Leading cognitive-disorders specialist, Dr. William Shankle, will discuss vascular cognitive impairment, vascular dementia and the proposed clinical trial of VesCell™ (ACP-01) today at 12:00 EST, at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nJ8ViLkRSeiU_NXMYJ-jbw

Calgary, Alberta--(Newsfile Corp. - August 20, 2026) - Hemostemix Inc. (TSXV: HEM) (OTCQB: HMTXF) (FSE: 2VF0) ("Hemostemix" or the "Company") is pleased to announce > 130 participants have enrolled to hear Dr. William R. Shankle, MS, MD, FACP, special presentation entitled: "Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Vascular Dementia: Recognizing the Vascular Cause and Exploring the Clinical-Trial Application of VesCell™". The presentation will begin at 12:00 EST and is available through https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nJ8ViLkRSeiU_NXMYJ-jbw

Dementia debilitates an estimated 50-57 million people worldwide, representing one of the largest unmet needs in neurology. Vascular dementia accounts for up to 15% of all dementia cases. Approximately 70 million people worldwide were living with the consequences of ischemic stroke in 2021. Cognitive impairment occurs in up to 60% of stroke survivors during the first year, implying that as many as 42 million ischemic-stroke survivors may experience some degree of cognitive impairment. There are currently no approved therapies designed to regenerate the damaged microvasculature responsible for cognitive decline, or vascular dementia.

During the presentation, Dr. Shankle is expected to discuss:

• The differences and overlap between Alzheimer's disease, vascular cognitive impairment and vascular dementia;
  
  
• The relevance of endothelial cell physiology and pathophysiology.
  
  
• How VesCell™, as an autologous (patient's own) lineage-specific endothelial progenitor cell population (the patient's own DNA), may leverage the patient's own migration, angiogenesis, blood-vessel formation, and tissue regeneration signalling processes, to support circulation renewal, endothelium repair, tissue and organ regeneration.
  
  
• How small vessel cerebrovascular disease contributes to memory loss and cognitive decline.
  
  
• The importance of identifying a vascular contribution to cognitive impairment at an early stage.
  
  
• MCI Screen: A Practical approach to patient screening, diagnosis and functional assessment.
  
  
• The clinical trial of VesCell™ for treatment of vascular cognitive impairment.

Dr. Shankle is a board-certified neurologist specializing in the prevention, diagnosis and management of Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and related cognitive disorders. He co-founded the Alzheimer's Disease Clinical Research Center at the University of California, Irvine, received the National Alzheimer's Association's Zenith Pioneer award, co-discovered neurogenesis of the human cerebral cortex after birth, which presaged the era of stem cell therapy. Dr. Shankle is the founder of the Shankle Clinic in Newport Beach, California, where his clinical work focuses on identifying the causes of cognitive decline and providing individualized treatment and disease-management strategies.

Dr. Shankle said: "Vascular cognitive impairment is frequently missed because cognitive decline is too readily assumed to be Alzheimer's disease. MCI Screen can be administered efficiently and has demonstrated a very high accuracy in distinguishing normal aging from mild cognitive impairment in published validated studies. When combined with a focused Hachinski vascular assessment-including questions concerning stroke history, abrupt or stepwise decline, fluctuating symptoms and focal neurological findings-it provides a practical and highly informative method of identifying patients whose cognitive impairment is likely to have a vascular cause or significant vascular contribution. In appropriately selected patients, this approach may provide up to 90% clinical confidence that a meaningful vascular component is present. Of course, MCI is only a diagnostic tool; the final diagnosis must incorporate the patient's history, neurological examination, laboratory assessment and appropriate brain imaging," Dr. Shankle said.

Endothelial cells form the continuous, single-cell lining of every artery, arteriole, capillary, venule and vein in the human body. Rather than simply forming the walls of blood vessels, the endothelium is a vast, biologically active organ comprising an estimated 6 × 10¹³ cells. Endothelial cells regulate vascular tone and blood flow, coagulation, inflammation, vascular permeability, angiogenesis, and the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to tissues. In the brain, specialized endothelial cells also form the foundation of the blood-brain barrier and regulate cerebral microcirculation. The most numerous cell in the human body, understanding its role is key to treating cerebrovascular disease at its root cause.

There is currently no FDA-approved drug or biologic specifically indicated to treat vascular cognitive impairment or vascular dementia. That is a profound unmet medical need. Based on 498 treatments, seven clinical trials including two phase II trials, VesCell™may be a safe treatment of vascular dementia as it promotes generation of new blood vessels, while repairing existing ones.

VesCell™ is derived from the patient's own blood, which avoids the pitfalls of immune incompatibility and rejection risks. It promotes healing of the blood vessel's endothelial wall by migrating to the site of damage, engrafting within it, and recruiting other endogenous stem cells from the patient's blood to join in the regeneration of the damaged endothelium, tissue and organs.

"Mrs. L. had experienced a loss of executive function, short and long-term memory, judgment, and the ability to independently perform the activities of daily living. Four physicians and I spoke with her seven years post VesCell™ treatment, in a telephone call. At 87, Mrs. L reported that within six months of her VesCell™ treatment, she regained her ability to live independently. She recalled her "wonderful" treatment experience; her career, her child bearing years and family, and her active social calendar, with the ease of a cognitively healthy individual," said Thomas Smeenk, CEO. "While one case study does not make a statistically significant result, it is the first documented in-human use of VesCell™ that generated a significant cognitive improvement as measured by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment pre and post treatment," Smeenk said.

