BELLUS Health Reports Full Year 2019 Financial Results and Business Highlights on BLU-5937 - Seite 3

About BELLUS Health (www.bellushealth.com)

BELLUS Health is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of chronic cough and other hypersensitization-related disorders. The Company's product candidate, BLU-5937, is being developed for the treatment of chronic cough and chronic pruritus.

Chronic cough, the lead indication for BLU-5937, is a cough lasting more than eight weeks and is associated with significant adverse physical, social and psychosocial effects on health and quality of life. It is estimated that approximately 26 million adults in the United States suffer from chronic cough with more than 2.6 million having refractory chronic cough lasting for more than a year. There is no specific therapy approved for refractory chronic cough and treatment options are limited.

Chronic pruritus, commonly known as chronic itch, is an irritating sensation that leads to scratching, and persists for longer than six weeks, which can be debilitating and has a significant impact on quality-of-life. It is a hallmark of many conditions, including AD. It is estimated that chronic pruritus associated with AD affects more than 16.9 million adults in the United States.

About BLU-5937

BLU-5937, a highly selective P2X3 antagonist - ( >1500 fold) for human P2X3 receptors, which are implicated in chronic cough, versus P2X2/3 receptors, which play a major role in taste - has the potential to be an important treatment option for chronic cough, chronic pruritus and other hypersensitization-related disorders.

The P2X3 receptor in the cough reflex pathway is a rational target for treating chronic cough, and it has been validated in multiple clinical trials with different P2X3 antagonists. With a low-selectivity P2X3 antagonist therapy for chronic cough, an adverse effect on taste perception is a well-known and widely-documented tolerability issue. The Company believes that its highly selective P2X3 antagonist can also reduce coughing in patients with chronic cough, while maintaining taste function, by not inhibiting P2X2/3 receptors. This hypothesis has been validated in a recent clinical trial with a more selective antagonist of P2X3; however, BLU-5937 is the most selective of the P2X3 antagonists currently being studied.