC. Information about the directors and executive officers of FS Development Corp. II is set forth in the filed registration statement on Form S-4 containing the proxy statement/prospectus for the proposed business combination, and is available free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or by directing a request to: FS Development Corp. II, Attn: Secretary, 900 Larkspur Landing Circle, Suite 150, Larkspur, California 94939.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. These statements involve risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this press release, we caution you that these statements are based on a combination of facts and factors currently known by us and our projections of the future, about which we cannot be certain. Forward-looking statements in this press release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the advancement of our product candidate, PBI-0451, and statements about the potential attributes and benefits of Pardes’ product candidates and the role of oral antivirals in addressing the pandemic and future pandemics. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements in this press release will prove to be accurate. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of significant risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expected results, including, among others, development of competing therapeutic treatments for COVID-19 on Pardes’ business, Pardes’ ability to obtain and maintain intellectual property protection for its products and technologies may be difficult and costly to protect, issued patents could be found invalid or unenforceable if challenged in court or the USPTO, the ability to complete the business combination, the occurrence of any event that could give rise to the termination of the Merger Agreement, the ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the business combination, and/or other risks and uncertainties, including those included under the header “Risk Factors” in the registration statement on Form S-4 filed by FS Development Corp. II with the SEC and those included under the header “Risk Factors” in the final prospectus of FS Development Corp. II related to its initial public offering. Most of these factors are outside of FS Development Corp. II’s and Pardes’ control and are difficult to predict. Furthermore, if the forward-looking statements prove to be inaccurate, the inaccuracy may be material. In light of the significant uncertainties in these forward-looking statements, you should not regard these statements as a representation or warranty by us or any other person that we will achieve our objectives and plans in any specified time frame, or at all. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date of this press release. We anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause our views to change. However, while we may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, we have no current intention of doing so except to the extent required by applicable law. You should, therefore, not rely on these forward-looking statements as representing our views as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release.
Non-Solicitation
This press release is not a proxy statement or solicitation of a proxy, consent or authorization with respect to any securities or in respect of the proposed business combination and shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. No offer of securities shall be made except by means of a prospectus meeting the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
Investor Contact:
ir@pardesbio.com
Laurence Watts
Gilmartin Group
(619) 916-7620
laurence@gilmartinir.com
Stephen Jasper
Gilmartin Group
(858) 525-2047
stephen@gilmartinir.com
Media Contact:
Andrea Heuer
Consort Partners
media@pardesbio.com
