ATR-01

Its public offering—which closed yesterday—will see Azitra sell 1.5 million shares of common stock at $5 a pop. Bayer-partnered Azitra will use the proceeds of a $7.5 million IPO to push its engineered bacterial treatments for skin conditions into the clinic. The Connecticut-based biotech’s pipeline is based on a library of about 1,500 bacterial strains that the company has screened for potential therapeutic properties. So far, Azitra said it has identified 60 bacterial species that it believes could be engineered into treatments with “significant therapeutic effect.” Chief among them is ATR-12, a genetically modified strain of the bacterium Staphylococcus epidermidis that the biotech had planned to enter into a phase 1b trial for Netherton syndrome—a disorder of the skin, hair and immune system—in the first half of the year, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. While the condition is rare, Azitra said estimates of the syndrome affecting just 1 in 100,000 people “may be underestimated due to misdiagnosis caused by similarities to other skin diseases.” With ATR-12 having received a pediatric rare disease tag from the FDA, the biotech expects to report initial results from the phase 1 trial in the first half of 2024. Azitra has two more wholly owned assets gearing up for human trials. ATR-04 is another engineered S. epidermidis strain designed to treat patients with a papulopustular rash that has been caused by epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor targeted therapy for cancer. The company hopes to launch an early-stage trial in the first half of next year, subject to FDA go-ahead. Then there’s ATR-01, an engineered recombinant human filaggrin protein designed to treat a scaly skin disease called ichthyosis vulgaris. The biotech is aiming for human trials to begin in late 2024. There are also two strains of bacterial microbes selected from Azitra’s library by Bayer as part of a collaboration initiated in 2019. The German healthcare giant has the exclusive option to license the strains as potential over-the-counter cosmetic products and also has the option to expand the collaboration to cover another four strains. Bayer demonstrated its commitment to the biotech by purchasing $8 million of stock as part of a series B funding round in 2020. Azitra has boosted its ability to engineer the bacterial strains from its library courtesy of an exclusive license from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center to use its SyngenicDNA Minicircle Plasmid technology. This allows the biotech to “build plasmids in order to make genetic transformations that have never been previously achieved,” it said in the filing. While this tech wasn’t required to produce the biotech’s current crop of near-clinical candidates, Azitra said it will “open up the ability to make genetic transformations of an expanded universe of microbial species.” The public offering—which closed yesterday—sees Azitra sell 1.5 million shares of common stock at $5 a pop. Underwriters will also have a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 225,000 shares. The company said it plans to use the net proceeds to fund its clinical trials as well as for product development, R&D, clinical manufacturing and various corporate costs. Azitra is headed up by CEO Francisco Salva, who previously co-founded Acerta Pharma, a blood cancer biotech that was acquired by AstraZeneca in 2016.

BRANFORD, Conn., June 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Azitra, Inc. (NYSE American: AZTR) (the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies for precision dermatology using engineered proteins and topical live biotherapeutic products, today announced the closing of its initial public offering of 1,500,000 shares of its common stock at a public offering price of $5.00 per share, for gross proceeds of $7,500,000, before deducting underwriting discounts and offering expenses. In addition, the Company has granted the underwriters a 45-day option to purchase up to an additional 225,000 shares of common stock to cover over-allotments at the initial public offering price, less the underwriting discount. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the initial public offering for clinical trials and product development, research and development, clinical manufacturing as well as for working capital and other general corporate purposes. ThinkEquity acted as sole book-running manager for the offering. A registration statement on Form S-1 (File No. 333-269876) relating to the shares of common stock being sold in this offering was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and became effective on June 15, 2023. A final prospectus relating to the offering was filed with the SEC and is available on the SEC's website at . This offering is being made only by means of a prospectus. Electronic copies of the final prospectus may be obtained from ThinkEquity, 17 State Street, 41st Floor, New York, New York 10004. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. About Azitra, Inc. Azitra, Inc. is an early-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative therapies for precision dermatology using engineered proteins and topical live biotherapeutic products. The Company has built a proprietary platform that includes a microbial library comprised of approximately 1,500 unique bacterial strains that can be screened for unique therapeutic characteristics. The platform is augmented by an artificial intelligence and machine learning technology that analyzes, predicts and helps screen the Company's library of strains for drug like molecules. The Company's initial focus is on the development of genetically engineered strains of Staphylococcus epidermidis, or S. epidermidis, which the Company considers to be an optimal therapeutic candidate species for engineering of dermatologic therapies. For more information, please visit . Forward Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking statements" that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "seek," "may," "might," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "target," "aim," "should," "will" "would," or the negative of these words or other similar expressions, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the section titled "Risk Factors" in the final prospectus related to the public offering filed with the SEC. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and the Company undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law. CONTACT Norman Staskey [email protected] SOURCE Azitra, Inc.