Century Therapeutics (NASDAQ: IPSC), an innovative biotechnology
company developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived
cell therapies in immuno-oncology, today announced the appointment
of Greg Russotti, Ph.D., as ad-interim Chief Executive Officer,
effective April 11, 2023. Dr. Russotti, who has served as the
Company’s Chief Technology Officer since January 2020, is
succeeding Lalo Flores, Ph.D., who has stepped down as Chief
Executive Officer and as a member of the Company’s Board of
Directors to pursue other opportunities. In addition, effective
April 11, 2023, Michael C. Diem, M.D., was promoted to the role of
Chief Financial Officer, and Hy Levitsky, M.D., assumed his prior
role as President of Research and Development.
The Board of Directors has commenced a search to
identify a permanent Chief Executive Officer.
“Lalo has played a key role in advancing
Century, a premier cell therapy company, to where it is today. On
behalf of the entire Board of Directors, we wish Lalo success and
thank him for his service,” said Joe Jimenez, Chairman of the
Board. “Greg is a true leader in the cell therapy space who we
believe can build upon the Company’s strong foundation with his
significant clinical and commercial expertise. As Century enters an
exciting new stage of growth, we look forward to continuing to
leverage his extensive experience.”
Mr. Jimenez added, “Additionally, I would like
to congratulate Mike Diem on his promotion to Chief Financial
Officer, and I am pleased to welcome Hy Levitsky back to Century.
Both Mike and Hy have been instrumental in Century’s success to
date, and we look forward to their continued contributions as the
Company advances its next generation platform and robust portfolio
of cell therapy product candidates.”
Greg Russotti, Ph.D., ad-interim Chief
Executive Officer
Prior to joining Century, Dr. Russotti served as
Vice President of Cell Therapy Development and Operations at
Celgene. While at Celgene, he guided chemistry, manufacturing and
controls efforts for five different cell therapy products to
clinical-stage development. Dr. Russotti was also a leader in
establishing in-house clinical manufacturing at Celgene, and in
building Celgene’s first commercial CAR T manufacturing facility.
Prior to Celgene, he held various leadership roles at Merck
Research Laboratories, developing vaccines and monoclonal
antibodies for clinical and commercial manufacturing. He received
his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute, and his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biochemical
Engineering from Rutgers University. Dr. Russotti has held a
visiting professorship in Rutgers Biomedical Engineering department
since 2008. He also serves as Industrial Executive Board Member of
the Marcus Center for the Commercialization of Cell Therapies at
Georgia Tech, and as an Executive Committee member of the National
Science Foundation-funded Center for the Manufacturing of Advanced
Therapeutics at Georgia Tech.
“I am honored to assume this role, and I look
forward to building upon our accomplishments to date to execute on
our vision of delivering transformative allogeneic cell therapies
to patients,” said Dr Russotti. “With a solid balance sheet, which
we expect to fund operations into 2026, we believe we are
well-positioned to continue to deliver on our key platform and
program milestones.”
Michael C. Diem, M.D., Chief Financial
Officer
Dr. Diem, who joined Century in 2020, most
recently served as the Company’s Chief Business Officer. Prior to
joining Century, he was Senior Vice President of Business and
Corporate Development at Amicus Therapeutics, and prior to that, he
held a similar role at Aevi Genomic Medicine. Earlier in his
career, Dr. Diem was the Global Head of Corporate Strategy and
Corporate Development at AstraZeneca, where he was responsible for
mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, and managed the company’s
strategic investment activities and MedImmune Ventures. At
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), he led business development for the
Company’s rare disease business unit, and was also a partner in
GSK’s corporate venture firm, SR One, Limited. Dr. Diem obtained
his M.D. from the Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and
an M.B.A. from Case Western Reserve University. He completed his
medical training at Duke University and is a Kauffman Fellow.
Hy Levitsky, M.D., President of Research
and Development
Dr. Levitsky previously served as Century’s
President, Research and Development from 2019 until early 2023.
Prior to joining the Company, he served as Executive Vice President
and Chief Scientific Officer at Juno Therapeutics, Inc., and was
also Head of Cancer Immunotherapy Experimental Medicine at F.
Hoffmann-La Roche & Co. Previously, Dr. Levitsky was Professor
of Oncology, Medicine, and Urology at The Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine and the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer
Center, and the Scientific Director of the George Santos Bone
Marrow Transplant Program at The Johns Hopkins University. He
currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors of
Replimune, Prokarium, and Carisma Therapeutics. Dr. Levitsky
obtained his M.D. from The Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine.
About Century Therapeutics
Century Therapeutics (NASDAQ: IPSC) is
harnessing the power of adult stem cells to develop curative cell
therapy products for cancer that we believe will allow us to
overcome the limitations of first-generation cell therapies. Our
genetically engineered, iPSC-derived iNK and iT cell product
candidates are designed to specifically target hematologic and
solid tumor cancers. We are leveraging our expertise in cellular
reprogramming, genetic engineering, and manufacturing to develop
therapies with the potential to overcome many of the challenges
inherent to cell therapy and provide a significant advantage over
existing cell therapy technologies. We believe our commitment to
developing off-the-shelf cell therapies will expand patient access
and provide an unparalleled opportunity to advance the course of
cancer care. For more information on Century Therapeutics please
visit www.centurytx.com.
Century Therapeutics Forward-Looking
Statement
This press release contains forward-looking
statements within the meaning of, and made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of, The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act
of 1995. All statements contained in this press release, other than
statements of historical facts or statements that relate to present
facts or current conditions, including but not limited to,
statements regarding our clinical development plans and timelines,
are forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may
cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking
statements by terms such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “should,”
“expect,” “plan,” “aim,” “seek,” “anticipate,” “could,” “intend,”
“target,” “project,” “contemplate,” “believe,” “estimate,”
“predict,” “forecast,” “potential” or “continue” or the negative of
these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking
statements in this press release are only predictions. We have
based these forward-looking statements largely on our current
expectations and projections about future events and financial
trends that we believe may affect our business, financial
condition, and results of operations. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date of this press release and are
subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, some
of which cannot be predicted or quantified and some of which are
beyond our control, including, among others: our ability to
successfully advance our current and future product candidates
through development activities, preclinical studies, and clinical
trials; our ability to obtain FDA acceptance for our future IND
submissions and commence clinical trials on expected timelines, or
at all; our reliance on the maintenance of certain key
collaborative relationships for the manufacturing and development
of our product candidates; the timing, scope and likelihood of
regulatory filings and approvals, including final regulatory
approval of our product candidates; the impact of the COVID-19
pandemic, geopolitical issues and inflation on our business and
operations, supply chain and labor force; the performance of third
parties in connection with the development of our product
candidates, including third parties conducting our future clinical
trials as well as third-party suppliers and manufacturers; our
ability to successfully commercialize our product candidates and
develop sales and marketing capabilities, if our product candidates
are approved; and our ability to maintain and successfully enforce
adequate intellectual property protection. These and other risks
and uncertainties are described more fully in the “Risk Factors”
section of our most recent filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission and available at www.sec.gov. You should not rely on
these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.
The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking
statements may not be achieved or occur, and actual results could
differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking
statements. Moreover, we operate in a dynamic industry and economy.
New risk factors and uncertainties may emerge from time to time,
and it is not possible for management to predict all risk factors
and uncertainties that we may face. Except as required by
applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of
any new information, future events, changed circumstances or
otherwise.
For More Information: Company: Elizabeth
Krutoholow – investor.relations@centurytx.comInvestors and Media:
Melissa Forst/Maghan Meyers – century@argotpartners.com
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