CHENGDU, China, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH) released its 2025 Sustainability Report on April 29, 2026. This report is the second sustainability report of HitGen, aiming to present the Company's philosophies and policies in environmental, social, and governance ("ESG") areas, as well as its sustainable development practices and performance in the year of 2025, to systematically respond to stakeholder concerns.

Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and CEO of HitGen Inc., commented: "As an innovative biopharmaceutical enterprise committed to 'contributing to human health', HitGen has always believed that the core of a company lies in continuously creating value. In 2025, we remained dedicated to practical and determined actions, driving sustainable development to be integrated into strategy, embedded in management, and deeply rooted in operations. This strengthens the solid foundation for long-term success and enables us to continuously contribute, through tangible efforts from HitGen, to our customers, collaborators, investors, employees, as well as the environment and communities on which we depend."

• Sustainable Corporate Governance

HitGen continuously optimizes its governance system, upholds the principle of integrity in business operations to set an industry benchmark, and establishes a comprehensive risk management system to promote long-term and stable development, creating sustainable value for all stakeholders.

• Responsible Value Chain

HitGen adheres to product safety and service quality, builds a sustainable supply chain, systematically manages all aspects of the value chain, and is committed to collaboratively creating long-term comprehensive value with stakeholders.

• Employees and Community

HitGen regards employees as the core driving force for sustainable development and communities as important partners for mutual growth. Adhering to a responsibility philosophy centred on people and dedicated to giving back to society, HitGen promotes employee growth and community co-development.

• Environment

HitGen adheres to the concept of green development, integrates environmental management into corporate operation and development strategies, and systematically advances environmental management, ecological protection, waste management, resource utilization, addressing climate change and other initiatives.

Dr. Jin Li said, "Every step counts, leading to great distances. On our journey to becoming a world-class innovative biopharmaceutical enterprise, we will continue to adhere to market demand as our guide and technological breakthroughs as our engine, continuously optimizing our innovative drug discovery services system, and contributing to building a more inclusive, healthy, green and accessible world."

For more information on HitGen's Sustainability Report, please visit:

https://www.hitgen.com/en/sustainability.html

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH) is dedicated to building a world-class innovative biopharmaceutical enterprise. Driven by the mission to advance human health and quality of life, it provides innovative therapeutic solutions to address unmet medical needs. Centered on its internationally leading DEL (DNA-encoded Library) technology, the Company has expanded into Fragment-Based Drug Discovery and Structure-Based Drug Design and a suite of complementary platforms based on Oligonucleotide-based Therapeutics, Targeted Proximity Drugs, and Cyclic Peptidomimetics, and has developed HAILO, a proprietary "DEL+AI+Automation" molecular optimization platform, thereby establishing a distinctive novel molecule discovery engine that delivers both therapeutics molecules and tool molecules to the global pharmaceutical industry. Headquartered in Chengdu, China, HitGen maintains subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK, and Houston, USA, with its operational network spanning the globe. Through diversified and flexible business models including technical services, project out-licensing and product sales, the Company has forged extensive collaborations with a broad range of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, chemical firms, foundations, and research institutions. As of the end of 2025, it has empowered over 600 clients globally and contributed to thousands of their innovative drug development projects. HitGen also advances multiple internal programmes at various clinical and preclinical stages. For more information, please visit www.hitgen.com.

CHENGDU, China, Dec. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- HitGen Inc. (hereinafter referred to as "HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH), announced it has officially submitted its commitment letter to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). HitGen has pledged to set near-term science-based targets within the next two years, aligned with the SBTi's stringent criteria. This commitment entails the future development and implementation of a series of emission reduction measures designed to cut the company's greenhouse gas emissions across its value chain to a level consistent with the 1.5°C temperature goal set forth in the Paris Agreement. This move marks a significant progress made by HitGen in promoting the company's sustainable development and implementing its ESG (environment, society and governance) strategy.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), initially founded as a collaboration between CDP, United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), We Mean Business Coalition, World Resources Institute (WRI), and World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), assists companies in establishing science-based emission reduction targets in line with the Paris Agreement. To date, over 10,000 companies from more than 100 countries and regions have submitted commitments to the SBTi.

"We are pleased to take this critical step forward by joining the global coalition of corporate climate leaders in the SBTi," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman and CEO of HitGen. "Setting science-based targets is a tangible action in fulfilling our corporate social responsibility to help create a healthier planet for future generations. This commitment is intrinsically linked to our mission of improving human health through innovative science."

This pledge underscores HitGen's dedication to integrating sustainable development into its long-term strategy. As an innovation-driven company, HitGen recognizes the urgency of addressing climate change and its profound impact on global health and well-being. By establishing a science-based decarbonization pathway, HitGen aims not only to minimize the environmental footprint of its own operations but also to encourage a transition towards greener and lower-carbon practices throughout its industrial chain.

• Company enters into new agreement with the Gates Foundation to identify novel drug leads targeting tuberculosis and malaria and new agents for non-hormonal contraception.

CHENGDU, China, Nov. 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH), today announced that it has entered into a new contract agreement with the Gates Foundation. HitGen will leverage its industry-leading DNA-encoded library (DEL) platform to identify novel drug leads for the treatment of underserved diseases including tuberculosis and malaria, as well as to discover novel agents for non-hormonal contraception. 

Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will conduct DEL screening against 15 drug targets identified by the Gates Foundation in cooperation with its partners in academia and research institutes. HitGen will receive funding for the discovery work from the Gates Foundation, building upon a previous project supported by the foundation under which HitGen identified novel drug leads for the treatment of malaria and tuberculosis.

"We are honored to continue this important work with support from the Gates Foundation," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen Inc. "We look forward to engaging with other world-leading philanthropic and academic institutions to deliver transformative solutions for patients with unmet medical needs."

