Exhibit 99.2
Yumanity Therapeutics Announces Positive Top-Line Results of Phase 1b Clinical Trial for
YTX-7739 in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease;
Company Plans to Advance Program to Phase 2
YTX-7739 demonstrated target engagement in Phase 1b clinical trial in patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease
YTX-7739 found to be generally well tolerated, demonstrating favorable pharmacokinetic/
pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profiles and a safety profile with no serious
adverse events
Conference call scheduled for 8:30 a.m. EST, Wednesday, November 10
BOSTON, November 10, 2021 — Yumanity Therapeutics (Nasdaq: YMTX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative, disease-modifying therapies for neurodegenerative disease. The Company today reported that its lead product candidate, YTX-7739, in development for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, achieved its primary endpoints in a randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 1b clinical trial in patients with mild-to-moderate Parkinson’s disease.
YTX-7739 is an investigational drug with a potentially first-in-class disease-modifying mechanism of action. There are no currently available disease-modifying treatments for Parkinson’s disease.
YTX-7739 was generally well tolerated and demonstrated favorable pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) profiles and a safety profile with no serious adverse events. YTX-7739 achieved the expected target engagement in the patients studied and results were consistent with earlier studies in healthy volunteers and preclinical models.
Notably, YTX-7739 was shown to inhibit its primary target, stearoyl-CoA desaturase (SCD), an enzyme whose inhibition has been closely linked to neuronal survival and improved motor function in a Parkinson’s disease model. After 28 days of treatment, the 20 mg dose given once-daily reduced the fatty acid desaturation index (FA-DI), a biomarker of SCD inhibition, by approximately 20%-40%, the range expected to be clinically relevant based on preclinical studies. Target engagement in the cerebrospinal fluid suggested that YTX-7739 effectively crossed the blood-brain barrier. Additionally, the PK/PD profile of YTX-7739 was consistent with previous studies and informs dose selection for future studies.
YTX-7739 was generally well tolerated with all treatment emergent adverse events being mild to moderate in severity. There were no serious adverse events. Moderate adverse events (AEs) in the active treatment group consisted of 2 patients with increased Parkinson’s symptoms, 2 patients with lower back pain, 1 patient with headache, 1 patient with myalgia, 1 patient with insomnia, 1 patient with ligament sprain, and 1 patient with vaccination complication. One patient on placebo had moderate worsening of tremors and Parkinsonism, which led to discontinuation. AEs occurring at a higher percentage in 2 or more patients administered YTX-7739 compared to placebo were procedural pain, myalgia, dry eye, hyperbilirubinemia, hypesthesia, lower back pain, and constipation. AEs occurring at a higher percentage with placebo included orthostatic hypotension, headache, tremor, fatigue and dizziness.