Eupraxia Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company with an innovative drug delivery platform technology, announced today that it has been awarded The Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year Award by Life Sciences British Columbia ("LSBC").

"On behalf of the entire Eupraxia team, I want to thank LSBC for this award recognizing all that we have accomplished as an organization over the last year," said Dr. James Helliwell, CEO of Eupraxia. "Following the successful completion of our initial public offering in March 2021, we have effectively advanced our Phase 2 trial in osteoarthritis of the knee, and further strengthened our balance sheet to ensure we are well funded beyond the trial's data readout, currently expected in the first quarter of 2023."   

The Emerging Life Sciences Company of the Year Award is presented to an early stage life sciences company which, although not yet achieving commercial success, has demonstrated outstanding performance and realized significant milestones from April 1st, 2021 – March 31st, 2022, and is positioned well for potential future commercial success

About Life Sciences British Columbia

Life Sciences British Columbia is a not-for-profit government industry association that supports and represents the life sciences community of B.C. through numerous initiatives at the local, national and international level. They nurture economic development in the province through leadership, facilitation of investment and partnering, advocacy and promotion of B.C.'s world-class life sciences industry. 

About Eupraxia Pharmaceutical Inc.

Eupraxia is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on the development of locally delivered, extended-release alternatives to currently approved drugs. Each of Eupraxia's product candidates has the potential to address therapeutic areas with high unmet medical need and strives to provide improved patient benefit by delivering targeted, long-lasting activity with fewer side effects.

Eupraxia's lead product candidate, EP-104IAR, is currently in Phase 2 development for the treatment of pain due to OA of the knee. In addition to EP-104IAR, Eupraxia is developing a pipeline of earlier-stage long-acting formulations. Potential pipeline candidates include a range of drugs for indications such as postsurgical pain (EP-105), and post-surgical site infections (EP-201), each designed to improve on the activity and tolerability of approved drugs. For further details about Eupraxia, please visit the Company's website at: www.eupraxiapharma.com

Notice Regarding Forward-looking Statements and Information

This news release includes forward-looking statements and forward–looking information within the meaning of Canadian securities laws. Often, but not always, forward–looking information can be identified by the use of words such as "plans", "is expected", "expects", "scheduled", "intends", "contemplates", "anticipates", "believes", "proposes" or variations (including negative and grammatical variations) of such words and phrases, or state that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken, occur or be achieved. Forward looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the Company's business strategies and objectives, including current and future plans and opportunities, expectations and intentions; statements regarding the Company's Phase 2 clinical trial; the ability of the Company to execute on its business strategy; the Company having sufficient resources, including anticipated funding from its current cash runway; the expansion of enrollment in the Company's Phase 2 clinical trial; the potential of Eupraxia's product candidates; the Company's expectations regarding its product designs, including with respect to targeted shelf life, storage and ease of integration; the results gathered from studies of Eupraxia's product candidates; the potential for the Company's technology to impact the drug delivery process; the competitive advantages of the Company's technology; the benefits to patients from the Company's drug platforms; the translation of the Company's technologies and expansion of its offerings into clinical applications; the Company's estimation of potential product markets; and the demand and market acceptance for products developed by the Company. Such statements and information are based on the current expectations of Eupraxia's management, and are based on assumptions, including but not limited to: future research and development plans for the Company proceeding substantially as currently envisioned; industry growth trends, including with respect to projected and actual industry sales; the Company's ability to obtain positive results from the Company's research and development activities, including clinical trials; and the Company's ability to protect patents and proprietary rights. Although Eupraxia's management believes that the assumptions underlying these statements and information are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect. The forward–looking events and circumstances discussed in this news release may not occur by certain dates or at all and could differ materially as a result of known and unknown risk factors and uncertainties affecting Eupraxia, including, but not limited to: the Company's limited operating history; the Company's novel technology with uncertain market acceptance; if the Company breaches any of the agreements under which it licenses rights to its product candidates or technology from third parties, the Company could lose license rights that are important to its business; the Company's current license agreement may not provide an adequate remedy for its breach by the licensor; the Company's technology may not be successful for its intended use; the Company's future technology will require regulatory approval, which is costly and the Company may not be able to obtain it; the Company may fail to obtain regulatory approvals or only obtain approvals for limited uses or indications; the Company completely relies on third parties to provide supplies and inputs required for its products and services; the Company relies on external contract research organizations to provide clinical and non-clinical research services; the Company may not be able to successfully execute its business strategy; the Company will require additional financing, which may not be available; any therapeutics the Company develops will be subject to extensive, lengthy and uncertain regulatory requirements, which could adversely affect the Company's ability to obtain regulatory approval in a timely manner, or at all; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company's operations; and other risks and uncertainties described in more detail in Eupraxia's public filings on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). Although Eupraxia has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ materially from those described in forward–looking statements and information, there may be other factors that cause actions, events or results to differ from those anticipated, estimated or intended. No forward–looking statement or information can be guaranteed. Except as required by applicable securities laws, forward–looking statements and information speak only as of the date on which they are made and Eupraxia undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward–looking statement or information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.