MRC2

Dr. Ottesen brings in-depth global clinical development expertise in oncology, including biologics, small molecules, immunotherapies and ADCs Adcendo further builds its world class team to accelerate development of lead ADC asset uPARAP and to expand its first-in-class ADC pipeline COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Adcendo ApS ("Adcendo"), a biotech company focused on the development of breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancers with a high unmet medical need, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Lone H. Ottesen as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Ottesen is a highly accomplished drug developer with extensive global clinical development experience across oncology and immune-oncology with a track record of more than 20 years in both early- and late-phase clinical development. Dr. Ottesen held roles of increasing seniority in Global Oncology Development at GSK, Eisai and most recently at AstraZeneca, where she was Global Clinical Head in Late-Stage Clinical Development. She joins Adcendo from Circio, formerly known as Targovax, where she was Chief Medical Officer and previously Chief Development Officer. She received her MD and PhD at Aarhus University in Denmark. Michael Pehl, Chief Executive Officer of Adcendo, said "We are delighted to welcome Lone with her extensive global oncology drug development experience to lead our ambitious, clinical development strategy and help maximize the full potential of our unique first-in-class ADC pipeline. Lone brings a distinctive blend of experience in solid tumor oncology, ADCs and biologics within early and late-stage clinical development both at biotech and large pharmaceutical companies. We are extremely fortunate that Lone has joined our outstanding leadership Team of ADC experts as we aim to become a global leader in the field of ADCs." Lone Ottesen, incoming Chief Medical Officer at Adcendo, said "ADCs are at the forefront of a paradigm shift in cancer chemotherapy, and I am excited to join Adcendo to shape its IND-enabling activities and clinical plans. Adcendo is highly committed to bringing new and tailored ADC treatment options to patients with a high unmet medical need, based on a deep biological understanding of innovative targets, its access to industry leading linker/payload platforms and the longstanding experience of their team in ADC research and development. I am delighted to become part of an innovative company with patient care at the forefront of clinical development." Dr. Ottesen will be responsible for clinical strategy, development and operations as well as medical affairs for all current and future pipeline assets. She will join Adcendo in early August 2023. Adcendo has made significant progress in 2023 so far, recently announcing an extension of its Series A financing to 82M EUR to ensure broad development of its first-in-class ADC programs. The Company has also expanded its linker/payload collaboration with Duality Biologics ("Duality") to cover additional novel ADC targets as it further builds out its first-in-class ADC pipeline. About Adcendo ApS Adcendo ApS is developing breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of underserved cancers. In 2023, the company completed a Series A extension financing round, taking its funds to 82M EUR to advance into clinical development. Investors include Novo Holdings, Ysios Capital, Pontifax Venture Capital, RA Capital Management, HealthCap and Gilde Healthcare. For further information, please visit About antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) ADCs are a class of highly potent biopharmaceutical drug composed of a targeting antibody linked to a biologically active drug or cytotoxic compound. ADCs combine the unique and very sensitive targeting capabilities of antibodies, with the potent effects of the conjugated cytotoxic drugs, allowing sensitive discrimination between healthy and cancer tissues. About the uPARAP receptor uPARAP is a recycling endocytic receptor involved in collagen homeostasis and turnover. uPARAP exhibits a limited expression profile in healthy tissues but is highly upregulated in mesenchymal cancers, including soft-tissue sarcoma & bone sarcoma, making it a highly attractive target for ADC development. In late 2022, Adcendo nominated its ADC development candidate. SOURCE Adcendo

