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SAN DIEGO, CA, USA I January 17, 2024 I Tr1X, Inc. today announced its emergence from stealth with a $75 million Series A financing to bring universal allogeneic regulatory T (Treg) and CAR-Treg cell therapies to the clinic to treat and potentially cure autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The financing was led by Bay Area-based The Column Group, with participation from NEVA SGR and Alexandria Ventures. The Company appointed William Lis Chief Executive Officer, strengthened its leadership team with other biopharma industry veterans, and announced members of the Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board. "We are thrilled to partner with Bill Lis, Maria Grazia Roncarolo and Tr1X's world-class team to revolutionize the field through its innovative, breakthrough science," said Leon Chen, Ph.D., MBA, Partner at The Column Group and Tr1X Board Member. "With its experienced management team at the helm, we are confident in Tr1X's ability to bring curative cell therapies to patients who currently require life-long treatment and management." Science and Pipeline The Company's science is primarily based on the work of Tr1X's Scientific Founder Maria Grazia Roncarolo, M.D., the discoverer of Type 1 regulatory T (Tr1) cells, which have features that can benefit patients with autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Tr1 cells, a differentiated subpopulation of regulatory T cells, are crucial for maintaining homeostasis and tolerance in healthy individuals and have several important functions. These include dampening of local inflammation and downregulation of the inflammasome, suppression of pathogenic effector T cell responses, and induction of long-term tolerance as observed in preclinical models and patients. Tr1X's proprietary technology enables the conversion of CD4 + T cells isolated from healthy donors into Treg-like cells that have a similar function and profile to naturally occurring Tr1 cells. These cells can be further engineered to target specific tissues or organs to enable local, targeted immunomodulation. With a proprietary, GMP-grade, closed-loop system that provides consistency, quality and reliability at scale, Tr1X can enable production of its products at commercial volume. Currently, Tr1X is working on its first investigational Tr1 cell therapy, TRX103, which it plans to evaluate in a Phase 1 trial to prevent Graft versus Host Disease (GvHD) in patients undergoing mismatched hematopoietic stem cell transplant. The Company is developing additional pipeline programs to treat inflammatory bowel disease, Type 1 diabetes and multiple B-cell mediated autoimmune diseases. "The ability to develop a pipeline of medicines based on our work on regulatory T cells represents the culmination of decades of discovery and research into the underpinnings of immunological tolerance and autoimmunity," said Dr. Roncarolo, Scientific Founder, President and Head of R&D at Tr1X. "Tr1 cells have unique properties and represent the ideal therapeutic platform from which to develop 'immune reset' products. Our two platforms have the required attributes to address a broad set of indications, including dual targeting of pathogenic T and B cells. These engineered cells have the potential to induce tolerance, which could transform the lives of people living with chronic autoimmune diseases by providing them with a cure instead of ongoing treatment." Proven Leadership Team, Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board Tr1X is led by industry veterans with cell therapy expertise who have a track record of discovery, development and commercialization of more than a dozen novel first- or best-in-class medicines. Chief Executive Officer William "Bill" Lis has more than 25 years of biotech executive leadership experience in building companies and product pipelines from R&D stage through commercialization. He most recently served as Chairman and interim CEO of Jasper Therapeutics, Inc., from 2019 to 2022, where he led the company's Series A and follow-on financings and successful brequilimab Phase 1 study readouts in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Before that, he served as Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Portola Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2008 to 2018 after serving as Chief Operating Officer, where he built the company from a private research-stage startup into a multi-billion dollar public company that launched Andexxa ® and Bevyxxa ® . Portola was acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 2020. Previously, Mr. Lis held executive positions at Scios, Inc. (a Johnson & Johnson company) where he last served as Senior Vice President of New Product Development and Business Development, leading in-licensing efforts, development and commercial P&L operations for Xarelto ® and the company's therapeutics pipeline. Earlier in his career, he held positions at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., COR Therapeutics, Inc. and Rhone Poulenc Rorer. He is a director of Zai Laboratories, Inc. Scientific Founder, President and Head of R&D Dr. Maria Grazia Roncarolo is the George D. Smith Professor in Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, Founder of the Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine, and former Co-Director of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Stanford University. Dr. Roncarolo has spent her career translating discoveries in immune-mediated diseases and regenerative medicine into novel patient therapies. She and her team were the first to discover Type 1 regulatory T cells in patients and the first to develop curative treatments for ADA-SCID. A pediatric immunologist by training, she was instrumental in bringing novel cell and gene therapies to market, including Strimvelis ® and Libmeldy ® . She is a Co-Founder of the gene-editing companies Graphite Bio and Kamau Therapeutics. Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer David de Vries has over a decade of experience founding and scaling companies at the intersection of healthcare, biology and technology. Prior to Tr1X, he was Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Arine, a medication intelligence and therapeutic optimization company he helped start, launch and scale to serve millions of patients, working with some of the largest healthcare organizations in the U.S. Previously, he worked at Proteus Digital Health, an innovative drug-device company and the first in the field to obtain FDA approval for a digital medicine, Abilify MyCite ® . "Tr1X is committed to bringing cures to millions of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases through our scalable, universal allogeneic cell therapy process that has been demonstrated to yield billions of cells in a single run," said Mr. Lis, CEO of Tr1X. "In just 18 months, the Tr1X team has successfully closed a Series A financing and extension, assembled an experienced leadership team, board of directors and scientific advisory board, and established a scalable GMP-grade manufacturing process. We are well positioned to advance our pipeline of first-of-their kind allogeneic engineered Treg and CAR-Treg cell therapies that have the potential to address the significant limitations of current cell therapies for autoimmune diseases, which include, among others, poor trafficking, lack of stability, limited persistence and induction of cytokine-associated toxicities, at a fraction of the cost per dose." In addition to Mr. Lis, Dr. Roncarolo and Mr. de Vries, the Tr1X leadership team includes Xavier Paliard, Pharm.D., Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer; James Adams, MBA, Chief Technical Officer; Jonathan Perrin, J.D., Co-Founder and General Counsel; and Erik Poulsen, M.S., Head of Regulatory Affairs. Joining Mr. Lis and Dr. Roncarolo on Tr1X's Board of Directors are: Tr1X has recruited experts in immunology, stem cell and gene therapy, T-cell biology and immune-mediated diseases to join its Scientific Advisory Board. They include: About Tr1X Tr1X is a privately held biotechnology company focused on engineering cures for immune and inflammatory diseases. Founded by industry veterans, including the scientists behind the discovery of Tr1 cells, the company's pipeline of universal allogeneic cell therapies is being developed for diseases with high unmet medical need. The company is headquartered in San Diego, has developed a robust intellectual property portfolio, and is backed by leading investors, including The Column Group, NEVA SGR and Alexandria Ventures. For more information visit: www.tr1x.bio . SOURCE: Tr1X

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Sept. 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Jasper Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: JSPR) (Jasper), a biotechnology company focused on the development of briquilimab, a novel antibody therapy targeting c-Kit (CD117) to address diseases such as chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), lower to intermediate risk myelodysplastic syndromes (LR-MDS) as well as novel stem cell transplant conditioning regimens, today announced the appointment of Herb Cross, an experienced senior financial executive, as the company’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Jeet Mahal, who previously held both CFO and Chief Operating Officer (COO) roles, will continue as the company’s COO. “We are very pleased to welcome Herb, who brings more than twenty years of public company executive leadership experience to our team, as our new CFO,” said Ronald Martell, Chief Executive Officer of Jasper. “With multiple clinical studies of briquilimab in Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria, Low to Intermediate Risk MDS and hematopoietic stem cell transplant either ongoing or planned to start this year, we are taking the opportunity to strengthen our leadership team in preparation for continued growth. The addition of Herb also allows Jeet Mahal to focus on our increasing operational needs in his ongoing role as our COO.” "I am excited to join Jasper at an important time in its development, particularly given the growing set of compelling data supporting the continued development of briquilimab,” said Herb Cross. “I look forward to building on the company’s strong foundation and am eager to begin working with the leadership team to help realize briquilimab’s potential.” Mr. Cross brings more than two decades of experience in financial leadership roles at both public and private biotechnology companies. Before joining Jasper, he served as CFO at Atreca, leading its initial public offering and holding responsibility for all administrative functions, including finance, corporate communications, human resources and corporate services. Prior to Atreca, he was CFO at ARMO BioSciences, with responsibility for all administrative functions and business development, and led its initial public offering and served as CFO through the sale of the company to Eli Lilly in 2018. Mr. Cross