"The MCI Screen test is only $179. I invite families to contact Hemostemix' Director of Patient Services and Clinical Operations, Shaune Harding (sharding@hemostemix.com T: 226-504-4357) to complete it confidentially. MCI Screen will enable all participants to know where they are on the spectrum and whether or not they qualify for the clinical trial" Smeenk said.

Proposed VesCell™ Vascular-Dementia Clinical Trial

Hemostemix developed a clinical-trial protocol to evaluate the safety, feasibility and preliminary efficacy of VesCell™ in patients with vascular cognitive impairment or vascular dementia.

The proposed program is designed to use standardized baseline and follow-up assessments of cognition, daily function, quality of life and vascular risk. Enrollment is now underway. The clinical trial is subject to the final approvals now in progress under the Bahamas Longevity and Regenerative Therapy Act (LARTA).

VesCell™ is investigational and has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or Health Canada for the treatment of vascular cognitive impairment or vascular dementia.

Presentation Information

Speaker: William R. Shankle, MS, MD, FACP
Topic: Vascular Cognitive Impairment and Vascular Dementia: Recognizing the Vascular Cause and Exploring the Clinical-Trial Application of VesCell™
Date: Tuesday, August 20, 2026
Time: 12:00 EST
Registration: https://hemostemix.com/health-talks
Audience: Physicians, healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers, researchers, investors and members of the public interested in vascular cognitive impairment and regenerative medicine.

About Hemostemix

Hemostemix is an autologous stem cell therapy platform company, founded in 2003. A winner of the World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer Award, the Company has developed, patented, is scaling and selling autologous (patient's own) blood-based stem cell therapy, VesCell™ an investigational autologous stem cell therapy developed to support circulation in areas affected by diseases of ischemia. VesCell™ is derived from a patient's own blood and evaluated through structured clinical research. Hemostemix has completed seven clinical studies of 318 subjects and published its results in eleven peer reviewed publications. ACP-01 is safe, and appears clinically relevant as a treatment for peripheral arterial disease, chronic limb threatening ischemia, non ischemic dilated cardiomyopathy, ischemic cardiomyopathy, congestive heart failure, and angina. Hemostemix completed its Phase II clinical trial for chronic limb threatening ischemia and published its results in the Journal of Biomedical Research & Environmental Science. As compared to a five year mortality rate of 50% in the CLTI diabetes-based patient population, UBC and U of T reported to the 41st meeting of vascular surgeons: 0% mortality, cessation of pain, wound healing in 83% of patients followed for up to 4.5 years, as a midpoint result. For more information, please visit www.hemostemix.com 

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Forward-Looking Information: This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein are forward-looking information. In particular, this news release contains forward-looking information in relation to, but is not limited to, the vascular dementia commercial clinical trial based in the Bahamas. Forward-looking information is based on assumptions and involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including the risk that the restatement process and adjustments may change.a. This forward-looking information reflects Hemostemix's current beliefs and is based on information currently available to Hemostemix and on assumptions Hemostemix believes are reasonable. These assumptions include, but are not limited to: the underlying value of Hemostemix and its Common Shares; the successful resolution of any litigation that Hemostemix is pursuing or defending (the "Litigation"), if any; the results of ACP-01 research, trials, studies and analyses, including the analysis being equivalent to or better than previous research, trials or studies; the receipt of all required regulatory approvals for research, trials or studies; the level of activity, market acceptance and market trends in the healthcare sector; the economy generally; consumer interest in Hemostemix's services and products; competition and Hemostemix's competitive advantages; and, Hemostemix obtaining satisfactory financing to fund Hemostemix's operations including any research, trials or studies, and any Litigation. Forward-looking information is Subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of Hemostemix to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks and other factors may include, but are not limited to: the ability of Hemostemix to complete clinical trials, complete a satisfactory analyses and file the results of such analyses to gain regulatory approval of a phase II or phase III clinical trial of ACP-01; potential litigation Hemostemix may face; general business, economic, competitive, political and social uncertainties; general capital market conditions and market prices for securities; delay or failure to receive board or regulatory approvals; the actual results of future operations including the actual results of future research, trials or studies; competition; changes in legislation affecting Hemostemix; the timing and availability of external financing on acceptable terms; long-term capital requirements and future developments in Hemostemix's markets and the markets in which it expects to compete; lack of qualified, skilled labour or loss of key individuals; and risks related to the COVID-19 pandemic including various recommendations, orders and measures of governmental authorities to try to limit the pandemic, including travel restrictions, border closures, non-essential business closures service disruptions, quarantines, self-isolations, shelters-in-place and social distancing, disruptions to markets, disruptions to economic activity and financings, disruptions to supply chains and sales channels, and a deterioration of general economic conditions including a possible national or global recession or depression; the potential impact that the COVID-19 pandemic may have on Hemostemix which may include a decreased demand for the services that Hemostemix offers; and a deterioration of financial markets that could limit Hemostemix's ability to obtain external financing. A description of additional risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Hemostemix's disclosure documents on the SEDAR website at www.sedarplus.ca. Although Hemostemix has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Readers are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are placed will occur. Forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking information contained in this news release represents the expectations of Hemostemix as of the date of this news release and, accordingly, it is Subject to change after such date. However, Hemostemix expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable securities law.

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