-- Craig Parker, CEO of Surrozen, to present Surrozen’s advancements in regenerative medicine --

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 16, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Surrozen Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of targeted regenerative antibodies, today announced that Craig Parker, president and chief executive officer of Surrozen, will participate in a fireside chat at the Morgan Stanley 18^th Annual Healthcare Conference. The fireside chat will begin at 8:45 a.m. Eastern on Friday, September 18, 2020. The public may access the event live via webcast at: https://morganstanley.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1362365&tp_key=4efb3f9b6c. An archived replay will be available following the event for 90 days.

About Wnt Signaling
Wnt signaling plays key roles in the control of development, homeostasis, and regeneration of many essential organs and tissues, including liver, intestine, lung, kidney, central nervous system, cochlea, bone, and others. Modulation of Wnt signaling pathways has potential for treatment of degenerative diseases and tissue injuries. There are 19 Wnt ligands (Wnts) in mammals, and they signal through Frizzled receptors 1-10 and co-receptors LRP5 or 6, two families of receptors. Endogenous Wnts bind to multiple Frizzled receptors and are heavily modified post-translationally, making them difficult to manufacture consistently. R-spondin stabilizes Frizzled receptors, enhancing the body’s response to endogenous Wnts. 

About Surrozen’s Proprietary Antibody Platforms and Harnessing Wnt Signaling
Since its founding in 2016, Surrozen has developed two proprietary platforms to selectively modulate the Wnt pathway for the potential treatment of injury and disease. Surrozen Wnt-mimetics, also referred to as SWAP (Surrozen Wnt signal activating proteins), are bi-specific full-length human (IgG) antibodies that directly activate the canonical Wnt signaling pathway in target tissue. Surrozen R-spondin-mimetics, also referred to as SWEETS (Surrozen Wnt signal enhancers engineered for tissue specificity), are antibody-based molecules that enhance Wnt signaling by stabilizing Frizzled receptors on targeted cells.

About Surrozen Preclinical Candidates
SZN-043 is the first development candidate designed using Surrozen’s SWEETS platform. In preclinical animal models of liver injury and fibrosis, SZN-043 has been shown to selectively activate Wnt signaling in the liver, stimulate hepatocyte proliferation, improve synthetic function, and reduce fibrosis. Surrozen will develop SZN-043 for severe liver diseases: acute hepatitis and decompensated cirrhosis.

SZN-1326 is the first development candidate designed using Surrozen’s SWAP platform. SZN-1326 targets the Wnt-signaling pathway in the intestinal epithelium. In preclinical animal models of acute and chronic colitis, SZN-1326 has been shown to activate Wnt signaling in the intestine, stimulate intestinal epithelial regeneration, and reduce disease activity. Surrozen will develop SZN-1326 for moderate to severe inflammatory bowel disease.

About Surrozen
Surrozen is a biotechnology company pioneering a new class of targeted regenerative antibodies to repair a broad range of tissues and organs damaged by serious disease. Surrozen is designing tissue-specific antibodies that engage the body’s own biological repair mechanisms resulting in a broad pipeline of disease-specific therapies to help patients across multiple disease areas, including severe liver diseases, inflammatory bowel disease, retinopathies, hearing loss, lung and airway diseases, and certain neurological disorders. For more information, please visit surrozen.com.