HitGen is a world leader in the development of DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. Its platform includes over 1.2 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology, and the efficiency of the screening process has made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company headquartered in Chengdu, China, with subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid-based drugs. Our key technology platforms include world-leading DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), as well as the emerging technology platforms for oligonucleotide-based therapeutics (OBT), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Meanwhile, we are developing a DEL+AI+Automated DMTA (Design-Make-Test-Analyze) molecular optimization platform to accelerate the discovery and optimization process of preclinical candidate compounds. Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnerships with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

• BGE-102, an orally available, brain-penetrant NLRP3 inhibitor, was developed from a hit compound identified using HitGen's industry-leading DEL technology platform, highlighting the value of DEL to accelerate innovative drug development.
• The initiation of the BGE-102 Phase 1 clinical study triggers a milestone payment to HitGen.

CHENGDU, China, Sept. 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH), congratulates its partner BioAge Labs, Inc. ("BioAge", NASDAQ: BIOA), a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Emeryville, CA, USA, on the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical study of BGE-102, a novel, potent NLRP3 inhibitor developed from a hit compound identified using HitGen's industry-leading DEL technology platform. The event triggers an undisclosed milestone payment to HitGen under the collaboration agreement between the two companies.

BGE-102 is a structurally novel, orally available small molecule NLRP3 inhibitor with high potency and brain penetration being developed initially for the treatment of obesity. NLRP3 is a key driver of age-related inflammation that has been implicated in a broad range of diseases, including neurodegenerative conditions and cardiovascular disease as well as metabolic disorders such as obesity. BioAge identified NLRP3 as a therapeutic target for metabolic and age-related diseases and sought to develop novel inhibitors, leading to the successful collaboration with HitGen.

BGE-102 was developed by BioAge from hit compounds identified in a screen using HitGen's DEL libraries under a collaboration agreement between the parties. In April 2021, the companies announced the successful identification of promising hit molecules. In February 2024, the companies further detailed their research collaboration outcome in a joint publication in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters, entitled "The discovery of novel and potent indazole NLRP3 inhibitors enabled by DNA-encoded library screening". The collaboration has also resulted in joint patent filings covering the structurally novel compounds discovered through the DEL screening process. BioAge and HitGen continue to collaborate on additional drug lead discovery programs for other novel targets using HitGen's DEL platform.

Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen Inc., stated: "We extend our congratulations to the BioAge team on this exciting progress. The advancement of BGE-102 into clinical studies not only validates the power of HitGen's DEL platform to discover novel small molecules against challenging targets, but also reinforces the value of our partnership model. We look forward to continuing our collaboration and following the development of this promising candidate."

"We're excited to reach this important clinical milestone with BGE-102," said Kristen Fortney, PhD, CEO and co-founder of BioAge. "HitGen's DEL platform helped us identify structurally distinct NLRP3 inhibitors with a novel binding site and strong potency and brain penetration. Our collaboration demonstrates the value of combining HitGen's cutting-edge screening technology with insights from human aging biology to advance potentially transformative treatments for metabolic diseases."

HitGen is a world leader in the development of DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. Its platform includes over 1.2 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology, and the efficiency of the screening process has made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company headquartered in Chengdu, China, with subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid-based drugs. Our key technology platforms include world-leading DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), as well as the emerging technology platforms for oligonucleotide-based therapeutics (OBT), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Meanwhile, we are developing a DEL+AI+Automated DMTA (Design-Make-Test-Analyze) molecular optimization platform to accelerate the discovery and optimization process of preclinical candidate compounds. Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnerships with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

About BioAge Labs, Inc.

BioAge (NASDAQ: BIOA) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing therapeutic product candidates for metabolic diseases by targeting the biology of human aging. The Company's lead product candidate, BGE-102, is a potent, orally available, brain-penetrant small-molecule NLRP3 inhibitor being developed for obesity. BGE-102 has demonstrated significant weight loss in preclinical models both as monotherapy and in combination with GLP-1 receptor agonists. A Phase 1 SAD/MAD trial of BGE-102 is underway, with initial SAD data anticipated by end of year. The Company is also developing long-acting injectable and oral small molecule APJ agonists for obesity. BioAge's additional preclinical programs, which leverage insights from the Company's proprietary discovery platform built on human longevity data, address key pathways involved in metabolic aging.

Start Your Journey to Access Vast Chemical Space

CHENGDU, China, Aug. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Developing new medicines demands smart technology and powerful tools. DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, with its unique ability to rapidly screen billions of compounds to identify small molecule hits, has transformed drug discovery. HitGen Inc. is raising the bar with the introduction of OpenDEL™ 5.0 – featuring a total of 4 billion diverse compounds designed to tackle challenging biological targets. OpenDEL™ 5.0 comes in a convenient kit format that is accessible to scientists in industry and academia alike.

Key Improvements:

Expanded Chemical Diversity: 4 billion Compounds

• Increased Library Size: Now with 25% more compounds, OpenDEL™ 5.0 offers 3.8 billion small molecules compounds and 200 million peptide compounds to further expand chemical space for targeting protein-protein-interactions (PPI).
• Encompassing Library Design: 59 distinct libraries provide a broad range of chemistries to address different types of targets and discovery challenges. 

Optional Macrocycle Library: Unlocking Challenging Targets

• A dedicated macrocycle library: Available as an add-on, featuring 4-10 amino acids in the ring. Comes with a linear peptide control library.
• Dual-Kit Flexibility: Choose between OpenDEL™-Small Molecules or OpenDEL™-Macrocycle – or combine both for maximum coverage.

Streamlined Workflow & Faster Access

• Redesigned protocols: Intuitive visual guides simplify key steps, reducing onboarding time.
• Expedited delivery: Next-day shipping available to minimize wait time

Begin Your Exploration Today

OpenDEL™ 5.0 is now available worldwide. Let HitGen help you with your next drug discovery breakthrough.

Visit www.hitgen.com or contact our team to learn more.

Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and CEO of HitGen Inc., commented: "It is my great pleasure to share with you HitGen's inaugural Sustainability Report. As an enterprise at the forefront of drug discovery research, HitGen aspires to advance innovative drug discovery for the healthcare industry. We are committed to original innovation of drug discovery, continuously delivering new molecular entities to the industry, and contributing to improved human health. In 2024, while continuing to enhance our competitiveness in biopharmaceutical R&D services, we systematically integrated sustainability concepts throughout our operational processes, striving to achieve synergistic development in governance efficiency, low-carbon transmission, talent development, and community well-being."

