University of Baghdad

Dr. Orfali brings over 25 years of experience across biopharma clinical development and medical practice Appointment comes at period of rapid growth as Harbinger prepares to complete enrollment for the CORE-HH clinical trial and meet other clinical and business milestones by end of 2023 CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 23, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Harbinger Health, a biotechnology company pioneering the detection of early cancer, announced today the appointment of May Orfali, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Orfali will lead the Company's Cancer Origin Epigenetics – Harbinger Health (CORE-HH) clinical trial to advance clinical product development and evidence generation for Harbinger's novel platform technology. With more than 25 years of experience across the biopharma industry at companies such as Sigilon Therapeutics, Bioasis Technologies, and Pfizer, she will also charter Harbinger's clinical development program beyond CORE-HH and lay the foundations of commercial availability. Hutan Ashrafian, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., Harbinger's former Chief Medical Officer and current Chief Scientific Officer of Flagship Pioneering's Preemptive Medicine and Health Security Initiative, will continue to work closely with Dr. Orfali in a clinical advisory role. "May brings a wealth of experience in clinical product development and oncological care that will be invaluable to the advancement of our cancer origin epigenetics clinical trials," said Stephen Hahn, M.D., CEO of Harbinger Health. "Harbinger is in a period of rapid growth, and we are on target for our planned clinical milestones, including completion of enrollment of our CORE-HH study by year end. May's expertise will lead us in our next critical steps toward key milestones, with the ultimate goal making early cancer detection easier and more accessible to every patient. I also want to thank Hutan for spearheading our clinical team for the past 18 months and look forward to working with him as Harbinger continues to advance cancer detection." A hematology oncologist by training, Dr. Orfali most recently was the Chief Medical Officer at Sigilon Therapeutics. Prior to that, she was the Chief Medical Officer at CANbridge Life Sciences, where she led the clinical development and medical affairs group, focused on progressing Phase 1 and Phase II oncology assets in glioblastoma multiforme and esophageal cancer, and directed the medical review of business development opportunities in the rare disease space. Earlier in her career, Dr. Orfali held roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, including Executive Director, Global Product Development and Senior Director and Global Medical Lead/Medicines Development Group, Specialty Care Business Unit. "I am excited to take on this role during such an exciting time in Harbinger's growth, and work together with Harbinger's executive team and talented clinical organization," said Dr. Orfali. "The company's technology has the potential to meet a global unmet need and revolutionize how we approach cancer diagnosis, treatment, and preventative care." Dr. Orfali holds a medical degree from the University of Baghdad, Baghdad, Iraq, and a Pharmaceutical Master of Business Administration from Cambridge University, Cambridge, England. She completed her Fellowship in Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Children's Hospital and practiced medicine and conducted clinical research in medical oncology at Dana Farber Cancer Research Institute. About Harbinger Health Harbinger Health is pioneering the detection of early cancer and enabling foundationally new approaches to cancer screening, diagnosis and management. The company combines advances in artificial intelligence with proprietary insights into the biology of the beginnings of cancer to identify cancer before it is visible or symptomatic with the aim of developing a low-cost, multi-cancer blood test. Harbinger envisions a future where, instead of keeping cancer from spreading, it could be kept from forming, making a cancer diagnosis a routine health problem to be addressed rather than a life-altering event to be feared with profound implications for people, healthcare systems and societies. Harbinger was founded by Flagship Pioneering after three years of foundational research in its Labs unit and launched in 2020. Learn more about Harbinger by visiting Harbinger-Health.com or following us on Twitter (@harbingerhlth) and LinkedIn. View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Harbinger Health