Data demonstrate that uPARAP is widely expressed at high levels across multiple sarcoma subtypes Strong overexpression in tumors combined with low expression levels in normal human tissues makes uPARAP an attractive candidate for therapeutic targeting of sarcomas by antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) COPENHAGEN, Denmark, April 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Adcendo ApS ("Adcendo"), a biotech company focused on the development of breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of cancers with a high unmet medical need, will be presenting novel data evaluated in co-operation with the Laboratory of Experimental Oncology at KU Leuven/Leuven Cancer Institute on the expression of the novel ADC target uPARAP in Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS) and Bone Sarcoma at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting, being held in Orlando, Florida on the 14-19 April, 2023. Details of the conference and presented poster are as follow: Presentation title: 1457 / 27 The urokinase plasminogen activator receptor-associated protein (uPARAP) is an attractive target for the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for treatment of mesenchymal malignancies Session: Experimental and Molecular Therapeutics, Chemistry Session Title: Antibody Drug Conjugates Authors: Pernille Barkholt ( 1), Agnieszka Wozniak ( 2), Chao-Chi Wang ( 2), Che-Jui Lee ( 2), Lore De Cock ( 2, 3), Lars Henning Engelholm ( 1), Carmel Lynch ( 1), Dominik Mumberg ( 1), and Patrick Schöffski ( 2, 3) Date & Time: 17 April at 09:00am – 12.30pm CDT Abstracts will be published on 04 April, and can be accessed at uPARAP is a novel ADC target overexpressed by mesenchymal cancer cells including soft tissue and bone sarcomas and may play an important role in shaping the tumor microenvironment. The presentation entitled " The urokinase plasminogen activator receptor-associated protein (uPARAP) is an attractive target for the development of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for treatment of mesenchymal malignancies" demonstrates that uPARAP is strongly over-expressed by cancer cells in multiple soft-tissue & bone sarcoma subtypes, with limited expression in healthy tissues. Based on its differentiated expression profile, uPARAP is an attractive novel target for development of uPARAP-targeting ADCs in a broad range of sarcoma subtypes. Additionally, uPARAP receptor levels may serve as a potential biomarker for patient enrichment in clinical studies of such uPARAP-targeting ADCs. Dominik Mumberg, Chief Scientific Officer of Adcendo, said: "We are excited to share data on the expression of uPARAP in soft tissue and bone sarcoma. In addition to its differentiated expression profile in multiple sarcoma subtypes uPARAP is a constitutively recycling endocytic receptor with unique internalization properties, making it a highly attractive ADC target." Patrick Schöffski, Head of the Department of General Medical Oncology at the University Hospitals and the Laboratory of Experimental Oncology at the Catholic University in Leuven, commented: "Due to its significant morphological and biological heterogeneity, treatment progress and therapeutic options in soft tissue and bone sarcoma have so far been quite limited. We are extremely encouraged by the data highlighted in this study, which provides further evidence on the potential utility of uPARAP as a novel target for drug development across multiple sarcoma subtypes. We are looking forward to continuing to explore the molecular epidemiology of uPARAP in various types of sarcoma and to investigate uPARAP-directed ADCs in patient-derived xenograft models of sarcoma." 1 Adcendo ApS, Ole Maaloes Vej 3, 2200 Copenhagen N, Denmark 2 Laboratory of Experimental Oncology, KU Leuven, Leuven Cancer Institute, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium 3 University Hospitals Leuven, Department of General Medical Oncology, Leuven Cancer Institute, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium Optimum Strategic Communications Mary Clark, Hana Malik, Zoe Bolt, Elena Bates Tel: +44 (0) 203 882 9621 E-mail: [email protected] Adcendo ApS Michael Pehl, CEO Tel: +45 31541824 Email: [email protected] About Adcendo ApS Adcendo ApS is developing breakthrough antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for the treatment of underserved cancers. In 2023, the company completed a Series A extension financing round, taking its funds to 82M EUR to advance into clinical development. Investors include Novo Holdings, Ysios Capital, Pontifax Venture Capital, RA Capital Management, HealthCap and Gilde Healthcare. For further information, please visit About antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) ADCs are a class of highly potent biopharmaceutical drug composed of a targeting antibody linked to a biologically active drug or cytotoxic compound. ADCs combine the unique and very sensitive targeting capabilities of antibodies, with the potent effects of the conjugated cytotoxic drugs, allowing sensitive discrimination between healthy and cancer tissues. About the uPARAP receptor uPARAP is a recycling endocytic receptor involved in collagen homeostasis and turnover. uPARAP exhibits a limited expression profile in healthy tissues but is highly upregulated in mesenchymal cancers, including soft-tissue sarcoma & bone sarcoma, making it a highly attractive target for ADC development. In late 2022, Adcendo nominated its ADC development candidate. SOURCE Adcendo

Danish biotech Adcendo has tacked on an additional $33.8 million to a Series A it raised a few years ago. Adcendo had originally raised a total of $55.6 million in 2021, bringing the total to over $89 million. With its latest injection, Adcendo will kickstart a clinical development program for a uPARAP ADC in sarcoma and move along the work on a second ADC asset. According to Adcendo, uPARAP is a cancer target that is overexpressed on the cell surface of sarcoma and other mesenchymal cancers and could be a potential ADC target. “This financing underscores the confidence that our investors have in Adcendo’s capabilities and potential to develop innovative ADC cancer therapies in high unmet medical need cancers,” said Michael Pehl, CEO of Adcendo, in a release . The financing was led by Pontifax Venture Capital, Novo Holdings and Ysios Capital. Arrowhead Therapeutics is being handed a $40 million payment from pharma giant Takeda. On Tuesday, Arrowhead received the payment after Takeda dosed the first patient with fazirsiran in its Phase III study dubbed REDWOOD, aiming to treat alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency associated with liver disease (AATD-LD). Fazirsiran is an RNAi therapy meant to reduce the production of the mutant alpha-1 antitrypsin protein to treat AATD. Reducing the production of the protein can bring a halt to liver disease and eventually lead to the repairing of the liver. The FDA gave the drug breakthrough therapy designation in July 2021. Arrowhead and Takeda started collaborating on the drug in October 2020, with Arrowhead receiving an upfront payment of $300 million. The terms would see both companies develop the drug and share profits 50/50 if it gets approved by the FDA. Outside of the US, Takeda leads the global commercialization strategy, with Arrowhead getting royalties of 20%-25% on net sales. Arrowhead can get up to $740 million in development and commercial milestones.