Sustainable Corporate Governance

A robust governance framework and capabilities form the solid foundation for sustainable corporate development. HitGen continuously enhances its governance structure to ensure transparent and scientific decision-making. Adhering to compliance and ethical standards as the baseline, we operate with integrity to establish industry benchmarks. We are committed to building a comprehensive risk management system, driving long-term and stable corporate growth, and creating sustainable value for all stakeholders.

Responsible Value Chain

HitGen advances sustainable development across its entire value chain from supply, operations to client engagement by establishing sustainable supply chain system, industry-academia-research collaborative innovation networks, full-cycle quality control mechanisms, and robust data security safeguards, for the purpose of continuously building a resilient and responsible value ecosystem to fulfill its long-term commitment to human health.

Harmonious Internal and External Ecosystem

HitGen takes social responsibility as its fundamental duty, demonstrating support through safeguarding employee rights and interests, creating an inclusive atmosphere with diversity and equality, empowering personal growth through training and development programs, protecting employee health and safety, and actively engaging in community contributions – all these actions exemplify the Company's commitment to society.

Eco-Conscious Environmental Management

Adhering to the "Eco-Conscious, Planet-Responsible" philosophy, HitGen is dedicated in minimizing adverse impacts on the environment during R&D and operations, conserving natural resources, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting biodiversity and clean water sources.

Dr. Jin Li said, "Guided by our value-creation-driven sustainability vision, we firmly believe our fundamental mission is to create value for society, value for development, and value for the future – thereby propelling technological innovation and business expansion. On this journey, we will persistently leverage market needs as our compass and technological breakthroughs as our engine, continuously optimizing our innovative drug R&D service system to build an ecosystem of positive reciprocity where patients benefit, the industry advances, employees grow, and all stakeholders achieve shared success."

For more information on HitGen's Sustainability Report, please visit https://www.hitgen.com/en/sustainability.html 

• Bridge Biotherapeutics Enters into a joint research agreement with the Chinese drug discovery platform company "HitGen" to accelerate the discovery of new drug candidates for a FIC novel cancer therapeutics program
• Aims to strengthen its oncology portfolio with a novel drug candidate for newly identified hits from HitGen's proprietary DEL that are expected to exhibit potent anticancer activity

CHENGDU, China, Aug. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bridge Biotherapeutics ("Bridge", KQ288330), a clinical-stage biotech company, announced that it has entered into a joint research agreement with HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH), a Chinese drug discovery platform company. This collaboration builds on successful initial hit finding and identification work from HitGen's DNA-encoded library (DEL), aiming to further develop the novel hits as promising drug candidates for cancer.

Bridge plans to strengthen its existing oncology portfolio, which is centered on EGFR inhibitors for lung cancer treatment, through new anticancer drug candidates targeting undisclosed targets. Over the past year, the company has established its own analytical methods through preliminary research to discover new targeted anticancer drugs that are expected to show high anticancer effects across various cancer types. With the launch of this joint research with HitGen, it is anticipated that the derivation of effective substances, optimization, and securing of lead compounds will progress rapidly within the next year.

HitGen is a world leader in the development of DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. Its platform includes over 1.2 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology, and the efficiency of the screening process has made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world. The company has made tremendous improvements over the last few years, making it an integrated drug discovery company focusing on DEL, synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide (STO), targeted protein degradation (TPD), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design (FBDD/SBDD).

James Lee, CEO of Bridge Biotherapeutics stated, "By collaborating with HitGen, we will accelerate the discovery of new targeted anticancer drugs." He added, "We will challenge ourselves to develop drugs that can provide anticancer treatment effects even for genetically mutated cancers, which have been difficult to develop until now."

Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and CEO of HitGen Inc., expressed, " We are pleased to collaborate with Bridge Biotherapeutics team in generating novel drug candidates based on the screening platform we possess," and stated, "We will contribute to the acceleration of new anticancer drug discovery based on the expertise of both companies."

Bridge Biotherapeutics has initiated the fourth cohort in the Phase 1 clinical trial for its leading candidate drug BBT-207 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Through this collaboration with HitGen, the company is embarking on the discovery of new anticancer drugs as part of its efforts to strengthen its cancer portfolio.

About Bridge Biotherapeutics, Inc.

Bridge Biotherapeutics Inc., based in the Republic of Korea and the U.S., is a publicly traded, clinical-stage biotech company founded in 2015. Bridge Biotherapeutics is engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutics, focusing on therapeutic areas with high unmet needs, including fibrotic diseases and cancers. The company is developing BBT-877, a novel autotaxin inhibitor for the treatment of fibrotic diseases including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), and BBT-207, a potent targeted cancer therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with EGFR C797S mutations. Learn more at https://www.bridgebiorx.com/en/.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company with headquarters in Chengdu, China, and subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs. Our key technology platforms include world-leading DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), as well as the emerging technology platforms for synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnership with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage. For more information about HitGen, please visit www.hitgen.com.

CHENGDU, China, July 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- "Evolving DNA-Encoded Library Technology and Its Application for Innovative Drug Discovery" webinar will be jointly hosted by HitGen Inc. and Xtalks on Wednesday July 17, 2024, at 2pm EDT (11am PDT). Alex Shaginian, PhD, Vice President of Business Development and Chemical Sciences, HitGen, David Israel, PhD, Vice President of Lead Discovery Sciences, HitGen; and Rusty Montgomery, PhD, SVP-Research, BioAge Labs, will join the live webinar, and share their insights into the challenges in drug discovery and different selection strategies for DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology in the drug discovery process. A detailed case study from BioAge on the discovery of novel inhibitors using DEL technology will be introduced.

