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CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American and TASE: LCTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic cell therapies for unmet medical needs, announced today that Jill Howe will join as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer, effective November 14, 2022. Ms. Howe brings more than 20 years of significant strategic, financial, and operational experience to Lineage, with an emphasis on capital strategy, corporate finance, treasury management, global infrastructure, and operational excellence. Ms. Howe has successfully built biotechnology organizations and implemented operational infrastructures alongside the execution of over $1.66 billion of capital raising transactions and will bring extensive strategic experience to the role. Most recently, Ms. Howe was Chief Financial Officer of DTx Pharma, and prior to that, was Vice President of Finance and Treasurer at Gossamer Bio, Inc., serving an integral role in the company’s initial public offering (IPO) and concurrent listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market, various follow-on and debt deals, and overseeing all aspects of finance and accounting operations globally. “Jill is a wonderful addition to our executive team as we work to establish Lineage as a leader in cell therapy and cell transplant medicine,” stated Brian M. Culley, Lineage CEO. “She is a successful executive with an extensive track record of execution in capital raising, strategic financial management, global expansion, and support, as well as mergers & acquisitions, and reflects the newest expansion of our team. Our continued growth will allow Lineage to exhibit greater productivity and increase the breadth of what we are able to accomplish in the months and years ahead.” Ms. Howe most recently served as Chief Financial Officer of DTx Pharma, a biotechnology company creating novel RNA-based therapeutics to treat the genetic drivers of disease. From 2018 to 2021, she served as Vice President of Finance and Treasurer for Gossamer Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOSS), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, acquiring, developing and commercializing therapeutics in the disease areas of immunology, inflammation and oncology, where she managed all aspects of finance operations, accounting, and global IT and real estate efforts, including the building-out of world-class labs and office space. She also served as a Board member of all Irish and Luxembourg subsidiaries of Gossamer Bio. From 2016 through 2017 she served as Controller & Director of Finance at Amplyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a company dedicated to the development of therapies for debilitating and life-threatening diseases that affect people with compromised immune systems, which was subsequently acquired by Pfizer, Inc. From 2013 to 2016 she served as Controller & Director of Finance at Receptos, Inc. (NASDAQ: RCPT), which was subsequently acquired by Celgene, Inc. for more than $7 billion. Prior to that, from 2006 to 2013 she worked in various accounting roles, leading up to Director of Finance, at Somaxon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SOMX), which was acquired by Pernix in 2012. Ms. Howe earned her Bachelor of Arts in Accounting from San Diego State University and serves on the Board of Directors of various nonprofit, private and public biotechnology companies. In 2022, Ms. Howe won the 2022 CFO of the Year Award in the small business category from the San Diego Business Journal and was specifically recognized for her leadership in building and managing successful financial teams, laying the groundwork for success, and as a San Diegan, for contributions to the community through her local charity work. About Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet medical needs. Lineage’s programs are based on its robust proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated in-house development and manufacturing capabilities. With this platform Lineage develops and manufactures specialized, terminally differentiated human cells from its pluripotent and progenitor cell starting materials. These differentiated cells are developed to either replace or support cells that are dysfunctional or absent due to degenerative disease or traumatic injury or administered as a means of helping the body mount an effective immune response to cancer. Lineage’s clinical programs are in markets with billion dollar opportunities and include five allogeneic (“off-the-shelf”) product candidates: (i) OpRegen, a retinal pigment epithelial cell therapy in development for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, is being developed under a worldwide collaboration with Roche and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group; (ii) OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries; (iii) VAC2, a dendritic cell therapy produced from Lineage’s VAC technology platform for immuno-oncology and infectious disease, currently in Phase 1 clinical development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer; (iv) ANP1, an auditory neuronal progenitor cell therapy for the potential treatment of auditory neuropathy; and (v) PNC1, a photoreceptor neural cell therapy for the treatment of vision loss due to photoreceptor dysfunction or damage. For more information, please visit or follow the company on Twitter @LineageCell. Forward-Looking Statements Lineage cautions you that all statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, in some cases, can be identified by terms such as “believe,” “aim,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “design,” “intend,” “expect,” “could,” “can,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “would,” “contemplate,” “project,” “target,” “tend to,” or the negative version of these words and similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: Ms. Howe’s employment with Lineage and the anticipated or implied benefits thereof to Lineage and Lineage’s continued growth and ability to exhibit greater productivity in the future. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Lineage’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release, including, but not limited to, the risks and uncertainties inherent in Lineage’s business and other risks discussed in Lineage’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Lineage’s forward-looking statements are based upon its current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included under the heading “Risk Factors” in Lineage’s periodic reports with the SEC, including Lineage’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and its other reports, which are available from the SEC’s website. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Lineage undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

June 13, 2022 12:00 UTC Industry veteran brings deep expertise in translational medicine and clinical development in oncology SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Asher Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Asher Bio), a biotechnology company developing precisely-targeted immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune, and infectious diseases, today announced the appointment of Andrea Pirzkall, M.D., as its first Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Pirzkall has a multi-disciplinary clinical background and a proven track record in developing cancer therapies from research to commercialization. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Asher Bio CMO Andrea Pirzkall MD (Photo: Business Wire) “We are delighted to welcome Andrea to the Asher Bio team at this pivotal time as we transition to a clinical-stage company. Her broad background spans early and late-stage development and includes both small molecule and biologic agents. She has expertise in immunotherapies for cancer and is a successful leader of growing clinical teams. Andrea is an ideal fit to our team as we continue to advance our pipeline,” said Craig Gibbs, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Asher Bio. “Her expertise and hands-on style will be valuable assets as we implement clinical strategies to deliver our selective and differentiated immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other diseases.” “I am very excited to join Asher Bio’s highly experienced senior management team and to build and lead the clinical development organization to deliver on the company’s promising pipeline of cis-targeted therapeutics,” said Dr. Pirzkall. “I am particularly intrigued by the potential of Asher Bio’s cis-targeting platform approach to overcome limitations and broaden the potential of existing immunotherapy by selectively targeting immune cell subsets, and thereby aiming to improve outcomes for patients. That includes Asher Bio’s lead cis-targeted IL-2 immunotherapy, AB248, which is approaching an IND filing and the start of a Phase 1 clinical trial. AB248 has been designed to selectively activate IL-2 signaling in CD8+ effector T cells, while avoiding systemic toxicities and limiting counterproductive pleotropic signaling that results from IL-2 binding to non-targeted cells. I look forward to working with the team to transition this compound into the clinic.” Most recently, Dr. Pirzkall served as Chief Medical Officer at Replimune Group, Inc., where she was responsible for building, developing, and leading clinical development of the company’s pipeline of next-generation oncolytic immunotherapies. Prior to that, Dr. Pirzkall served as Executive Director of Clinical Development at BeiGene, Ltd., where she led and supported the development, startup and execution of several pivotal studies in lung cancer and head and neck cancers, which successfully led to approvals of tislelizumab (anti-PD1) in China and ongoing filings in other jurisdictions. She also served as the global clinical development lead on the BeiGene, Inc./Celgene Corporation joint development committee. Earlier in her career, Dr. Pirzkall spent 10 years at Genentech, Inc., where she held roles of increasing responsibility, including Principal Medical Director and Clinical Development Team Leader. In this role, she worked with cross-functional teams on therapeutics including Avastin, Tarceva, Perjeta, Cotellic and Tecentriq supporting these novel biologic agents through early to late stages of development in oncology as well as through exploratory and combination studies. Prior to moving to industry, Dr. Pirzkall trained in radiation oncology and completed her dissertation at the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center. She completed a fellowship in Medical Physics/Radiation Oncology at the University San Francisco (UCSF) and held academic positions as Associate Adjunct Professor of Radiation Oncology, Radiology, and Neurosurgery at UCSF. Dr. Pirzkall holds a Doctor of Medicine from Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Germany. About Asher Bio Asher Bio is a biotechnology company developing precisely-targeted immunotherapies for cancer, autoimmune, and infectious diseases. Its cis-targeting platform aims to enable selective activation of specific immune cell types, addressing the inherent limitations of otherwise pleiotropic immunotherapies that act on multiple cell types. Its approach has the potential to precisely direct different immune mediators against a range of target immune cell-types and create novel immunotherapies in cancer, autoimmune and infectious diseases. Asher Bio was founded by Ivana Djuretic and Andy Yeung with support from Third Rock Ventures and is located in South San Francisco. For more information, please visit and follow Asher Bio on Twitter @AsherBio and on LinkedIn.