Surrozen and Consonance-HFW Acquisition Corp. Announce Business Combination, Creating Publicly Listed Leader in Wnt Biology and Tissue Regeneration

Surrozen, Inc. (“Surrozen”), a company pioneering targeted therapeutics that selectively activate the Wnt pathway for tissue repair and regeneration, and Consonance-HFW Acquisition Corp. (NYSE American LLC: CHFW.U) (“Consonance-HFW”), a special purpose acquisition company (“SPAC”) sponsored by entities affiliated with Consonance Capital Management, today announced they have entered into a definitive business combination agreement. On the day of closing of the business combination, Consonance-HFW will redomicile as a Delaware corporation and will be renamed Surrozen, Inc., and its common stock is expected to be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “SRZN.”

Surrozen is advancing novel antibody-based approaches to selectively and potently activate the Wnt pathway for tissue repair and regeneration across a broad range of serious diseases. Its lead programs SZN-1326, a bi-specific antibody targeting Fzd5/8 and Lrp6 for the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, and SZN-043, a hepatocyte-targeted R-spondin mimetic for severe alcoholic hepatitis, are expected to enter clinical development in 2022. These programs were discovered utilizing Surrozen’s proprietary technologies, SWAP (Surrozen Wnt signal Activating Protein) and SWEETS (Surrozen Wnt signal Enhancers Engineered for Tissue Specificity), which enable potent and selective modulation of Wnt signaling through the generation of Wnt and R-spondin mimetics. Surrozen is utilizing these technologies to advance discovery programs in additional areas, including diseases of the eye, lung, kidney, cochlea, skin, pancreas and central nervous system. The company’s co-founders and scientific advisors include pioneers in the field of Wnt biology, including Nobel Prize winner Harold Varmus, M.D., and Roel Nusse, Ph.D., who together first discovered the Wnt gene in 1982.

“Surrozen is dedicated to transforming treatment of serious disease by fully exploiting the Wnt pathway. This financing supports that mission with experienced life sciences investors and capital,” said Craig Parker, Surrozen’s President and CEO. “We believe that modulation of the Wnt pathway, the body’s own mechanism for tissue repair, has the potential to provide clinical benefit in a broad range of acute and chronic diseases. In 2022, we expect to initiate Phase 1 clinical trials for our lead programs in inflammatory bowel disease and severe alcoholic hepatitis and to advance our ophthalmology programs towards IND. Today’s announcement ensures that we have the capital to advance our clinical programs to key clinical proof-of-concept milestones.”