25 April 2019 - - Hong Kong-based pharmaceutical company Aptorum Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: APM) has established a new subsidiary group, Smart Pharma, which operates its novel computational repurposed drug discovery, modeling and validation platform, together referred to as the "Smart-ACTTM" platform, the company said.

Smart-ACTTM stands for Accelerated Commercialization of Therapeutics and encompasses technology in systematic screening of existing approved drug molecules against selected therapeutic targets.

Specifically, the Smart-ACTTMplatform comprises of a network of modules and processes that simulate the effectiveness of drug molecules against diseases for outcome prediction and selection.

The Smart-ACTTM platform will initially focus on the screening drug molecules for orphan diseases or unmet medical needs.

To date, SmartP has, under the recently established Smart-ACTTM platform, successfully screened 1,615 compounds against 3 therapeutic target proteins which are related to poor prognosis of neuroblastoma.

NB is a type of cancer that forms in certain types of nerve tissue and most frequently in the adrenal glands as well as spine, chest, abdomen or neck.

The preliminary results from the Smart-ACTTM platform have now identified a number of potential repurposed drug candidates that could show promise against such disease.

SmartP will next move on to conduct further in vitro and in vivo validation of these candidates through collaboration with Aptorum Group Ltd. to assess and validate the candidates' usage for such new indication.

Drug repurposing typically involves the use of an approved drug or a drug under development for an indication than that for which it was originally developed.

The safety profiles and CMC perspectives of these drug molecules are typically well-established and therefore drug repurposing represents a lower risk approach for drug discovery/development.

One of the better-known examples of successful drug repurposing is thalidomide, which was originally developed to treat morning sickness but withdrawn from the market due to its birth defect side effects. Later, it was repurposed for the treatment of multiple myeloma.

SmartP targets to discover up to 10 repurposed drug candidates per annum under the Smart-ACTTM platform, which will continue to develop and enrich its library of intellectual property for such discoveries.

Aptorum Group is a pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing and commercializing a broad range of therapeutic and diagnostic technologies to tackle unmet medical needs.

The company is pursuing therapeutic and diagnostic projects in neurology, infectious diseases, gastroenterology, oncology and other disease areas as well as non-therapeutic areas such as surgical robotics and the operations of its medical clinic in Hong Kong, Talem Medical, with the initial focus on treatment of chronic diseases resulting from modern sedentary lifestyles and aging population.

Smart Pharma's holding company, SMTPH Ltd., and its group companies are wholly-owned subsidiaries of Aptorum Group Ltd., focuses on deploying its Smart-ACTTM platform to revolutionise pharmaceutical discovery and development.