Press Release

Chengdu, China, December 11, 2018, HitGen Ltd announced that the company has entered into a drug discovery research collaboration with Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (President and CEO: Masayuki Mitsuka; Headquarters: Osaka; “MTPC”) to identify novel small molecule leads for targets of interest. According to the agreement, HitGen will apply its advanced technology platform, based on DNA-encoded library design, synthesis, and screening system, to discover novel lead compounds. The collaboration will use HitGen’s libraries containing more than 300 billion individually DNA-encoded compounds. The DNA encoding of molecules enables screening and analysis of vast chemical space, supporting MTPC’s aim to increase success rates for the generation of target leads for new drugs and to drastically shorten screening timelines for expanding MTPC’s pipeline. Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will receive technology access and research support payments, and be eligible for milestone payments from MTPC. Financial details were not disclosed.

Chengdu, China，December 3rd, 2018 -HitGen Ltd today announced that it has entered into a drug discovery research collaboration withGenentech, a member of the Roche Group,to identify potential small molecule leads against targets of interest to Genentech. In this collaboration, HitGen will apply its technology platform, based on DNA-encoded library design, synthesis and interrogation, to discover novel leads. Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will receive an undisclosed upfront payment and will be eligible for milestone payments fromGenentech.

Chengdu, China, November 21, 2018, HitGen Ltd announced that the company has entered into a drug discovery research collaboration with Biogen to identify novel small molecule leads for targets of interest. In this collaboration, HitGen will apply its technology platform, based on DNA-encoded library design, synthesis and interrogation, to discover novel leads which will be licensed exclusively to Biogen. Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will receive upfront payments, and be eligible for milestone payments. Specific financial details were not disclosed.

Topic: Translational Chemistry, Speaker: Phil S. Baran, Professor of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute Topic: Enantioselective and Remote C–H Activation Reactions, Speaker: Jin-Quan Yu, Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute

Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) is a member of the Tec tyrosine kinase family, which is expressed in most hematopoietic cells such as B cells, myeloid cell, mast cells, and macrophage. BTK is a kinase that plays a crucial role in B-cell signaling pathway, which is an important downstream mediator of NF-κB and MAPK signaling pathways, which are strongly associated with cancer. Therefore, BTK is a promising biological target for therapeutic intervention of autoimmune diseases and cancer/B cell malignancies.

Chengdu, China, August 17, 2018, HitGen Ltd today announced a multi-year major drug discovery research collaboration with LG Chem to identify novel small molecule leads for targets of interest. In this collaboration, HitGen will apply its advanced technology platform, based on DNA-encoded library design, synthesis, and screening system, to discover such novel leads. Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will receive technology access and research support payments, and be eligible for milestone payments for multiple targets. Financial details were not disclosed.

Chengdu, China, 3 August 2018 HitGen Ltd., a privately held biotech company, announced today a three-year grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will be focused on the application of HitGen’s DNA-encoded library (DEL) technology to discover potential new therapies to combat tuberculosis and malaria.

Chengdu, China, July 30, 2018 HitGen Ltd. is pleased to announce that the company has extended and expanded its agreement with MSD, known as Merck & Co., Inc, Kenilworth NJ., USA into a multi-year research collaboration and license agreement to build and screen novel DNA-encoded libraries (DELs) in order to discover potential unique small molecule assets to be used in drug discovery and development. Through the collaboration, HitGen and MSD scientists will apply HitGen’s advanced technology platform and research capabilities in the design, synthesis, and screening of multiple proprietary DELs for MSD’s drug discovery efforts. In addition, HitGen will interrogate their own DELs, consisting of hundreds of billions of compounds, against a selected number of MSD’s therapeutic targets. Novel lead compounds from the HitGen DELs will be licensed exclusively to MSD for further research and development. MSD will support the research at HitGen.

Chengdu, China, July 27th, 2018, HitGen Ltd announced that the company has entered into a drug discovery research collaboration with Sanofi to identify novel small molecule leads for targets of interest. In this collaboration, HitGen will apply its advanced technology platform, based on DNA-encoded library design, synthesis, and screening, to discover novel leads which will be licensed exclusively to Sanofi. Under the terms of the agreement, HitGen will receive upfront payments, and be eligible for milestone payments. Financial details were not disclosed.

Birmingham, UK, July 18, 2018 Aston University, with over one hundred year history, welcomed their important annual day of graduation ceremony which took place at Birmingham Town Hall. Dr. Jin Li, Founder, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of HitGen Ltd, has made excellent contribution to the area of innovative drug discovery. To recognize the outstanding achievements, Dr. Jin Li, the first entrepreneur from Chinese biotech companies, is awarded the Honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) degree by Aston University.