STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN – May 7, 2025. Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) today announces that its portfolio company Umecrine Cognition will attend the EASL Congress 2025 in Amsterdam, May 7–10, to present validation and implementation data for the newly developed clinical scale for Primary Biliary Cholangitis, PBC.

Umecrine Cognition is developing a new class of drugs to alleviate cognitive symptoms caused by liver disease. The company's drug candidate golexanolone is currently being evaluated in a clinical Phase 2a study in PBC. At EASL 2025 (European Association for the Study of the Liver), Umecrine Cognition will present validation and implementation data for the newly developed clinical scale CGI-S-PBC™ (Clinical Global Impression of Severity Scale for Primary Biliary Cholangitis), which was partly developed by the company and is currently being used in the ongoing clinical trial with golexanolone.

The scale was designed to evaluate symptom severity in PBC patients that cannot be measured by conventional laboratory tests. The newly developed CGI-S-PBC™ scale is a more objective, anchor-based clinical outcome scale that expands on the patient-reported outcome measure PBC-40, and the validation and implementation were recently documented in two separate studies along with the current use in the clinical Phase 2a trial.

Abstracts summarizing the validation and implementation of CGI-S-PBC™ will be presented at the on-site paper poster session “Immune-mediated and cholestatic disease: Clinical aspects” on Thursday, May 8, with the title: “Validation of the clinical global impression severity scale for primary biliary cholangitis: a clinical trials outcome tool,” and “Implementation of a clinical global impression severity scale for primary biliary cholangitis: results of a hepatologist focused training program”.

Karolinska Development's ownership in Umecrine Cognition amounts to 73%.

For further information, please contact:

Viktor Drvota, CEO, Karolinska Development AB
Phone: +46 73 982 52 02, e-mail: viktor.drvota@karolinskadevelopment.com 

Johan Dighed, General Counsel and Deputy CEO, Karolinska Development AB
Phone: +46 70 207 48 26, e-mail: johan.dighed@karolinskadevelopment.com

TO THE EDITORS

About Karolinska Development AB

Karolinska Development AB (Nasdaq Stockholm: KDEV) is a Nordic life sciences investment company. The company focuses on identifying breakthrough medical innovations in the Nordic region that are developed by entrepreneurs and leadership teams. The company invests in the creation and growth of companies that advance these assets into commercial products that are designed to make a difference to patient’s lives while providing an attractive return on investment to shareholders.

Karolinska Development has access to world-class medical innovations at the Karolinska Institutet and other leading universities and research institutes in the Nordic region. The company aims to build companies around scientists who are leaders in their fields, supported by experienced management teams and advisers, and co-funded by specialist international investors, to provide the greatest chance of success.

Karolinska Development has a portfolio of eleven companies targeting opportunities in innovative treatment for life-threatening or serious debilitating diseases.

The company is led by an entrepreneurial team of investment professionals with a proven track record as company builders and with access to a strong global network.

For more information, please visit www.karolinskadevelopment.com.