SHANGHAI, China and NEW YORK, Dec. 18, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cellular Biomedicine Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CBMG) (“CBMG” or the “Company”), a biopharmaceutical firm engaged in the development of immunotherapies for cancer and stem cell therapies for degenerative diseases, today announced the appointment of Dr. Stephan A. Grupp, a CAR-T pioneer and pediatric oncologist, to CBMG’s Scientific Advisory Board to impart scientific vigor and clinical guidance in the Company’s immuno-oncology pipeline.
“Dr. Grupp is a world-renowned pediatric oncologist and cancer researcher. His decades of work and achievements have had a significant impact on the groundbreaking field of CAR-T therapy,” commented Tony (Bizuo) Liu, Chief Executive Officer for the Company. “He will advise us on our scientific and clinical studies for pediatric and hematologic related cancers. Dr. Grupp joins our team of seasoned scientific advisors, whose expertise, along with CBMG’s solid pre-clinical work and world-class manufacturing processes will advance the development of these transformative therapies.”
About Dr. Grupp
Dr. Stephan A. Grupp, M.D., Ph.D., has been Chief of Section – Cellular Therapy and Transplant in Oncology Division at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) since June 1, 2017. Dr. Grupp has researched and led groundbreaking clinical trials of CD19-directed CAR-T cell therapy for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). He serves as Medical Director of the Stem Cell Laboratory at CHOP. He has been an attending physician and oncology researcher at CHOP since 1996, and is a Professor of Pediatrics and the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Grupp’s outstanding contribution to oncology is in the clinical development of chimeric antigen receptor CAR T cell (CAR-T) therapy for relapsed and refractory ALL in children and young adults. He is the Director of the Cancer Immunotherapy Program and Director of Translational Research for the Center for Childhood Cancer Research. Working with U Penn Cancer Center, he did many of the preclinical in vivo studies and then developed the first pediatric trial and treated the first pediatric patient at CHOP with CAR-T cell therapy in 2012.
Dr. Grupp completed his clinical training in pediatrics and pediatric hematology/oncology at Boston Children’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, performing postdoctoral research in immunology at Harvard. He joined the University of Pennsylvania medical faculty in 1996. He earned his MD and a PhD in Immunology from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Grupp has published numerous papers on various therapies for the treatment of children with cancers, including CAR-T therapies, and has been honored by numerous prestigious organizations for his work, including the American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, the University of Pennsylvania Osler Award for patient-oriented research, and the European Society for Blood and Bone Marrow Transplantation.
About Cellular Biomedicine Group
Cellular Biomedicine Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBMG) develops proprietary cell therapies for the treatment of cancer and degenerative diseases. We conduct immuno-oncology and stem cell clinical trials in China using products from our integrated GMP laboratory. Our GMP facilities in China, consisting of 12 independent cell production lines, are designed and managed according to both China and U.S. GMP standards. Our Shanghai facility includes a ”Joint Laboratory of Cell Therapy” with GE Healthcare and a “Joint Cell Therapy Technology Innovation and Application Center” with Thermo Fisher Scientific, whose partnerships focus on improving manufacturing processes for cell therapies. The CBMG pipeline includes preclinical compounds targeting CD20-, CD22- and B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA)-specific CAR-T compounds, and T-cell receptor (TCR) and tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) technologies. A Phase IIb trial in China for Rejoin® autologous Human Adipose-derived Mesenchymal Progenitor Cell (haMPC) for the treatment of Knee Osteoarthritis (KOA) as well as a Phase I trial in China for AlloJoin™ (CBMG’s “Off-the-Shelf” haMPC) for the treatment of KOA are ongoing. CBMG is included in the broad-market Russell 3000® Index and the small-cap Russell 2000® Index, and the Loncar China BioPharma index. To learn more about CBMG, please visit www.cellbiomedgroup.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release relating to plans, strategies, trends, specific activities or investments, and other statements that are not descriptions of historical facts and may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking information is inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, and actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors, which include those regarding our ability to implement our plans, strategies and objectives for future operations, including regulatory approval of our IND applications, our plan to configure part of our Shanghai facility with GE Healthcare’s FlexFactory platform, our ability to execute on our obligations under the terms of our licensing and collaboration arrangement with Novartis, our ability to execute on proposed new products, services or development thereof, results of our clinical research and development, regulatory infrastructure governing cell therapy and cellular biopharmaceuticals, our ability to enter into agreements with any necessary manufacturing, marketing and/or distribution partners for purposes of commercialization, our ability to seek intellectual property rights for our product candidates, competition in the industry in which we operate, overall market conditions, any statements or assumptions underlying any of the foregoing and other risks detailed from time to time in CBMG’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, quarterly reports on form 10-Q, current reports on form 8-K and annual reports on form 10-K. Forward-looking statements may be identified by terms such as “may,” “will,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “estimates,” “potential,” or “continue,” or similar terms or the negative of these terms. Although CBMG believes the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, they cannot guarantee that future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements will be obtained. CBMG does not have any obligation to update these forward-looking statements other than as required by law.
Contact:
Derrick C. Li
Head of Strategy and Investor Relations, CBMG
+1 917 727 0994
[email protected]