DEL technology has seen remarkable advancements in recent years and has made a significant impact in successfully identifying a variety of hit compounds that have progressed to various stages of drug development. Proteins are the major targets used in DEL selection as they can be either extracted from biological samples or, more often, expressed in the recombinant form, which allows for different designs of protein constructs. DEL technology presents a disruptive hit identification platform that can vastly expedite the course of early-stage small-molecule drug discovery.

In this free webinar, the expert speakers will provide an introduction to free selection on different target types ranging from enzymes to receptors and highlight the unique advantages or features for the application of DELs on these targets. They will also describe various DEL platforms that have been developed and how they can be utilized to achieve success in the drug discovery process.

Furthermore, as a case study, BioAge Labs will share their experience in using DEL technology for their study entitled "The discovery of novel and potent indazole NLRP3 inhibitors enabled by DNA-encoded library screening", which was published in Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. In this work, the researchers have demonstrated a selection strategy for drug discovery using DEL, directly identified small molecule structures, biophysical and biochemical activities, physicochemical properties and other factors.

Register for this webinar to understand how DEL technology can revolutionize small-molecule drug discovery.

For more information, or to register for this event, visit Evolving DNA-Encoded Library Technology and Its Application for Innovative Drug Discovery.

About HitGen

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company with headquarters in Chengdu, China, and subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs. Our key technology platforms include world-leading DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), as well as the emerging technology platforms for synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnership with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

CONTACT
Brian Moloney | Chief Business Officer | +1-760-644-8468 | brian.moloney@hitgen.com.
Alex Shaginian | VP Business Development & Chemical Sciences | +1-608-213-5682 | alex.shaginian@hitgen.com.
Email: bd@hitgen.com
Or visit www.hitgen.com

CHENGDU, China, Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hox Therapeutics Ltd ("Hox") a private biotechnology company developing highly targeted cancer therapies and Vernalis (R&D) Ltd ("Vernalis"), a fully owned subsidiary of HitGen Inc., are pleased to announce a collaboration to identify inhibitors against an undisclosed oncology target.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vernalis will use its state-of-the-art protein science and Hit ID platforms to produce the target protein, and to identify and characterise small molecule inhibitors of the target. The research at Vernalis will be funded by Hox. Financial terms have not been disclosed.

James Murray, Research Director of Vernalis, said, "This partnership is built on Vernalis's strong record for innovation in drug discovery to generate clinical candidates. We look forward to working closely with Hox to successfully achieve the goals of this collaboration".

Nicholas Adams, CEO of Hox Therapeutics, said, "We are delighted to be working with Vernalis on this project. They have proven expertise in being able to identify inhibitors against the protein target that we're interested in".

About Hox Therapeutics Ltd

Hox Therapeutics is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of innovative, highly targeted medicines for the treatment of cancer.

For more information, please visit www.hoxtherapeutics.com 

About Vernalis

Vernalis is a world leader in fragment and structure-based drug discovery with a record of progressing targets from concept to clinic. Based in Cambridge, UK, we have generated development candidates across oncology, neurodegeneration, anti-infectives and inflammation, through global collaborations. Vernalis is a wholly owned subsidiary of HitGen Inc (688222.SH).

For more information about Vernalis, please visit www.vernalis.com

CHENGDU, China, Sept. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH) today announced that it has entered into a partnership with The Structural Genomics Consortium ("SGC"), a public-private partnership that supports the discovery of new medicines through open-access research. HitGen will utilize its DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology platform, specifically OpenDEL™, to screen under-represented targets chosen by SGC.  The screening datasets, curated in a ML-ready format, will be posted to a publicly accessible portal to facilitate drug discovery and ML experts from around the world to model the data and make predictions about new active molecules that would be experimentally tested at SGC as part of the Target 2035 initiative. 

HitGen is a world leader in the development of DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. Its platform includes over 1.2 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology, and the efficiency of the screening process has made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

OpenDEL™ is a self-service DEL kit with over 3 billion compounds, which enables users to explore DEL selection campaigns without revealing the target identity. Under the guidance of the manual and operating instructions, users can utilize OpenDEL™ to conduct affinity screening experiments against protein targets in their own laboratories. HitGen can provide upstream and downstream technical support.

"We look forward to working with the research teams at SGC to generate novel starting points for under-studied proteins and to place ML-ready representations of the data into the public domain on an open access basis. As one of HitGen's four core technology platforms, our world-leading DEL platform is an efficient 'engine' to advance drug discovery and has enabled hit identification and lead generation for many innovative discovery programs by our customers and partners. We look forward to delivering useful starting points for targets chosen by SGC," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen Inc.

"I am confident that this partnership has the potential to be transformative," said Aled Edwards, Chief Executive of the SGC, "We look forward to providing the ML community with high-quality, well-curated data so they can contribute to our global effort to find drug starting points for all human proteins."

About HitGen Inc.
HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company with headquarters in Chengdu, China, and subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs. Our key technology platforms include world-leading DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), as well as the emerging technology platforms for synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnership with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

For more information, please call +86-28-85197385, +1-508-840-9646 or visit www.hitgen.com.
For media inquiries: media@hitgen.com
For investor inquiries: investors@hitgen.com  
For business development: bd@hitgen.com

About the Structural Genomics Consortium

The Structural Genomics Consortium is a global public-private partnership that seeks to accelerate drug discovery by fostering collaboration among a large network of scientists in academia and industry and making all research outputs openly available to the scientific community. The current SGC research sites are located at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Karolinska Institute, McGill University, University College, London, the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and the University of Toronto.

For more information, contact Sofia Melliou: communications@thesgc.org 

CHENGDU, China, Aug. 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH) today announced that it has entered into a research service agreement with Nested Therapeutics, Inc. ("Nested"), a biotechnology company pioneering a next-generation precision medicine platform to address hard-to-treat cancers, under which HitGen will utilize its DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology platform, centered around the design, synthesis and screening of DELs, to identify hits against targets of interest to Nested.

