Catalyst Biosciences

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Aug. 03, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Catalyst Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:CBIO), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating and developing novel medicines to address serious medical conditions, announced today an upcoming presentation describing progress in its complement factor 3 (C3) program at the Ophthalmology Innovation Summit (OIS), a half-day meeting focused on the most promising and innovative treatments for retinal diseases. The summit, being held in affiliation with the American Society of Retina Specialists (ASRS), will be held in San Francisco, California, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel on Monday, August 8, 2016.

Catalyst will provide an overview of its dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) program, including new data in non-human primate models that demonstrate knock down of C3 following a single injection of its anti-C3 protease lead candidates, significant duration of action, and encouraging safety and tolerability data.

Targeting the complement cascade is a validated approach that has shown inhibition of the progression of advanced dry AMD in early clinical studies.

“For the millions of people in the world who suffer from dry AMD, a disease that over time can cause profound vision loss, there are no approved medical treatments.” said Edwin Madison, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Catalyst. “We believe that an anti-C3 strategy may be the most efficacious and broadly applicable strategy to inhibit progression of this disease and that a protease drug may require less frequent intravitreal injections than small molecule or antibody-based therapeutic agents.”

About AMD
Age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, is the leading cause of blindness in the elderly worldwide and according to Nature, a scientific journal, affects approximately 20 million people in the United States and European Union combined. AMD is a chronic condition characterized by a progressive loss of central vision due mostly to degenerative changes and/or the formation of microvascular networks in the center of the eye’s visual field, called the macula. There are two forms of AMD, wet and dry. Wet AMD is the more severe form of the disease and represents approximately 10 percent of all AMD patients. Dry AMD is the most common form of early to intermediate stage AMD and occurs in approximately 90 percent of patients with AMD. In contrast to wet AMD, treating dry AMD remains an unmet medical need since there is no FDA-approved therapy available.

About Catalyst
Catalyst is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on creating and developing novel medicines to address serious medical conditions. To date, Catalyst has focused its product development efforts in the field of hemostasis, including the treatment of hemophilia and surgical bleeding, and in the field of inflammation, including prevention of delayed graft function in renal transplants and the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration, a condition that can cause visual impairment or blindness. Catalyst’s most advanced program is an improved next-generation coagulation Factor VIIa variant, CB 813d, which has successfully completed a Phase 1 clinical trial in severe hemophilia A and B patients. In addition to Catalyst’s lead Factor VIIa program, Catalyst has two other next-generation coagulation factors, a Factor IX variant, CB 2679d/ISU 304, that is in advanced preclinical development, and a Factor Xa variant, that is in the advanced lead stage of development. For more information, please visit www.catalystbiosciences.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statement of historical facts, included in this press release regarding the potential uses of the Company’s product candidates to treat AMD, hemophilia and surgical bleeding and the Company’s product development plans, including plans regarding clinical trials, are forward-looking statements. Actual results or events could differ materially from the plans, intentions, expectations and projections disclosed in the forward-looking statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements that the Company makes, including, but not limited to, the risk that trials and studies may be delayed and may not have satisfactory outcomes, potential adverse effects arising from the testing or use of the Company’s products, the risk that costs required to develop or manufacture the Company’s products will be higher than anticipated, risks related to the Company’s ability to protect or enforce intellectual property rights related to its product candidates, competition and other factors that affect the Company’s ability to establish collaborations on commercially reasonable terms and the Company’s ability to successfully develop and commercialize its product candidates. Other risks and uncertainties related to the Company’s business are described in the “Risk Factors” section of the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. The Company does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking statements, except as required by law.

Contacts:
Investors:
Fletcher Payne, CFO
Catalyst Biosciences, Inc.
1.650.871.0761
investors@catbio.com

Media:
Denise PowellRed House Consulting, LLC
1.510.703.9491
denise@redhousecomms.com