TORONTO and HOUSTON, May 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medicenna Therapeutics Corp. (“Medicenna” or “the Company”) (NASDAQ: MDNA TSX: MDNA), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company, today announced the appointment of Mann Muhsin, MD, as the Company’s Chief Medical Officer. “Mann’s expertise in clinical trial design, execution and in-depth knowledge of the immuno-oncology therapeutic landscape, including IL-2, adds considerable depth to our diverse and highly talented management team,” said Fahar Merchant, PhD, President and CEO of Medicenna. “His strategic skills, together with his extensive experience leading and effectively executing early and late stage clinical programs, will be an invaluable asset as we work to advance MDNA11 into human trials in the middle of the year and further expand our clinical pipeline. It is a pleasure to welcome Mann to Medicenna and I am pleased to have him as part of the team.” Dr. Muhsin commented, “I am excited to be joining Medicenna at this important time and am eager to begin leading the continued development of its growing clinical pipeline. The Superkine and BiSKITs™ platforms position the Company for success with their potential first- and best-in-class assets that are designed to address a wide array of cancers across the immunogenicity spectrum. I look forward to working with my new colleagues to leverage the power of these platforms to deliver promising cytokine-based immunotherapies to patients with unmet medical needs.” Dr. Muhsin is an accomplished industry leader with more than 20 years of experience in medical practice and drug development and has an outstanding track record of innovation in oncology and immuno-oncology trial design. He has considerable talent in building clinical development and science departments and advancing the strategic vision needed to prioritize, build and expand successful oncology clinical programs. Dr. Muhsin started his clinical research career at PICR phase I unit, where he conducted more than 17 clinical trials for international sponsors including AstraZeneca, Hoffmann La Roche, Merck, Novartis, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, and Bayer in the field of internal medicine prior to leading early clinical development programs at Janssen. Dr. Muhsin has also designed and executed early and late stage oncology trials for companies such as Oncosec, Halozyme Therapeutics, HUYA Bioscience and most recently at Nektar Therapeutics where he led the Phase 3 PIVOT-12 trial (pegylated IL-2, bempegaldesleukin, a pegylated IL-2 in combination with nivolumab) and global product strategy for NKTR-262 (a TLR 7/8 agonist). Furthermore, Mann has extensive experience with interleukins such as IL-2, IL-12, and pegylated IL-2, across multiple tumor types, is a global thought leader in immuno-oncology and the tumor microenvironment, and has authored dozens of publications, book chapters, and presentations globally. Dr. Muhsin received his doctorate of medicine MBChB (MD) and internal medicine training from Baghdad University School of Medicine prior to practicing medicine, civilian and at the US Army Medical Corps Combat Support Hospitals (CSH). About Medicenna Medicenna is a clinical stage immunotherapy company focused on the development of novel, highly selective versions of IL-2, IL-4 and IL-13 Superkines and first in class Empowered Superkines for the treatment of a broad range of cancers. Medicenna's long-acting IL-2 Superkine asset, MDNA11, is a next-generation IL-2 with superior CD122 binding without CD25 affinity and therefore preferentially stimulates cancer killing effector T cells and NK cells when compared to competing IL-2 programs. Medicenna’s early-stage program on Bifunctional SuperKine ImmunoTherapies (BiSKITs™) is designed to further enhance the ability of Superkines to treat immunologically “cold” tumors. Medicenna's lead IL4 Empowered Superkine, MDNA55, has completed a Phase 2b clinical trial for rGBM, the most common and uniformly fatal form of brain cancer. MDNA55 has been studied in five clinical trials involving 132 subjects, including 112 adults with rGBM. MDNA55 has obtained Fast-Track and Orphan Drug status from the FDA and FDA/EMA, respectively. Forward-Looking StatementThis news release contains forward-looking statements under applicable securities laws and relate to the future operations of the Company and other statements that are not historical facts including statements related to clinical timelines for MDNA11, our ability to expand our clinical pipeline, the potential success of the Superkine and BiSKITs™ platforms and that their first- and best-in-class potential, and the presentation of additional data. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as "will", "may", "should", "anticipate", "expects", "believes" and similar expressions. All statements other than statements of historical fact, included in this release, including the future plans and objectives of the Company, are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the Company's expectations include the risks detailed in the annual information form of the Company dated May 14, 2020 and in other filings made by the Company with the applicable securities regulators from time to time in Canada and the United States. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Such information, although considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company will update or revise publicly any of the included forward-looking statements only as expressly required by Canadian and United States securities law.