C4XD and HitGen to collaborate in inflammation hit identification project

Initial project with option to expand collaboration on successful outputs

20 October 2022 - C4X Discovery Holdings plc ("C4XD", AIM: C4XD), a pioneering Drug Discovery company, and Shanghai Stock Exchange listed company HitGen Inc. ("HitGen", SSE: 688222.SH), a world leader in the development and application of DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology, today announce a research collaboration project to identify novel, small molecule hits against an inflammatory target for further C4XD development.

The aim of the project is to augment C4XD's growing pipeline of small molecule inflammatory disease candidates for pre-clinical development and out-licensing to the pharmaceutical industry.  In this initial collaboration, C4XD and HitGen have together developed an approach for HitGen to apply its DEL screening technology platform to identify hits against a commercially valuable target for inflammatory diseases.  If successful, C4XD will then apply its molecule design Conformetrix technology to translate these hits into suitable starting points for a small molecule programme, which can then be progressed through C4XD's rigorous Drug Discovery process.  C4XD has the option to extend the collaboration with HitGen during this Drug Discovery phase to leverage HitGen's growing R&D capabilities.

Dr. Clive Dix, CEO of C4XD, said: "In line with our strategy to collaborate with innovative technology partners, C4XD extensively evaluates the small molecule discovery landscape and builds relationships with high potential complementary companies.  We believe this collaboration with HitGen gives us access to a world-leading screening technology, which perfectly complements both our Drug Discovery expertise and Conformetrix technology and could enable C4XD to unlock a highly challenging target in inflammation.  We are looking forward to working with their team and continuing to build on this exciting relationship."

Dr. Jin Li, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of HitGen, said: "C4XD is a highly innovative company and has developed some very high-value assets using their proprietary Conformetrix technology. Combining their expertise with HitGen's world leading DNA-encoded library technology platform, we look forward to identifying good starting points for further development into valuable leads for the inflammatory target. We hope the collaboration could eventually turn into a strong partnership to deliver a number of solutions for highly unmet medical needs."

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Contacts

Notes to Editors:

About C4X Discovery

C4X Discovery ("C4XD") is a pioneering Drug Discovery company combining scientific expertise with cutting-edge Drug Discovery technologies to efficiently deliver world leading medicines, which are developed by our partners for the benefit of patients.  We have a highly valuable and differentiated approach to Drug Discovery through our enhanced DNA-based target identification and candidate molecule design capabilities, generating small molecule drug candidates across multiple disease areas including inflammation, oncology, neurodegeneration and addictive disorders.  Our commercially attractive portfolio ranges from early-stage novel target opportunities to late-stage Drug Discovery programmes ready for out-licensing to partners and we have two commercially partnered programmes with one candidate in clinical development.

We collaborate with leading pharmaceutical and life sciences companies to enrich our expertise and take our assets through pre-clinical and clinical development.  Through early-stage revenue-generating licensing deals, we realise returns from our high value pre-clinical assets which are reinvested to maximise the value of our Drug Discovery portfolio.  For further information, see our website: www.C4XDiscovery.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