• Proprietary Radio DARPin Therapy Platform designed to deliver high amount of radioactivity to the tumor while maintaining low accumulation in other tissues
  
• Data reveal engineering approach to significantly reduce kidney accumulation of DARPin-based radiotherapeutic candidates to potentially expand therapeutic window of the class
• Several in-house and Novartis-partnered DARPin-based radiotherapeutic programs in indications with high unmet medical need currently underway
• Data to be presented at the 12th International Symposium on Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT 12)

ZURICH-SCHLIEREN, Switzerland and CONCORD, Mass., Feb. 28, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ad hoc announcement pursuant to Art. 53 LR: Molecular Partners AG (SIX: MOLN; NASDAQ: MOLN), a clinical-stage biotech company developing a new class of custom-built protein drugs known as DARPin therapeutics, today announced the presentation of new preclinical data from the company’s Radio DARPin Therapy Platform at the 12^th International Symposium on Targeted Alpha Therapy (TAT 12) in Cape Town, South Africa on February 28, 2023. The platform represents a unique and innovative delivery system for radioactive payloads to solid tumors, an approach with proven potential but with technological limitations that DARPins may address.

“These initial data demonstrate the potential of our approach to deliver high amounts of radioactivity to the tumor while overcoming the challenge of small, protein-based delivery vectors accumulating in the kidney. The therapeutic opportunity emerging from this approach is to enhance both safety and efficacy as higher dosages of radioactivity will selectively accumulate at the tumor site,” said Daniel Steiner, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Research at Molecular Partners. “Following our recent selection of DLL3 as the first disclosed target and the progression of several other discovery-stage programs underway, both in-house and with our partner Novartis, we look forward to continuing to expand the technological capabilities of our Radio DARPin Therapy Platform.”

The presented data demonstrate Molecular Partners’ ability to engineer the surface of DARPin-based radiotherapeutics to dramatically reduce its accumulation in the kidney, a historical challenge with small protein-based delivery vectors. In preclinical models, the surface engineering did not affect tumor uptake or uptake in other healthy organs and combination with another kidney reduction strategy provided a cumulative benefit.

These results will be presented at TAT12 in a poster, the details of which can be found below. The poster will be made available on Molecular Partners website, after the presentation.

Poster: “DARPins as Powerful Targeting Agents for Radioligand Therapeutics”
Number: 33
Timing: February 28, 2023
Presenter: Daniel Steiner, Ph.D., Senior Vice President of Oncology Research

About Molecular Partners AG 

Molecular Partners AG is a clinical-stage biotech company developing DARPin therapeutics, a new class of custom-built protein drugs designed to address challenges current modalities cannot. The Company has formed partnerships with leading pharmaceutical companies to advance DARPin therapeutics in the areas of oncology and infectious disease and has compounds in various stages of clinical and preclinical development across multiple therapeutic areas. www.molecularpartners.com; Find us on Twitter - @MolecularPrtnrs

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this press release that do not describe historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, including, without limitation, implied and express statements regarding the clinical development of Molecular Partners’ current or future product candidates, expectations regarding timing for reporting data from ongoing clinical trials or the initiation of future clinical trials, the potential therapeutic and clinical benefits of Molecular Partners’ product candidates, the selection and development of future antiviral or other programs, and Molecular Partners’ expected expenses and cash utilization for 2022 and its expectation that its current cash resources will be sufficient to fund its operations and capital expenditure requirements into 2026. These statements may be identified by words such as “believe”, “expect”, “may”, “plan”, “potential”, “will”, “would” and similar expressions, and are based on Molecular Partners AG’s current beliefs and expectations. These statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such statements. Some of the key factors that could cause actual results to differ from Molecular Partners’ expectations include its plans to develop and potentially commercialize its product candidates; Molecular Partners’ reliance on third party partners and collaborators over which it may not always have full control; Molecular Partners’ ongoing and planned clinical trials and preclinical studies for its product candidates, including the timing of such trials and studies; the risk that the results of preclinical studies and clinical trials may not be predictive of future results in connection with future clinical trials; the timing of and Molecular Partners’ ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approvals for its product candidates; the extent of clinical trials potentially required for Molecular Partners’ product candidates; the clinical utility and ability to achieve market acceptance of Molecular Partners’ product candidates; the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Molecular Partners’ preclinical studies, clinical trials or operations, or the operations of third parties on which it relies; Molecular Partners’ plans and development of any new indications for its product candidates; Molecular Partners’ commercialization, marketing and manufacturing capabilities and strategy; Molecular Partners’ intellectual property position; Molecular Partners’ ability to identify and in-license additional product candidates; and other risks and uncertainties that are described in the Risk Factors section of Molecular Partners’ Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2021 filed with Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 15, 2022 and other filings Molecular Partners makes with the SEC. These documents are available on the Investors page of Molecular Partners’ website at www.molecularpartners.com. Any forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are based on information available to Molecular Partners as of the date of this release, and Molecular Partners assumes no obligation to, and does not intend to, update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

For further details, please contact:

Seth Lewis, Head of Investor Relations & Strategy
Concord, Massachusetts, U.S.
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Tel: +1 781 420 2361

Antonio Ligi, Head of Communications
Zürich-Schlieren, Switzerland
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+41 79 723 36 81