TORONTO, Dec. 21, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arch Biopartners Inc., (“Arch” or the “Company”) (TSX Venture: ARCH and OTCQB: ACHFF), announced today that it received approval in Turkey from the Kocaeli University Clinical Research Ethics Committee to proceed with a Phase II trial for LSALT peptide, targeting the prevention and treatment of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CS-AKI). LSALT peptide is the Company’s lead drug candidate for preventing and treating inflammation injury in the kidneys, lungs and liver.

The ethics committee approval of the trial will be followed by a final regulatory review conducted by the Turkish Ministry of Health (MoH), expected to be completed by mid-January. Once the trial is approved by the MoH, activation of clinical sites in Turkey will take place and patient enrollment can begin in February.

Quote from Richard Muruve, CEO of Arch Biopartners Inc:

“We look forward to a positive decision from the MoH, which will permit enrollment of Turkish cardiac surgery patients into the trial. At the same time, we continue to progress on a day-to-day basis to prepare Canadian sites for the trial while waiting for a response from Health Canada on our recent Clinical Trial Application.”

Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (CS-AKI) and LSALT peptide

CS-AKI is often caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) that reduces blood flow (ischemia) and thus oxygen in the kidney causing kidney cell damage. Once blood flow is restored to normal (reperfusion), inflammation is triggered and injury to kidney cells is exacerbated. In the worst cases of AKI, kidneys fail, leading to kidney dialysis or kidney transplant. At present, there are no therapeutic treatments available to prevent or treat CS-AKI or IRI.

LSALT peptide targets the dipeptidase-1 (DPEP-1) pathway and has been shown to prevent IRI to the kidneys in pre-clinical models, providing the scientific rationale for Arch to use LSALT peptide in this CS-AKI trial.

Details of the Phase II trial, entitled “Phase 2 Global, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of LSALT peptide for the Prevention or Attenuation of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in Patients Undergoing On-Pump Cardiac Surgery” can be viewed at clinicaltrials.gov.

The Science Advances publication, titled “Dipeptidase-1 governs renal inflammation during ischemia reperfusion injury” by Lau et. al. can be found at the journal’s website.

Advisory services and a funding contribution from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) announced by the Company in March 2023, will significantly offset the costs of the CS-AKI Phase II trial.

Incidence of Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (CS-AKI)

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a known common complication in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and other cardiac surgeries, including on-pump surgeries which increase the risk of AKI. The reported prevalence of CS-AKI is up to 30% and is independently associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality.

Cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) surgery occurs in nearly 1 million patients per year. Approximately 0.6% to 5% of patients undergoing cardiac surgery will require immediate postoperative dialysis or renal replacement therapy, and these patients have a very high early mortality rate up to 25% compared with 1% to 2% in patients who do not require immediate postoperative dialysis (Conlon et al, 1999¹, Chertow et al, 2005², Zakeri et al, 2005³, Ivert et al, 2014⁴, Harky et al, 2020⁵).

About Arch Biopartners

Arch Biopartners Inc. is a late-stage clinical trial company focused on preventing inflammation and acute organ injury. The Company is developing new drug candidates that inhibit inflammation in the lungs, kidneys, and liver via the dipeptidase-1 (DPEP-1) pathway and are relevant for common injuries and diseases where organ inflammation is an unmet problem.

For more information on Arch Biopartners' science and technologies, please visit: www.archbiopartners.com/our-science

For investor information and other public documents the company has also filed on SEDAR, please visit www.archbiopartners.com/investor-hub

The Company has 62,755,633 common shares outstanding.

References:

^1. Conlon PJ, Stafford-Smith M, White WD, et al. Acute renal failure following cardiac surgery. Nephrol Dial Transplant. 1999;14:1158–62

^2. Chertow GM, Burdick E, Hoinour M, Bonventre JV, Bates DW. Acute kidney injury, mortality, length of stay, and costs in hospitalized patients. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2005;16:3365-70

^3. Zakeri R, Freemantle N, Barnett V, et al. Relation between mild renal dysfunction and outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting. Circulation. 2005;112(suppl):I270–5

^4. Ivert T, Holzmann MJ, Sartipy U. Survival in patients with acute kidney injury requiring dialysis after coronary artery bypass grafting. Eur J Cardiothoracic Surg. 2014;45:312–7

^5. Harky A, Joshi M, Gupta S, et al. Acute kidney injury associated with cardiac surgery: a comprehensive literature review. Braz. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 2020;35(2).

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws regarding expectations of our future performance, liquidity and capital resources, as well as the ongoing clinical development of our drug candidates targeting the dipeptidase-1 (DPEP-1) pathway, including the outcome of our clinical trials relating to LSALT peptide (Metablok), the successful commercialization and marketing of our drug candidates, whether we will receive, and the timing and costs of obtaining, regulatory approvals in Canada, the United States, Europe and other countries, our ability to raise capital to fund our business plans, the efficacy of our drug candidates compared to the drug candidates developed by our competitors, our ability to retain and attract key management personnel, and the breadth of, and our ability to protect, our intellectual property portfolio. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs, including certain factors and assumptions, as described in our most recent annual audited financial statements and related management discussion and analysis under the heading “Business Risks and Uncertainties”. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, or other unknown risks and uncertainties, our actual results may differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. The words “believe”, “may”, “plan”, “will”, “estimate”, “continue”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. We undertake no obligation to update forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Additional information relating to Arch Biopartners Inc., including our most recent annual audited financial statements, is available by accessing the Canadian Securities Administrators’ System for Electronic Document Analysis and Retrieval (“SEDAR”) website at www.sedar.com.

The science and medical contents of this release have been approved by the Company’s Chief Science Officer

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release