Mr. Ramzi Benamar reports

BELLUS HEALTH CLOSES US$153 MILLION PUBLIC OFFERING OF COMMON SHARES IN CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES

Bellus Health Inc. has completed its previously announced underwritten public offering in Canada and the United States of 16,540,541 common shares at a price to the public of $9.25 (U.S.) per common share. The total gross proceeds to the company were $153-million (U.S.), before deducting the underwriting commissions and any expenses related to the offering. Bellus has also granted to the underwriters an option exercisable by the underwriters within 30 days of the date of the underwriting agreement to purchase up to an additional 2,481,081 common shares of the company.

Bellus Health's common shares are dual-listed on the Nasdaq Global Market and the Toronto Stock Exchange under the trading symbol BLU. For the purposes of the TSX approval, the company relied on the exemption set forth in Section 602.1 of the TSX company manual, which provides that the TSX will not apply its standards to certain transactions involving eligible interlisted issuers on a recognized exchange, such as Nasdaq.

The company intends to use the net proceeds of the offering primarily to finance BLU-5937 research and development activities, working capital needs, and other general corporate purposes, as set out in the supplement (as defined below).

Jefferies, Evercore ISI and RBC Capital Markets acted as joint bookrunning managers and LifeSci Capital acted as lead manager.

The offering was made in Canada pursuant to a prospectus supplement dated July 13, 2022, to the company's amended and restated short form base shelf prospectus dated Dec. 14, 2021, and in the United States pursuant to a registration statement on Form F-10, which went effective automatically upon its filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 14, 2021, containing the supplement and A&R base prospectus filed with the SEC in accordance with the Multijurisdictional Disclosure System established between Canada and the United States.

The supplement and the accompanying A&R base prospectus contain important detailed information about the offering. The supplement and the accompanying A&R base prospectus can be found on SEDAR and on EDGAR. Copies of the supplement and accompanying A&R base prospectus may also be obtained from the company, by telephone at 450-680-4500 or by e-mail at info@bellushealth.com or you may request them from, in the United States, Jefferies LLC, attention: equity syndicate prospectus department, 520 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y., 10022, by telephone at 877-821-7388 or by e-mail at prospectus_department@jefferies.com, or Evercore Group LLC, attention: equity capital markets, 55 East 52nd St., 35th floor, New York, N.Y., 10055, by telephone at 888-474-0200 or by e-mail at ecm.prospectus@evercore.com, or RBC Capital Markets LLC, attention: equity capital markets, 200 Vesey St., eighth floor, New York, N.Y., 10281, by telephone at 877-822-4089 or by e-mail at equityprospectus@rbccm.com or, in Canada, Jefferies Securities Inc., attention: general counsel, 161 Bay St., suite 2600, Toronto, Ont., M5J 2S1, by e-mail at prospectus_department@jefferies.com, or RBC Dominion Securities Inc., attention: distribution centre, 180 Wellington St. West, eighth floor, Toronto, Ont., M5J 0C2, by telephone at 1-416-842-5349 or by e-mail at Distribution.RBCDS@rbccm.com. Prospective investors should read the supplement and accompanying A&R base shelf prospectus and the other documents the company has filed before making an investment decision.

About Bellus Health Inc.

Bellus Health is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics for the treatment of refractory chronic cough (RCC) and other hypersensitization-related disorders. The company's product candidate, BLU-5937, is being developed for the treatment of adults with RCC.

We seek Safe Harbor.