ProQR Announces Expert Perspectives Call on Disease Education and Endpoints in Usher Syndrome

LEIDEN, Netherlands & CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 16, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ProQR Therapeutics N.V. (Nasdaq: PRQR) (the “Company”), a company dedicated to changing lives through the creation of transformative RNA therapies for inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), today announced that the Company will host an Expert Perspectives call on February 22, 2021 at 12:00pm EST. The call will feature a discussion between Aniz Girach, MD, Chief Medical Officer of ProQR Therapeutics and Paul Yang, MD, PhD about disease education and endpoints in Usher syndrome and non-syndromic Retinitis Pigmentosa (nsRP). Areas of focus for the session will include which vision measures are most informative in the context of this disease setting, the role of patient baseline and disease progression, and an overview of the objectives of the Phase 1/2 Stellar trial of QR-421a.

Event Details

Date/Time: February 22, 2021, 12:00pm EST

To register, please follow this link.

Following the discussion, a portion of the call will be dedicated to Q&A. The archived presentation will be available on the Company’s website for approximately 30 days following the presentation date.

Paul Yang, MD, PhD, Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health & Science University

Dr. Paul Yang received doctorates in medicine and neurophysiology at Dartmouth Medical School, which was funded by an MD/PhD pre-doctoral award from the National Institutes of Health. He completed residency and fellowship in ophthalmology at the Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake City, during which he first developed an interest in inflammatory eye diseases and degenerative retinal disorders. Thereafter, he pursued a fellowship in ocular immunology and uveitis at the Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institution in Cambridge, Massachusetts, as well as a fellowship in ophthalmic genetics and inherited retinal degenerations at Casey Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon. He was funded by the Foundation Fighting Blindness (FFB) Clinical Research Fellowship Award, FFB Career Development Award, and NIH K08 to evaluate the effectiveness of mycophenolate as a neuroprotective agent in inherited retinal degenerations. For his pioneering work, he was awarded the 2015 ARVO/Alcon Early Career Clinician-Scientist Research Award. Dr. Yang is an assistant professor in ophthalmic genetics and immunology at the Casey Eye Institute (Oregon Health & Science University) where he specializes in patients with inherited retinal degenerations, autoimmune retinopathy, and gene therapy associated uveitis. He is a principal investigator and sub-investigator on numerous gene therapy and neuroprotection clinical trials for inherited retinal degenerations. Dr. Yang continues to conduct translational research in his lab with the goal of bringing new medical treatments to the clinic for patients with inherited retinal degenerations.

About Usher Syndrome Type 2a and Non-Syndromic Retinitis Pigmentosa

Usher syndrome is the leading cause of combined deafness and blindness. People with Usher syndrome type 2a are usually born with hearing loss and start to have progressive vision loss during adulthood. The vision loss can also occur without hearing loss in a disease called non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa. Usher syndrome type 2a and non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa can be caused by mutations in the USH2A gene. To date, there are no pharmaceutical treatments approved or in clinical development that treat the vision loss associated with mutations in USH2A.

About QR-421a

QR-421a is being evaluated in the Phase 1/2 Stellar trial and is a first-in-class investigational RNA therapy designed to address the underlying cause of vision loss in Usher syndrome type 2a and non-syndromic retinitis pigmentosa (RP) due to mutations in exon 13 of the USH2A gene. QR-421a is designed to restore functional usherin protein by using an exon skipping approach with the aim to stop or reverse vision loss in patients. QR-421a is intended to be administered through intravitreal injections in the eye and has been granted orphan drug designation in the US and the European Union and received fast-track and rare pediatric disease designations from the FDA.

About ProQR

ProQR Therapeutics is dedicated to changing lives through the creation of transformative RNA therapies for the treatment of severe genetic rare diseases such as Leber congenital amaurosis 10, Usher syndrome and retinitis pigmentosa. Based on our unique proprietary RNA repair platform technologies we are growing our pipeline with patients and loved ones in mind.

Learn more about ProQR at www.proqr.com.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, which are often indicated by terms such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "look forward to", "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "will," "would" and similar expressions. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding this Expert Perspectives event. Forward-looking statements are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information available to management only as of the date of this press release. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements for many reasons, including, without limitation, the risks, uncertainties and other factors in our filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including certain sections of our annual report filed on Form 20-F. Given these risks, uncertainties and other factors, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, and we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future, except as required by law.

ProQR Therapeutics N.V.

Investor Contact:
Sarah Kiely
ProQR Therapeutics N.V.
T: +1 617 599 6228
skiely@proqr.com
or
Hans Vitzthum
LifeSci Advisors
T: +1 617 535 7743
hans@lifesciadvisors.com

Media Contact:
Cherilyn Cecchini, MD
LifeSci Communications
T: +1 646 876 5196
ccecchini@lifescicomms.com