HitGen is a world leader in the development of DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. Its platform includes over 1.2 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology and the efficiency of the screening process has made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

"We look forward to working with the research teams at Nested to generate novel starting points for their research programs to help address the unmet needs of patients with cancer. As one of HitGen's four core technology platforms, our world-leading DEL platform is an efficient 'engine' to advance drug discovery, and has enabled hit identification and lead generation for many innovative discovery programmes by our customers and partners. We look forward to delivering useful outcome for Nested's research programmes," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen Inc.

About Nested Therapeutics

Nested Therapeutics is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing novel, targeted, small molecule precision medicine therapies for patients with cancer by using mutation clusters to identify druggable pockets. With a platform that utilizes insights from genomics, computational chemistry, proteomics, and AI, Nested is working to reach untapped mutations with the potential to improve outcomes for millions of patients. To learn more, visit www.nestedtx.com and follow Nested Therapeutics on Twitter (@Nestedtx) and LinkedIn.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company with headquarters in Chengdu, China, and subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs. Our key technology platforms include world-leading DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), as well as the emerging technology platforms for synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnership with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

For more information, please call +86-28-85197385, +1-508-840-9646 or visit www.hitgen.com.

For business development: bd@hitgen.com

Follow HitGen on LinkedIn.

CHENGDU, China, June 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH) has recently launched a newly upgraded version of its OpenDEL™ product, a self-service screening kit for novel molecules. It contains 65% more DEL libraries than the previous version, and with over 3 billion compounds. The 2-cycle and 3-cycle libraries in the kit are designed with excellent drug-like properties. The upgraded OpenDEL™ provides more diverse options with more flexible packages and service models to meet more differentiated user needs.

OpenDEL™ is a self-service DNA-encoded library (DEL) kit, which enables users to explore DEL selection campaigns without revealing the target identity. Under the guidance of the manual and operating instructions, users can utilize OpenDEL™ to conduct affinity screening experiments against protein targets in their own laboratories. HitGen can provide upstream and downstream technical support.

OpenDEL™ is a fully-open, transparent, small molecule screening kit, featuring complete disclosure of information for molecular structures, building blocks, scaffolds and compound encoding sequences. The users do not need to pay structure disclosure fees, nor compound IP license fees.

OpenDEL™ can be widely applied in multiple areas, including drug discovery and AI-ML research. In the drug discovery scenarios, the complete information disclosure of OpenDEL™ can enable efficient and convenient discovery of novel hits and lead compounds. In the AI-ML scenarios, OpenDEL™ can provide a large number of high-quality screening data to facilitate the AI/ML predictive model building, algorithm development and validation, as well as other frontier explorations, thus promoting the AI-driven drug development.

Since its release, OpenDEL™ has been widely used and highly recognized by many users from more than 10 countries, including biopharmaceutical companies, AI technology companies, academic institutions and colleges.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company with headquarters in Chengdu, China, and subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs. Our key technology platforms include world-leading DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), as well as the emerging technology platforms for synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnership with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

For more information, please call +86-28-85197385, +1-508-840-9646 or visit www.hitgen.com. 
For media inquiries: media@hitgen.com  
For investor inquiries: investors@hitgen.com  
For business development: bd@hitgen.com

HitGen is a world leader in the development of DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. Their platform includes over 1.2 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology and the efficiency of the screening process has made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

"We are very excited to work with HitGen. They will be instrumental in progressing our preclinical portfolio and we look forward to leveraging their screening platform and drug discovery capabilities in combination with our deep expertise in ADP-ribosylation and drug development," said Paul Chang PhD. CEO/CSO and founder, ARase Therapeutic.

"I am delighted to see HitGen and ARase enter this drug discovery research collaboration. HitGen's world leading DEL technologies have enabled generation of novel chemical starting points for many innovative discovery programmes by companies like ARase. We look forward to working together with ARase research teams progressing their therapeutic programmes for serious unmet medical needs," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and CEO of HitGen Inc.

About ARase Therapeutics, Inc.

ARase Therapeutics is a biotechnology company that seeks to unlock the therapeutic potential of ADP-ribose hydrolases, a family of enzymes that play critical roles in cancer relevant cellular stress pathways. Targeting these enzymes represents a novel approach for modulating therapeutically proven DNA damage and replicative stress responses with the potential to impact multiple cancer indications including those with defective DNA repair. ARase is located in Cambridge, MA and funded by Mission BioCapital. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.arasetherapeutics.com.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company with headquarters in Chengdu, China, and subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs. Our key technology platforms include DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnership with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

For more information, please call +86-28-85197385, +1-508-840-9646 or visit www.hitgen.com.

For media inquiries: media@hitgen.com
For investor inquiries: investors@hitgen.com
For business development: bd@hitgen.com

CHENGDU, China, Dec. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH) today announced that it has entered into a research agreement with Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc. ("Nitrase"), a biopharmaceutical company deploying its NITROME platform to build a pipeline of therapies targeting nitrases, which is a new class of enzymes discovered by Nitrase that are involved in a broad variety of diseases. 

Nitrases have been implicated in numerous devastating diseases, including Parkinson's, cancer, respiratory diseases, fibrosis and other neurodegenerative diseases. Nitrase's NITROME platform has generated leads for the inhibition of nitrase enzymatic reactions that can cause disease, and is developing drugs based on the newly discovered role that protein nitration plays in disease.

HitGen will apply its DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology platform centered around the design, synthesis and screening of DELs to discover compounds that bind to certain targets that are of interest to Nitrase. Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and will be eligible for milestone payments from Nitrase.

HitGen is a world leader in the development of the DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. The availability of over 1.2 trillion small molecules generated by the DEL technology and the efficiency of the screening process have made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

Nitrase Therapeutics has made breakthrough discoveries in the role of protein nitration, caused by company-discovered enzymes called nitrases, in various diseases," said Pierre Beaurang, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Nitrase Therapeutics. "We have identified over 30 nitrases thus far, and we look forward to working with HitGen to expand our existing pipeline of compounds that are capable of modulating nitration for the development of novel therapeutics."

