• 2023 recipients include patient advocacy organizations in Australia and Brazil

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, N.J., Sept. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: PTCT) today announced the two recipients of its 2023 STRIVE Awards for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. Through the STRIVE program, the company awards grants to non-profit patient advocacy organizations serving the Duchenne community. This year's grants will fund projects focused on developing a digital health app to support patients transitioning to adulthood in Australia and the expansion of a power soccer (also known as powerchair football) program in Brazil.

"The 2023 STRIVE grant recipients have demonstrated a strong commitment to their local Duchenne communities. We are excited by the additional support they will be able to provide patients and their families through this grant funding," said Mary Frances Harmon, senior vice president, Corporate Relations, PTC Therapeutics. "As we near a decade of the STRIVE Awards program, we are proud to continue to provide organizations with support to expand their services for the Duchenne community."

There are two categories for the 2023 STRIVE Awards: Innovative and Transition to Adulthood. Innovative programs are those that help address the unmet needs of the rare disease community, Transition to Adulthood programs support young people with Duchenne as they transition into independent adults. This category supports those living with Duchenne to lead independent, fulfilling, and rewarding lives. PTC received a total of 46 applications from organizations around the world this year.

The 2023 STRIVE Awards recipients are:

Innovative Category:

• The Brazil-based Blue Angels (Adapted Sports Association) promotes an improvement in the quality of life of people with disabilities through high performance training in adapted sports. Their vision fosters social inclusion of people with disabilities through adapted sports activities. With the STRIVE grant, Blue Angels will expand its power soccer program, a type of soccer played by people who have any kind of motor limitation and use wheelchairs. The organization will hire professionals to assist with the program, increase the number of players and acquire additional equipment.

Transition to Adulthood Category:

• As patients with Duchenne transition into adulthood and live independently, they manage their own medical care. The Australia-based Save Our Sons Duchenne Foundation (SOSDF) plans to develop a digital health app to help young men living with Duchenne across Australia. The app will help users actively manage their health to be better prepared both physically and mentally, thereby reducing the burden of care on themselves, carers and the health system. Save Our Sons will work with University of Queensland to develop the app.

"It has been such a rewarding experience to be part of the judging panel for the STRIVE Awards Program. The applications this year showed innovation and determination to meet the needs of the Duchenne community," said Joy Bartnett Leffler, MLA, NASW, CSE, owner of MedEdInfo, and STRIVE Awards Review Committee member.

About the STRIVE Awards Program

PTC launched the Strategies to Realize Innovation, Vision, and Empowerment (STRIVE) Awards program in 2015 to support initiatives that benefit the Duchenne community by increasing awareness, diagnosis, and education, and fostering the development of future patient advocates. Each year, an independent panel of external experts with knowledge in rare diseases, patient advocacy and funding initiatives, judge the entries for innovation, vision, and empowerment. Forty-one projects supporting the Duchenne community have received STRIVE grants since the program's inception.

For further information about the program and the 2023 award recipients, please visit the STRIVE Awards page on PTC's website at: www.ptcstriveawards.com.

About Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy 

Primarily affecting males, Duchenne is a rare and fatal genetic disorder that results in progressive muscle weakness from early childhood and leads to premature death in the mid-20s due to heart and respiratory failure. It is a progressive muscle disorder caused by the lack of functional dystrophin protein. Dystrophin is critical to the structural stability of all muscles, including skeletal, diaphragm, and heart muscles. Patients with Duchenne can lose the ability to walk (loss of ambulation) as early as 10 years old, followed by loss of the use of their arms. Duchenne patients subsequently experience life-threatening lung complications, requiring the need for ventilation support, and heart complications in their late teens and 20s.

About PTC Therapeutics, Inc. 

PTC is a global biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of clinically differentiated medicines that provide benefits to patients with rare disorders. PTC's ability to innovate to identify new therapies and to globally commercialize products is the foundation that drives investment in a robust and diversified pipeline of transformative medicines. PTC's mission is to provide access to best-in-class treatments for patients who have little to no treatment options. PTC's strategy is to leverage its strong scientific and clinical expertise and global commercial infrastructure to bring therapies to patients. PTC believes this allows it to maximize value for all its stakeholders. To learn more about PTC, please visit us at www.ptcbio.com and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter at @PTCBio.

For More Information:

Investors:
Kylie O'Keefe
+1 (908) 300-0691
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Media:
Jeanine Clemente
+1 (908) 912-9406
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Patient Organizations:
Mary Frances Harmon
+1 (908) 912-9205 or (866) 282-5873
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