Hoth Therapeutics Announces Orphan Drug Designation Granted to Cancer Therapeutic HT-KIT to Treat Mastocytosis

Clinical formulation development of HT-KIT is currently underway.

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Mar 11, 2022, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, March 11, 2022 /PR Newswire/ -- Hoth Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOTH), a patient-focused biopharmaceutical company, today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) designated HT-KIT, a new molecular entity, as an Orphan Drug for the treatment of mastocytosis. HT-KIT is an antisense oligonucleotide that targets the proto-oncogene cKIT by inducing mRNA frame shifting. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that HT-KIT induces apoptosis of neoplastic mast cells and reduces metastasis associated with aggressive mastocytosis.

"This designation is an important milestone for HT-KIT, paving the drug development pathway to reach patients in need of new therapies for treatment of mastocytosis," said Stefanie Johns, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer of Hoth. "It is an honor to develop a novel therapeutic like HT-KIT, which provides a new mechanism of action to tackle serious conditions such as aggressive systemic mastocytosis (ASM), mast cell leukemia (MCL), and systemic mastocytosis with associated hematological neoplasm (SM-AHN), acute myeloid leukemia, gastrointestinal stromal tumors, and other cKIT-driven diseases. Hoth will leverage provisions under the Orphan Drug Act to efficiently advance the HT-KIT therapeutic into the clinic."

FDA Orphan Drug Designation is granted to investigational therapies addressing rare medical diseases or conditions that affect fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. Orphan drug status provides benefits to drug developers, including assistance in the drug development process, tax credits for clinical costs, exemptions from certain FDA fees and seven years of post-approval marketing exclusivity.

About HT-KIT
HT-KIT is a new molecular entity (NME) under development for treatment of mast cell derived cancers and anaphylaxis. HT-KIT was developed Dr. Glenn Cruse, Assistant Professor at North Carolina State University and shares the same molecular class as Hoth's current HT-004 drug. The HT-KIT drug is designed to more specifically target the receptor tyrosine kinase KIT in mast cells, which is required for the proliferation, survival and differentiation of bone marrow-derived hematopoietic stem cells. Mutations in the KIT pathway have been associated with several human cancers, such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors and mast cell-derived cancers (mast cell leukemia and mast cell sarcoma). Based on the initial proof-of-concept success, Hoth intends to initially target mast cell neoplasms for development of HT-KIT, which is a rare, aggressive cancer with poor prognosis.

About Hoth Therapeutics, Inc.
Hoth Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing new generation therapies for unmet medical needs. Hoth's pipeline development is focused to improve the quality of life for patients suffering from skin toxicities associated with cancer therapy, mast-cell derived cancers and anaphylaxis, Alzheimer's Disease, atopic dermatitis and other indications. To learn more, please visit https://ir.hoththerapeutics.com/.

Forward-Looking Statement
This press release includes forward-looking statements based upon Hoth's current expectations which may constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws, and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions. These statements concern Hoth's business strategies; the timing of regulatory submissions; the ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of existing product candidates and any other product candidates Hoth may develop, and the labeling under any approval Hoth may obtain; the timing and costs of clinical trials, the timing and costs of other expenses; market acceptance of Hoth's products; the ultimate impact of the current Coronavirus pandemic, or any other health epidemic, on Hoth's business, its clinical trials, its research programs, healthcare systems or the global economy as a whole; Hoth's intellectual property; Hoth's reliance on third party organizations; Hoth's competitive position; Hoth's industry environment; Hoth's anticipated financial and operating results, including anticipated sources of revenues; Hoth's assumptions regarding the size of the available market, benefits of Hoth's products, product pricing, timing of product launches; management's expectation with respect to future acquisitions; statements regarding Hoth's goals, intentions, plans and expectations, including the introduction of new products and markets; and Hoth's cash needs and financing plans. There are a number of factors that could cause actual events to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which include words such as "could," "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "expect," "may," "continue," "predict," "potential," "project" or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Although Hoth believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, Hoth cannot guarantee such outcomes. Hoth may not realize its expectations, and its beliefs may not prove correct. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, market conditions and the factors described in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Hoth's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Hoth's other filings made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. All such statements speak only as of the date of this press release. Consequently, forward-looking statements should be regarded solely as Hoth's current plans, estimates, and beliefs. Hoth cannot guarantee future results, events, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Hoth does not undertake and specifically declines any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, future events or circumstances or to reflect the occurrences of unanticipated events, except as may be required by applicable law.

Investor Contact:
LR Advisors LLC
Email: [email protected]
www.hoththerapeutics.com
Phone: (678) 570-6791

SOURCE Hoth Therapeutics, Inc.