SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UNITY Biotechnology, Inc. (“UNITY”) [NASDAQ: UBX], a biotechnology company developing therapeutics to slow, halt or reverse diseases of aging, will present preclinical data on its lead clinical candidate, UBX1325, at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) 2021 Annual Meeting, being held May 1-7, 2021. In addition, Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha, Ph.D., chief scientific advisor for UNITY, will participate in a special interest panel on diabetic retinopathy.
“The data presented at ARVO 2021 highlights the promising potential of selectively targeting senescent cells to restore healthy retinal vasculature in patients with diabetic retinopathies,” said Jamie Dananberg, M.D., chief medical officer of UNITY. “We continue to build upon the strong scientific foundation in support of our cellular senescence platform and Bcl-xL inhibition in ophthalmologic disease, which represents a promising and much needed alternative to standard of care anti-VEGF therapies.”
Details of the presentations are as follows:
Panel Discussion Title: Ischemia and neuronal loss: neglected pathways of vision loss in Diabetic Retinopathy
Session: Special Interest Groups
Date & Time: Wednesday, May 5 at 2:00 – 3:30 pm PT
Participant: Przemyslaw (Mike) Sapieha, Ph.D., chief scientific advisor at UNITY
Presentation Title: UBX1325, a small molecule inhibitor of Bcl-xL, attenuates vascular dysfunction in two animal models of retinopathy
Session: Diabetic retinopathy/retinal pharmacology/physiology
Date & Time: Sunday, May 2 between 6:00 – 7:45 am PT
Presenter: Pamela Tsuruda, Ph.D., senior director at UNITY
Presentation Title: Inhibition of Bcl-xL with the small molecule UBX1967 targets Col1a1-positive endothelial cells in ischemic retinopathy
Session: Diabetic retinopathy
Date & Time: Sunday, May 2 between 8:15 – 9:45 am PT
Presenter: Sergio Crespo-Garcia, Ph.D., University of Montreal, Canada
Full presentations will be available on demand to ARVO participants starting May 1, 2021 at 7:00 a.m. ET. The poster presentation will also be available on the UNITY website under Publications at this time.
About Diabetic Macular Edema
Diabetic macular edema (DME) is characterized by leaky blood vessels in the eye, contributing to swelling of the retina and vision loss. The National Eye Institute identifies DME as the most prominent complication of diabetes and the leading cause of blindness in working age individuals, impacting more than 20 million people worldwide. However, nearly half of individuals with DME are undiagnosed and of those that do get treated with the current standard of care, a significant proportion of patients fail to respond to treatment.
About UBX1325
UBX1325, currently in Phase 1 clinical development, is a novel senolytic small molecule inhibitor of Bcl-xL, a member of the Bcl-2 family of apoptosis regulatory proteins. Bcl-xL is highly expressed in pathogenic blood vessels in the retina, and UBX1325 has been shown to result in the selective elimination of senescent cells, reduction in vascular leak and restoration of healthy blood vessels in preclinical models. UBX1325 is currently being evaluated in clinical trials for the treatment of age-related diseases of the eye, including diabetic macular edema, diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration.
About UNITY
UNITY is developing a new class of therapeutics to slow, halt or reverse diseases of aging. UNITY’s current focus is on creating medicines to selectively eliminate or modulate senescent cells and thereby provide transformative benefit in age-related ophthalmologic and neurologic diseases. More information is available at www.unitybiotechnology.com or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements including statements related to UNITY’s understanding of cellular senescence and the role it plays in diseases of aging, the potential for UNITY to develop therapeutics to slow, halt, or reverse diseases of aging, including for ophthalmologic and neurologic diseases, the potential for UNITY to successfully commence and complete clinical studies of UBX1325 for DME, AMD, and other ophthalmologic diseases, the expected timing of initial results of the Phase 1 study of UBX1325, the timing of the expected commencement of the Phase 2a study of UBX1325, and UNITY’s expectations regarding the sufficiency of its cash runway. These statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements, including the risk that the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic may continue to negatively impact the development of preclinical and clinical drug candidates, including delaying or disrupting the enrollment of patients in clinical trials, risks relating to the uncertainties inherent in the drug development process, and risks relating to UNITY’s understanding of senescence biology. We may not actually achieve the plans, intentions, or expectations disclosed in our forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking statements we make. The forward-looking statements in this press release represent our views as of the date of this 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 release. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the business of the Company in general, see UNITY’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 23, 2021, as well as other documents that may be filed by UNITY from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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