"It's really exciting for us to work on this novel target class with Nitrase. As one of HitGen's four core technology platforms, DEL is an efficient 'engine' to advance drug discovery. We look forward to working closely with Nitrase's scientists to identify novel hits from HitGen's DNA-encoded libraries and generate new lead compounds for their research programs to address unmet medical needs associated with Parkinson's and other diseases," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen.

About Nitrase Therapeutics, Inc.

Nitrase Therapeutics is a pioneering biopharmaceutical company deploying its unique NITROME platform to unlock the therapeutic potential of nitrases, a new class of enzymes that it discovered, to develop a pipeline of therapies against a broad range of diseases. The medicines that Nitrase Therapeutics is developing will target these enzymes and potentially help slow or halt the progression of numerous diseases in which nitrases and nitro-substrates play a role, including Parkinson's, cancer, immunological and fibrotic diseases. Nitrase Therapeutics (under the former name Nitrome Biosciences) has been widely recognized and has won multiple awards including the prestigious Target Advancement grant from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research (MJFF). Nitrase Therapeutics is located in Brisbane, CA, and its investors include Sofinnova Partners, AbbVie Ventures, Dementia Discovery Fund, Bristol Myers Squibb, Mission Bay Capital and Alexandria Venture Investments. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.nitrasetx.com.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), is a drug discovery research company with headquarters in Chengdu, China, and subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen has established leading technology platforms to enable the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs. Our key technology platforms include DNA-encoded library technology (DEL), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). Through our diverse and flexible business models, we have built up collaboration partnership with several hundred biopharmaceutical research organizations worldwide. HitGen has multiple programmes from early discovery to clinical trial stage.

For more information, please call +86-28-85197385, +1-508-840-9646 or visit www.hitgen.com.

For media inquiries: media@hitgen.com 

For investor inquiries: investors@hitgen.com  

For business development: bd@hitgen.com

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Under the terms of the agreement, Vernalis and Contera will use their respective expertise in fragment and structure-based drug design and RNA-based drug development within neuroscience to design small molecules against a particularly challenging target for a rare neurologic disorder. All costs of activities until a predefined milestone will be shared between the partners. Should that first stage of the collaboration be successful, the partners will have the option to extend the collaboration and Vernalis will be entitled to receive research funding, downstream milestones and royalties on candidates resulting from the partnership. Contera will be responsible for development and commercialization of these candidates. The partners also have the option to extend the collaboration beyond the initial target.

Mike Wood, Managing Director of Vernalis said: "This strategic partnership marks the entry of Vernalis into the exciting field of RNA-targeting small molecules. We are extremely pleased to work with Contera on this promising target and we look forward to expanding our collaboration to multiple targets in the field of neurology."

Kenneth Vielsted Christensen, CSO of Contera, said: "We are pleased to announce this agreement which marks the expansion of our drug discovery efforts within the exciting field of RNA therapeutics. RNA-targeting small molecules is an area of high attention and entering this field will allow us to broaden both our target and indication space. The partnership with Vernalis, which is at the forefront of drug discovery innovation, enables us to drug previously undruggable neurology targets by adding small molecules targeting RNA to our existing in-house ASO and siRNA capabilities. Vernalis, a world leader in drug discovery, is a strong partner and the perfect match for us in our efforts to discover and develop novel RNA therapeutics for patients suffering from neurological disorders."

Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen Inc., commented: "It is pleasing to see this collaboration between Vernalis and Contera. Targeting RNAs by small molecules or RNAi has become an exciting approach to developing innovative medicines for many diseases affecting human health. The technologies and expertise available at Vernalis and HitGen are highly relevant in this field. I look forward to seeing further progress from the collaboration."

CHENGDU, China, Sept. 5, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Vernalis Research ("Vernalis"), a fully owned subsidiary of HitGen Inc., and Unison Medicines Inc. ("Unison") are pleased to announce a research collaboration on an undisclosed bacterial target.

Under the terms of the agreement, Vernalis will use its expertise in drug discovery to design small molecules against this particularly challenging target, which has long been considered to be undruggable. Unison will finance all activities at Vernalis and Vernalis will be entitled to receive downstream milestones and royalties should the compounds from the collaboration progress further into development and commercialization. As part of the agreement, Vernalis has also invested in Unison's first round of financing.

Dr. Mike Wood, Managing Director of Vernalis, said: "We are extremely pleased to work with Unison on this promising and difficult bacterial target. This collaboration demonstrates once again that Vernalis is an attractive partner for biotech and pharma companies facing challenges in drug discovery. And the investment in Unison's financing round demonstrates the flexibility of our business model and the willingness to share the risk with our partners. We are looking forward to a successful collaboration with Unison."

Doug Witt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Unison, said: "We are delighted to begin our collaboration with Vernalis. The team at Vernalis has an unmatched track record against difficult targets and we are confident that together we are positioned for success. The investment in this project by Vernalis and others demonstrates the opportunity we see in tackling the Anti-Microbial Resistance problem with highly innovative approaches." 

Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen Inc., commented: "I am very pleased to see Vernalis and Unison enter this collaboration, which reflects Vernalis' deep expertise and experience in FBDD/SBDD field to solve challenging problems in drug discovery research. Since Vernalis became part of HitGen at the end of 2020, the research teams from Vernalis and HitGen Chengdu have been working closely to advance the synergistic opportunities of the DEL and FBDD/SBDD technology platforms. I believe that the collaboration between Vernalis and Unison will mark important progress in our concerted efforts, and I wish the collaboration every success in this very important area of healthcare."

About Unison

Unison Medicines, Inc. is a discovery stage pharmaceutical company headquartered in Cambridge, MA.  In 2022, Unison closed its first round of financing led by industry veterans and institutions.  Unison is focused exclusively on the development of small molecule medicines against novel targets that provide a radically different approach to treating bacterial infection.

