1ST Biotherapeutics and twoXAR Form Co-Development Collaboration to Discover and Develop Treatments for Glioblastoma

SEONGNAM, South Korea & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.

1ST Biotherapeutics, Inc., a preclinical-stage biotechnology company focused on neurodegenerative diseases, immuno-oncology, and orphan diseases, and twoXAR, Inc., an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven biopharmaceutical company, today announced an agreement to jointly discover and develop novel, efficacious treatments to address unmet medical needs in glioblastoma multiforme (“glioblastoma”).

Under the agreement, twoXAR will use its proprietary AI technology to identify a set of drug candidates with the potential to slow, stop, or reverse the progression of glioblastoma. twoXAR and 1ST Biotherapeutics will select candidates from this set to test in preclinical efficacy models of glioblastoma. Following identification of one or more candidates based on those evaluated, 1ST Biotherapeutics will use its team’s expertise in drug development to optimize candidates and finalize the creation of novel, efficacious treatments. Further details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Glioblastoma is the most common and lethal primary malignant brain tumor with a median survival of approximately 15 months¹. It is characterized by an aggressive tumor that infiltrates various portions of the brain and is associated with rapid onset of neurological symptoms, including nausea, vomiting, severe headaches, cognitive issues, and seizures². Current treatment options consist of surgical resection, radiation, chemotherapy, and angiogenesis inhibitors². However, most glioblastoma patients experience disease relapse despite these aggressive therapies. It is estimated that 25,000 people will be diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2018¹.

“1ST Biotherapeutics is focused on efficiently building a pipeline of first-in-class therapeutic candidates with high likelihood of clinical success,” said Jamie Jae Eun Kim, CEO of 1ST Biotherapeutics. “The twoXAR team has a track record of rapidly identifying testable novel treatments that can lead to first-in-class therapeutics. This collaboration is an opportunity to combine twoXAR’s AI-driven drug discovery approach and the 1ST Biotherapeutics team’s expertise in chemistry and pharmacology to discover and develop effective molecular therapeutics for glioblastoma patients.”

“We are pleased to collaborate with 1ST Biotherapeutics, because we share common goals of efficiently discovering and developing novel therapeutics for diseases with high unmet medical need, such as glioblastoma,” said Andrew A. Radin, Co-Founder and CEO of twoXAR. “The 1ST Biotherapeutics team’s deep medicinal chemistry and drug development experience in CNS and oncology diseases provides a strong complement to twoXAR’s data-driven discovery approach.”

About 1ST Biotherapeutics

1ST Biotherapeutics is a science-driven biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of breakthrough therapies in neurodegenerative diseases, immuno-oncology, and rare diseases. Founded in 2016, 1ST Biotherapeutics has rapidly developed a deep pipeline of first-in-class investigational therapeutics with clear mechanism for proper disease modification and with good pharmacological properties. 1ST Biotherapeutics is based in Seongnam, South Korea. For more information, please visit 1stbio.com.

About twoXAR

twoXAR is an artificial intelligence-driven biopharmaceutical company that leverages its computational platform to identify promising drug candidates, de-risk the opportunities through preclinical studies, and progress drug product candidates into the clinic through industry partnerships. Based in Mountain View, California, the twoXAR team includes experts in drug discovery and development, biomedical informatics, computational biology, data science and software development. Investors in twoXAR include SoftBank Ventures, the Andreessen Horowitz Bio Fund, OS Fund, CLI Ventures, and the Stanford-StartX Fund. For more information, please visit www.twoXAR.com.

¹ Datamonitor Healthcare Report: Glioblastoma Disease Coverage 2015 to 2035

² American Brain Tumor Association website. Glioblastoma. Accessed December 13, 2018 at https://www.abta.org/tumor_types/glioblastoma-gbm/.

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