Agios Recognizes 14th Annual Rare Disease Day and Raises Awareness of Unmet Needs in Rare Hemolytic Anemias

– In Partnership with the Sickle Cell Community Consortium, Agios Works to Address Educational Resource Gaps Caused by COVID-19 for Students with Sickle Cell Disease –

– Company to Host Facebook Live Discussion with Pyruvate Kinase (PK) Deficiency Patient, Caregiver and Key Opinion Leader Today at 2 p.m. ET –

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Feb. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Agios Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: AGIO), a leader in the field of cellular metabolism to treat cancer and genetically defined diseases, today announced its support for the 14^th annual Rare Disease Day, a global awareness campaign for the more than 300 million people living with a rare disease worldwide.

“Patients are central to everything we do at Agios, and we are proud to join with patients, advocates, caregivers, clinicians and industry colleagues around the world to support Rare Disease Day,” said Jackie Fouse, Ph.D., chief executive officer at Agios. “We strive to work closely with patient communities, understanding their perspectives and cultivating true partnerships. In honor of Rare Disease Day, we are collaborating with the PK deficiency, thalassemia and sickle cell disease communities to advance important initiatives designed to raise awareness and address needs faced by people living with these hemolytic anemias.”

Throughout the month of February, the Agios team raised funds for the Sickle Cell Community Consortium (SCCC) COVID-19 relief fund. Following a series of sickle cell disease community meetings and surveys organized by the SCCC, patients and caregivers identified areas where they most need support as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The community identified a critical need for better educational resources for students with sickle cell disease who are learning in remote or hybrid environments. The funds raised by Agios help address this gap by providing tablets, printers, online tools, access to tutors and other resources for these students.

“We are living through the first global pandemic in any of our lifetimes, and every aspect of life has changed, including the way students are expected to learn. In this new environment, many students impacted by sickle cell disease are falling behind from both health concerns and insufficient access to resources and support. Without equalizing resources and support, the education system is no longer grading children’s ability to learn, but instead, is judging their access to resources and grading their privilege. In the ‘land of plenty,’ this is not acceptable,” said Lakiea Bailey, Ph.D., executive director of the SCCC. “Our children are intelligent, hardworking, talented and capable of great educational achievement. We are grateful to the Agios team for their support to ensure that children and teens living with sickle cell disease have equal access to the resources they need to achieve their educational goals.”

In recognition of Rare Disease Day, Agios is spearheading the following additional initiatives:

• Today at 2 p.m. ET, Agios is hosting a Facebook Live discussion on its “Know PK Deficiency” Facebook page. The event will feature Jenny M. Despotovic, D.O., hematology center director at Texas Children’s Hospital and associate professor of hematology/oncology at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as 16-year old PK deficiency patient Jonathan Watson and his mother Alejandra, discussing the impact of PK deficiency on daily life and how patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals can work together in partnership to best manage the disease.
• Agios sponsored MassBio’s 2021 Rare Disease Day virtual event, which will focus on strategies to better address health inequity and racial disparities among the rare disease community, including improving representation in clinical trials. The event takes place today at 10 a.m. ET.
• Agios organized an internal, virtual speaker series throughout February to increase the team’s understanding of the experiences of patients living with hemolytic anemias. Speakers included:
  • Ahmar Zaidi, M.D., hematologist at Children’s Hospital of Michigan and sickle cell disease advocate, presented on addressing health inequities in the treatment of sickle cell disease.
  • Shamonica Wiggins, sickle cell disease patient and advocate, and her fiancé shared their personal perspectives on managing sickle cell disease and the impact it can have on relationships. Biree Andemariam, M.D., board member and former chief medical officer of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America (SCDAA) and associate professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut Health, joined them to provide further insights into clinical management of the disease.
  • Sujit Sheth, M.D., pediatric hematologist-oncologist at Weill Cornell Medicine with a specialty in thalassemia, and one of his thalassemia patients shared their perspectives on disease management and the patient/doctor partnership.

Agios is advancing clinical programs in three serious hemolytic anemias: PK deficiency, thalassemia and sickle cell disease. In late 2020, Agios announced that it intends to move forward with a singular focus on accelerating and expanding its genetically defined disease portfolio, including these clinical programs and a robust pipeline of therapeutic candidates.

About Agios
Agios is focused on discovering and developing novel investigational medicines to treat malignant hematology, solid tumors and genetically defined diseases through scientific leadership in the field of cellular metabolism. In addition to an active research and discovery pipeline across these three therapeutic areas, Agios has two approved oncology precision medicines and multiple first-in-class investigational therapies in clinical and/or preclinical development. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.agios.com.

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Contact
Holly Manning, 617-844-6630
Director, Investor Relations
Holly.Manning@agios.com