Rakovina Therapeutics Secures Exclusivity on Optimized kt-5000 Lead Profile from Variational AI

Agreement provides Rakovina exclusive access to its optimized kt-5000 target profile and extends AI-powered lead optimization through year-end at no additional cost

VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Oct. 14, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rakovina Therapeutics Inc. (TSX-V: RKV) (FSE: 7JO0) (OTCMKTS: RKVTF), a biopharmaceutical company advancing innovative cancer therapies through AI-powered drug discovery, today announced an amendment (the “Amendment”) and extension to its research services agreement with Vancouver-based Variational AI Inc. (“Variational AI”). The new agreement will grant Rakovina exclusivity on the target product profile being pursued for its kt-5000 ATR inhibitor program.

Under the Amendment, Variational AI will not design, generate or deliver to any other party, compounds intended to meet the specific combination of potency, selectivity, drug-like properties and brain penetration that Rakovina has defined for a potential kt-5000 development candidate throughout the agreed term. Variational AI will also provide additional AI-powered lead optimization cycles beyond the five cycles delivered to date, at no additional cost to Rakovina. Enki™ generative AI platform will be used to iteratively optimize leads, generating and prioritizing multiple compound designs, while Rakovina will retain control over which candidates advance into laboratory testing and further development.

In return for the extended term and enhanced exclusivity, the Amendment grants Variational AI increased milestone payments upon nomination of a drug candidate and completion of an out-licensing transaction, further aligning the partnership around the program’s success.

The kt-5000 program comprises small-molecule inhibitors of ATR, a central regulator of the DNA damage response. Rakovina has previously reported preclinical data supporting potent ATR inhibition, drug-like properties and CNS penetration in the kt-5000 series. The Company’s current kt-5000 program is focused on developing next-generation ATR inhibitors designed to address the challenges of treating tumours in the central nervous system.

“The kt-5000 program is targeting a particularly challenging combination of properties: potent and selective ATR inhibition together with the drug-like characteristics and CNS penetration required to reach tumours in the brain,” said Dr. Mads Daugaard, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Rakovina Therapeutics. “The ability to iteratively optimize against this defined target profile using Variational AI’s Enki™ platform has been highly valuable to our research program. Securing exclusivity around this profile is a meaningful step because it preserves the differentiation we are working to create as we move the program toward candidate selection.”

“After only five optimization cycles and under 100 compounds synthesized, the kt-5000 work has produced leads we are genuinely excited about,” said Handol Kim, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Variational AI. “The progress reflects the ability of Enki™ to rapidly explore chemical space and efficiently optimize these novel leads against a highly specific target profile. Providing Rakovina with exclusivity on that profile recognizes the progress made to date, and the strength of the collaboration between our teams. We are pleased to extend the collaboration as the program moves rapidly toward development candidate selection.”

"Our collaboration with Variational AI has fundamentally changed the economics of drug discovery for Rakovina,” said Kim Oishi, Chief Executive Officer of Rakovina Therapeutics. “Using the Enki™ platform, we have advanced kt-5000 in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of a conventional discovery program. For a company of our size, that efficiency decides whether a program like this can be funded at all. It has let us build a differentiated ATR program designed to reach tumours in the brain, while preserving capital for the work ahead. This amendment protects our access to the profile we’ve defined and gives our team additional optimization cycles at no additional cost, carrying those savings through year-end. We believe this puts Rakovina in a stronger position as we work toward nominating a development candidate and engaging potential pharmaceutical partners.”

About Variational AI

Variational AI is a generative AI drug discovery company based in Vancouver, Canada. Its Enki™ generative AI foundation model designs novel small-molecule drug candidates with improved potency, selectivity and synthesizability to help partners accelerate early discovery and lead optimization. For more information, please visit https://variational.ai/.

About Rakovina Therapeutics Inc.

Rakovina Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical research company focused on the development of innovative cancer treatments. Our work is based on unique technologies for targeting the DNA-damage response powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). By using AI, we can review and optimize drug candidates at a much greater pace than ever before.

The Company has established a pipeline of distinctive DNA-damage response inhibitors with the goal of advancing one or more drug candidates into human clinical trials in collaboration with pharmaceutical partners. Further information may be found at https://www.rakovinatherapeutics.com/.

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

For Further Information Contact:

Rakovina Therapeutics Inc.
Kim Oishi
CEO
Kim.oishi@rakovinatherapeutics.com

Mark Mitchell
Communications
IR@rakovinatherapeutics.com

Variational AI Inc.
Valentin Beauchillot
Senior Manager, Business Development & Marketing
valentin@variational.ai
236-818-8624

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