Dr. Stephen Haworth Joins XORTX Management Team

● Dr. Haworth Appointed Chief Medical Officer ●

CALGARY, Alberta, June 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- XORTX Therapeutics Inc. ("XORTX" or the “Company”) (CSE: XRX) (OTCQB: XRTXF), a pharmaceutical therapeutics company focused on developing innovative therapies to treat progressive kidney disease, is pleased to announce that Dr. Stephen Haworth will join the XORTX management team in the role of Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. Haworth will provide key leadership, strategy for the Company’s regulatory and clinical programs – XRx-008 for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (“ADPKD”) and XRx-101 – for acute kidney, cardiac, and multi-organ injury in individuals with COVID infection, as well as program development aspects of the Company’s activities and aid in the advancement of its two key programs. XORTX’s two key programs in ADPKD and the treatment acute injury due to coronavirus COVID-19 infection are advancing toward clinical trial initiation. In parallel with this progress, critical activities regarding drug licensing and commercialization will be a priority.

Dr. Haworth brings to XORTX 25+ years of successful global drug development and senior leadership in both start up and Fortune 500 pharmaceutical firms in both the US and Europe. Stephen has a broad clinical and regulatory experience that ranges from infectious disease through nephrology, cardiovascular disease and most recently on programs for treatment and prevention of SARS-CoV infection. He has held key roles in numerous FDA and EMA submissions and has been involved in several licensing and M&A transactions. Dr. Haworth holds a medical degree from University College Hospital Medical School, University of London having graduated with Honors.

Dr. Allen Davidoff stated, “The XORTX team and I are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Stephen Haworth to the management team. Stephen is an experienced, high caliber individual with an exceptional track record of drug discovery/development in both large and small pharma programs. We welcome the opportunity to bring Dr. Haworth into our clinical stage small molecule drug development programs and I personally look forward to building a strong and growing working relationship with him on behalf of XORTX and patients with kidney disease.”

Dr. Stephen Haworth stated, “I am delighted to join XORTX at this important stage of the Company’s evolution. I am looking forward to getting to know and building a strong and productive working relationship with the team.”

About XORTX Therapeutics Inc.

XORTX Therapeutics Inc. is a pharmaceutical company with two clinically advanced products in development – XRx-008 for Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease (ADPKD), XRx-101 for Coronavirus / COVID-19 infection and XRx-225 is a pre-clinical stage program for Type 2 Diabetic Nephropathy (T2DN). XORTX is working to advance its clinical development stage products that target aberrant purine metabolism and xanthine oxidase to decrease or inhibit production of uric acid. At XORTX Therapeutics, we are dedicated to developing medications to improve the quality of life and future of patients. Additional information on XORTX Therapeutics is available at www.xortx.com.

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The CSE has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Statements in this news release which are not purely historical are forward-looking statements, including without limitation any statements concerning the Company's intentions, plans, estimates, beliefs or expectations regarding the future. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information relating to, among other things, statements with respect to the potential for XRx-101 as a treatment to suppress the severity of the coronavirus / COVID-19 infection. Although the Company believes that any such intentions, plans, estimates, beliefs and expectations in this news release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such intentions, plans, beliefs and expectations will prove to be accurate. The Company cautions readers that all forward-looking statements, including without limitation those relating to the Company's future operations and business prospects, are based on assumptions none of which can be assured, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties including that the products developed by the Company will require approval from Health Canada and equivalent organizations in other countries before their sale can be authorized. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Readers are advised to rely on their own evaluation of such risks and uncertainties and should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and the Company assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual events or results could or do differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligations to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Released June 30, 2021