About Vernalis

For information about Vernalis visit: www.vernalis.com

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. (SSE: 688222.SH), founded in 2012, is headquartered in Chengdu, China, with subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen is committed to building a world-class innovative biopharmaceutical enterprise and contributing to the better life and health of mankind. Engaged in the discovery and optimization of small molecules and nucleic acid drugs, HitGen dedicates itself to cultivating an internationally leading drug discovery and optimization system centered on four key technology platforms, including DNA-encoded library technology (including DEL design, synthesis and screening, and application expansion), fragment-based drug discovery and structure-based drug design technologies (FBDD/SBDD), synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide technology (STO), and targeted protein degradation technology (TPD). It provides new molecular entities (NMEs) at different stages of research and development for the pharmaceutical industry, through its diversified business models including research and development services, out-licensing of projects at different R&D stages, and new drug launches in the long term, with an aim to address unmet clinical needs with innovative therapeutic solutions. As a leader in the field of DEL technology, HitGen has been committed to the development, application and improvement of DEL technology since its establishment. By June 30, 2022, HitGen's DELs contains more than 1.2 trillion novel, diverse, drug-like small molecules and macrocyclic compounds. These compounds are members of DELs synthesized from many thousands of distinct chemical scaffolds, designed with tractable chemistry, and have yielded proven results for the discovery of small molecule leads against precedented and unprecedented classes of biological targets. Through systematic DEL compound design, HitGen DELs has involved the use of more than 6000 different types of chemical scaffolds, which includes most of the core scaffolds of currently approved small-molecule drugs and many privileged scaffolds of small-molecules in clinical trials, and the approximately 40,000 different building blocks. HitGen has approximately 20 in-house drug discovery projects at different stages of research and development, among which 4 have obtained IND approvals and entered into clinical trials. HitGen is in collaboration with pharmaceutical, biotech and chemical companies, foundations and research institutes in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania.

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CHENGDU, China, Aug. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- "OpenDEL^®3.0 – DRUG DISCOVERY PARTNER" webinar will be jointly held by HitGen Inc. and Endpoints News on Thursday 4th August, to present you with a high-quality DEL product with all DEL information sharing and technical support. Dr. Guansai Liu, Executive Director of Discovery Chemistry Unit at HitGen Inc. will share his insights into challenges in drug discovery and how OpenDEL^®3.0 can facilitate efficient new drug development.

ABOUT OpenDEL^®3.0: a self-service DNA-encoded library (DEL) kit product enables users to explore DEL selection campaigns without revealing the target identity. The users are able to perform affinity selections according to the selection manual and HitGen team provides technical supports on DEL selections, high-throughput sequencing and data analysis.

Four Key Features of OpenDEL^®3.0:

• Transparence: all DEL information (reagents and codons) is completely open to the users; selection manual and key materials for selections are provided along with OpenDEL^® product.
• Drug-likeness: three-cycle DELs containing 90% molecules give MW<550 daltons.
• Reliability: robust chemistry and strict library QC.
• No downstream obligation: no compound disclosure fee and license fee for hits discovered from OpenDEL^®3.0.

ABOUT SPEAKER:

Dr. Guansai Liu, Executive Director of Discovery Chemistry Unit, HitGen Inc.

Dr. Guansai Liu joined HitGen in 2013 and is now in charge of building and leading the DNA-encoded chemical library platforms for early small-molecule drug discovery and optimization. Dr. Liu earned his PhD degree in organic chemistry from University of Science and Technology of China in 2010, where he performed his doctoral research on total synthesis of structurally-complex natural products under Professor Zhujun Yao's guidance. Then he worked at Georgia State University from 2010 to 2013 as a post-doctoral research fellow, working on aminohydroxylations of olefins with non-precious metal catalysis. He has published over 26 articles and papers in leading peer-reviewed journals such as J. Am. Soc. Chem., Org. Lett., etc.

Register Now: https://webinars.endpts.com/opendel3-0-a-high-quality-del-product-for-your-open-access/ 

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Triplet repeat diseases are genetic disorders that primarily affect the nervous system and are caused by abnormal trinucleotide repeat expansions. Human genome-wide association studies on Huntington's disease and other TRDs have demonstrated that clinical disease measures, such as age of onset and rate of progression, are critically modified by genetic variants that increase mismatch repair pathway activity. Aberrant activity of this pathway leads to further expansions of trinucleotide repeats in the DNA sequence. That, in turn, translates into more toxicity in the neurons of vulnerable brain regions, thus accelerating the rate of neurodegeneration. LoQus23's differentiated, structure-based approach targets DNA damage repair proteins with small molecule drugs to stop DNA instability and slow neurodegeneration in Huntington's disease, myotonic dystrophy type 1 and other TRDs. 

HitGen is a world leader in the development of the DEL technology and its applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. To explore therapies for the challenging TRDs, LoQus23 will provide novel targets, and HitGen will screen its expansive DELs of over 1.2 trillion small molecules against these targets.

"LoQus23 is a highly innovative company with in-depth expertise in pursuing genetically-validated targets for the treatment of triplet repeat diseases. We look forward to working with LoQus23 to identify novel small molecule starting points from DNA-encoded libraries. We will work closely with LoQus23 scientists to generate new lead compounds for their research programs to address unmet medical needs associated with aberrant DNA damage repair and improve the lives of patients with devastating genetic diseases," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen.

"HitGen is a world leader in DNA-encoded libraries and we look forward to working with their scientists to discover small molecule hits for novel DNA damage repair targets to expand the portfolio of innovative projects at LoQus23," said Dr. David Reynolds, LoQus23's Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer.

HitGen has built four core technology platforms including DNA-encoded library (DEL), molecular fragment and structure design (FBDD/SBDD), synthetic therapeutic oligonucleotide (STO) and targeted protein degradation (TPD). HitGen's DEL technology platform, centered around the design, synthesis and interrogation of thousands of DELs that collectively comprise over 1.2 trillion small, drug-like molecules, is also capable of providing services and products including DEL screening, customized DEL library, OpenDEL^®, etc. Over the past few years, HitGen has worked with its partners to utilize the DEL platform to generate nearly 500 licensed novel chemical structures for their research projects.  

