Arch Biopartners Inc. announced that it has received approval in Turkey from the Ministry of Health to proceed with a Phase II trial for LSALT peptide, targeting the prevention and treatment of cardiac surgery-associated acute kidney injury (CS-AKI). LSALT peptide is the Company's lead drug candidate for preventing and treating inflammation injury in the kidneys, lungs and liver. With the Ministry of Health (MoH) approval for the trial, Arch can now proceed to contract and activate clinical sites in Turkey.

Patient enrollment is planned to start in February 2024. Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acute Kidney Injury (CS-AKI) and LSALT peptide CS-AKI is often caused by ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) that reduces blood flow (ischemia) and thus oxygen in the kidney causing kidney cell damage. Details of the Phase II trial, entitled "Phase 2 Global, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of LSALT peptide for the Prevention or Attenuation of Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) in Patients Undergoing On-Pump Cardiac Surgery can be viewed at clinicaltrials.gov.

The Science Advances publication, titled "Dipeptidase-1 governs renal inflammation during ischemia reperfusion injury" by Lau et. al. can be found at the journal's website.

Advisory services and a funding contribution from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC-IRAP) announced by the Company in March 2023, will significantly offset the costs of the CS-AKI Phase II trial. Incidence of Cardiac Surgery-Associated Acut Kidney Injury (CS- AKI) is a known common complication in patients after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) and other cardiac surgeries, including on-pump surgeries which increase the risk of AKI. The reported prevalence of CS-AKI is up to 30% and is independently associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality.