CARGO Therapeutics Appoints Biotech Life Sciences Leaders to Board of Directors

2023-08-24

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– Board of Director appointments follow the Company’s recent launch and $200 million Series A financing in March 2023 –

– Appointments include industry veterans John Orwin as Chairman, David Lubner as Independent Director and Strategic Finance and Audit Committee Chair, and Dr. Krishnan Viswanadhan as Independent Director –

SAN MATEO, Calif., Aug. 24, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CARGO Therapeutics, Inc. (CARGO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company uniquely positioned to advance next generation CAR T-cell therapies designed to provide hope for a cure for more cancer patients, today announced the addition of independent directors to the Board of Directors following its recent $200 million Series A financing in March 2023. The Board brings together an esteemed group of experienced life science leaders with expertise spanning finance, business operations, drug discovery and clinical development, including experts and pioneers in CAR T-cell therapies and oncology.

“I am honored to formally announce our Board of Directors—preeminent life science leaders with significant operational experience who will partner closely with our leadership team to contribute meaningfully to our mission and vision to build a company that is uniquely positioned to develop next generation CAR T-cell therapies that provide hope of better outcomes and potentially a cure for more patients with cancer,” said Gina Chapman, CARGO's President and Chief Executive Officer.

The most recent board appointments include John Orwin as Chairman of the Board, David Lubner as Independent Director and Strategic Finance and Audit Committee Chair, and Krishnan Viswanadhan, PharmD, as Independent Director.

“It is an incredibly exciting time to work closely with the CARGO team as they prepare to begin a Phase 2 pivotal study and advance their pipeline of CAR T-cell therapies,” said Mr. Orwin. “CARGO is building on the learnings from previous cell therapies and is poised to meaningfully advance the cell therapy field with a high level of executional excellence, expertise and passion. I’m honored to work with this Board and leadership team that is inspired by and committed to the mission to deliver more cures to patients.”

John Orwin, CEO and President of Atreca Therapeutics, has over 30 years of diverse experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, having held senior positions at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Affymax, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, Genentech and Relypsa.

Mr. Lubner added, “Following a successful Series A financing earlier this year that included a syndicate of leading biotechnology investors, CARGO continues to make significant operating progress. The team’s dedication to cutting-edge research and development, and a deep commitment to patient-centricity makes me proud to be a part of their journey of bringing urgently needed CAR T-cell therapies to patients with cancer.”

Mr. Lubner serves on several public and private company Boards of Directors, including Arcellx, Dyne Therapeutics, Point Biopharma and Vor Biopharma. He has extensive experience raising capital in private and public markets and has led various deal-related transactions and corporate partnerships/alliances. He has a proven capability in building and leading finance, operations and corporate development functions.

“Large B-cell lymphoma is the most common aggressive lymphoid malignancy in the United States and Europe. While CD19 CAR T-cell therapies can induce long-term remission in some patients, the challenges in treating the 60% of LBCL patients who do not experience durable responses to CD19 CAR T-cell therapies are significant,” said Dr. Viswanadhan. “I look forward to playing a role in advancing another CAR T-cell therapy to reach more patients.”

Dr. Viswanadhan has over 20 years of broad cross-functional biopharma experience. He is currently President and COO at Be Biopharma, and previously held leadership roles at Bristol Myers Squibb and Celgene Corporation. During his time at BMS, he oversaw the teams responsible for the development, approval and life cycle management of commercial CAR T therapies.

Additional members of the CARGO Board of Directors are listed below; full bios are available on the CARGO website.

Abraham Bassan, Principal, Samsara BioCapital

Gina Chapman, President and Chief Executive Officer, CARGO Therapeutics

Gianna Hoffman-Luca, PhD, Principal, Xontogeny

Reid Huber, PhD, Partner, Third Rock Ventures

Heath Lukatch, PhD, Founder and Managing Partner, Red Tree Venture Capital

Crystal Mackall, MD, Ernest and Amelia Gallo Family Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Stanford University. Co-Founder, CARGO Therapeutics.

About CARGO Therapeutics

CARGO Therapeutics is developing next generation chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies to outsmart cancer. Our lead clinical program, CRG-022, is preparing to enter a potentially pivotal Phase 2 clinical study.. Our proprietary platform technologies enable us to engineer and develop next generation CAR Ts with the potential to achieve durable responses and reliable supply that have the potential to be curative for more cancer patients. Our founders are pioneers and world experts in CAR T-cell therapy, and our team has experience and success developing, manufacturing, launching and commercializing oncology and cell therapy products. For more information, please visit the CARGO Therapeutics website at https://cargo-tx.com/.

Find more information at cargo-tx.com

Media Contact:

Maura Gavaghan

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Investor Contact:

Laurence Watts

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