CHENGDU, China, April 6, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- HitGen Inc. ("HitGen"), a Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR-listed company (ticker code 688222.SH), today announced that the company has successfully completed the multiple-target drug discovery research projects with UPPTHERA, a Korean pharmaceutical company aiming for new drug development employing "Protein Degradation Technology". During the collaboration, multiple undisclosed targets were screened against HitGen's proprietary over 1 trillion DNA-encoded libraries (DELs). The majority of the targets have resulted in confirmed hits, which have high potential for PROTAC development. Now the two parties are extending the collaboration on further development of these projects and additional challenging targets.

"I am excited to see the fruitful outcome from our collaboration with UPPTHERA, comprising of highly science-driven and collaboration-focused researchers. As a great tool for Targeted Protein Degrader drug discovery, HitGen's DEL has once again demonstrated its power in tackling challenging targets. I look forward to seeing more promising results from further development of these compounds," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen.

"HitGen's DEL screening platform properly discovered small molecule binders for UPPTHERA's targets of interest which are known to be undruggable. Through our extended collaboration, we hope to see further development of these molecules and more results for additional challenging targets," said Dr. Siwoo Choi, Chief Executive Officer of UPPTHERA.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. is a biotech company headquartered in Chengdu, China, with subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. It became a publicly listed company in Shanghai Stock Exchange in April 2020 (ticker code 688222.SH). HitGen has established a drug discovery research platform for small molecules and nucleic acid drug centered on the design, synthesis and screening of DNA encoded chemical libraries (DELs), fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) and structure-based drug design (SBDD) technologies. HitGen's DELs currently contains more than 1 trillion novel, diverse, drug-like small molecules and macrocyclic compounds. These compounds are members of DELs synthesized from many thousands of distinct chemical scaffolds, designed with tractable chemistry, and have yielded proven results for the discovery of small molecule leads against precedented and unprecedented classes of biological targets. 

About UPPTHERA Inc.

UPPTHERA Inc. is a pharmaceutical venture company headquartered in Songdo, South Korea. UPPTHERA aims to use Proteolysis Targeting Chimera (PROTAC) modality to solve unmet needs which have not been solved by traditional drug modalities. UPPTHERA's pipeline is initially focused on, lung cancers, cardiovascular diseases, and hematologic cancers. UPPTHERA also uses UPPGRADER™ which is its proprietary solution to discover promising novel E3L mainly based on a scRNA-seq data analysis to develop novel E3L platforms with definite competitive edges on traditional E3Ls such as CRBN or VHL.

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CHENGDU, China, March 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company (688222.SH) HitGen Inc. ("HitGen") today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with Howard Hughes Medical Institute ("HHMI") and Duke University. The Principal Investigators for HHMI and Duke University who will oversee the collaboration will be Dr. Robert J. Lefkowitz, a James B. Duke Professor of Medicine and Professor of Biochemistry and Chemistry at the Duke University Medical Center, Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute as well as the recipient of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, and Dr. Howard A. Rockman, an Edward S. Orgain Distinguished Professor of Cardiology and Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology at the Duke University Medical Center. HHMI and Duke University will use HitGen's OpenDEL^® to perform selections against GPCR targets. OpenDEL^® is an affordable self-service drug discovery DEL platform for start-ups, biotechs, and academic researchers.

"We look forward to working with the Lefkowitz-Rockman team at HHMI and Duke University and believe that the collaboration reinforces the role of HitGen's platform as a leader in the rapidly developing field of DNA-encoded chemistry," said Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen Inc.

HitGen is a world leader in the development of the DEL technology and applications to early-stage small molecule drug discovery. HitGen's full range of DEL products and the efficiency of the screening process have made it possible for HitGen to enable drug discovery projects for many organizations around the world.

About OpenDEL^®

OpenDEL^® is a self-service DEL product that provides researchers in industry and academia with a direct access to billions of DNA-encoded compounds for their own target selections without the need to disclose target information (https://www.hitgen.com/en/capabilities-details-21.html). Once the purchase order is placed, HitGen will share in-depth DEL data to customers, including building block and DNA tagging information. Owning to the product transparency, there is no downstream financial obligations, if users find any compounds of interest from OpenDEL^®. OpenDEL^® provides affordable DEL resources for start-ups, biotechs, academic researchers, and AI-ML companies.

About HitGen Inc.

HitGen Inc. is a biotech company headquartered in Chengdu, China, with subsidiaries in Cambridge, UK and Houston, USA. HitGen became a publicly listed company in Shanghai Stock Exchange in April 2020 (ticker code 688222.SH) and has established a drug discovery research platform for small molecules and nucleic acid drug centered on the design, synthesis and screening of DNA encoded chemical libraries (DELs), fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) and structure-based drug design (SBDD) technologies. HitGen's DELs currently contains more than 1 trillion novel, diverse, drug-like small molecules and macrocyclic compounds. These compounds are members of DELs synthesized from many hundreds of distinct chemical scaffolds, designed with tractable chemistry, and have yielded proven results for the discovery of small molecule leads against precedented and unprecedented classes of biological targets.

Through its acquisition of Cambridge UK based Vernalis R&D Ltd, a leader in FBDD/SBDD, HitGen now has a research team of over 500 scientists and offers a full set of research capabilities that entail recombinant protein expression and purification, structural biology, assay development, screening, DEL synthesis, nucleic acid and small molecule chemical synthesis, computational and medicinal chemistry, biochemistry and biophysics, cell biology, in vivo pharmacology, DMPK, CMC, etc., to enable drug discovery research from target gene to IND filing.

HitGen operates a flexible business model, ranging from a single capability-based fee for services (FFS, e.g., protein expression and purification, structural biology, bioinformatics, computational chemistry, medicinal chemistry, nucleic and organic chemistry, analytical chemistry, biophysics, PK, PD, etc.), DEL screening, DEL design, synthesis and characterization, integrated drug discovery projects, risk sharing projects, collaborative ventures to program out-licensing. HitGen has approximately 20 in-house drug discovery programs at different stages of research & development. HitGen is collaborating with pharmaceutical, biotech and chemical companies, foundations and research institutes in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia to enable the discovery and development of novel medicines and agrochemicals.

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