bellus health is a biopharmaceutical development company advancing novel therapeutics for conditions with high unmet medical need. its lead project is blu-5937, a drug candidate for the treatment of chronic cough. bellus health also has economic interests in other partnered drug development projects. blu-5937 is a potent, highly selective, orally bioavailable small molecule antagonist of the p2x3 receptor, a clinically validated target for chronic cough. blu-5937 is a promising best-in-class drug candidate that has the potential to help millions of chronic cough patients who do not respond to current therapies. rights to blu-5937 were obtained under a license agreement with the neomed institute in february 2017. chronic cough is a cough that lasts more than eight weeks and is associated with significant adverse social, psychosocial and physical effects on quality of life. it is estimated that, in the united states alone, more than 2.7 million patients suffer from chronic cough that is