also served as CFO and interim Chief Executive Officer at KaloBios Pharmaceuticals and was CFO at Affymax as well. Mr. Cross began his career at Arthur Andersen, LLP, and received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a certified public accountant, currently inactive, in the state of California. Mr. Mahal joined Jasper in December 2019 from Portola Pharmaceuticals, where he worked for 11 years and held a number of positions of increasing leadership, most recently as Vice President, Business Development and Vice President, Strategic Marketing. He led the successful execution of multiple business development partnerships for Andexxa®, Bevyxxa® and cerdulatinib. He also played a key role in Portola Pharmaceuticals’ equity financings, including its initial public offering and multiple royalty transactions. Earlier in his career, he was Director, Business and New Product Development, at Johnson & Johnson on the Xarelto® development and strategic marketing team. He started his career in the drug development laboratories at COR Therapeutics. Inducement Grant In connection with the appointment of Mr. Cross as its Chief Financial Officer, on September 22, 2023, Jasper granted Mr. Cross an option to purchase 550,000 shares of its voting common stock (the “Option”). The Option was granted pursuant to the Jasper Therapeutics, Inc. Amended and Restated 2022 Inducement Equity Incentive Plan, as approved by the compensation committee of Jasper’s board of directors on March 14, 2022 and as amended and restated on June 2, 2023, and was granted as an inducement material to Mr. Cross’ employment with Jasper in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). The exercise price of the Option is $0.78. The Option will vest over four years, with 25% of the total number of shares vesting on September 22, 2024 and 1/48th of the total number of shares subject to the Option vesting monthly thereafter, subject in each case to Mr. Cross’ continued service to Jasper on each vesting date. Jasper is providing this information in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). About Jasper Jasper is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing briquilimab, a monoclonal antibody targeting c-Kit (CD117) as a therapeutic for chronic urticaria and lower to intermediate risk myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) and as a conditioning agent for stem cell transplants for rare diseases such as sickle cell disease (SCD), Fanconi anemia (FA) and severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). To date, briquilimab has a demonstrated efficacy and safety pro over 145 dosed patients and healthy volunteers, with clinical outcomes as a conditioning agent in SCID, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), MDS, FA, and SCD. For more information, please visit us at . Forward-Looking Statements Certain statements included in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are sometimes accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding briquilimab’s potential, the development of briquilimab for CSU, LR-MDS and stem cell transplant conditioning and plans to commence multiple clinical studies of briquilimab, briquilimab’s further development and the strategic direction for briquilimab. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of Jasper and are not predictions of actual performance. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by an investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of Jasper. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including general economic, political and business conditions; the risk that the potential product candidates that Jasper develops may not progress through clinical development or receive required regulatory approvals within expected timelines or at all; the risk that clinical trials may not confirm any safety, potency or other product characteristics described or assumed in this press release; the risk that Jasper will be unable to successfully market or gain market acceptance of its product candidates; the risk that prior study results may not be replicated; the risk that Jasper’s product candidates may not be beneficial to patients or successfully commercialized; patients’ willingness to try new therapies and the willingness of physicians to prescribe these therapies; the effects of competition on Jasper’s business; the risk that third parties on which Jasper depends for laboratory, clinical development, manufacturing and other critical services will fail to perform satisfactorily; the risk that Jasper’s business, operations, clinical development plans and timelines, and supply chain could be adversely affected by the effects of health epidemics; the risk that Jasper will be unable to obtain and maintain sufficient intellectual property protection for its investigational products or will infringe the intellectual property protection of others; and other risks and uncertainties indicated from time to time in Jasper’s filings with the SEC, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. If any of these risks materialize or Jasper’s assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. While Jasper may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Jasper specifically disclaims any obligation to do so. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Jasper’s assessments of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements. Contacts: John Mullaly (investors) LifeSci Advisors 617-429-3548 jmullaly@lifesciadvisors.com Jeet Mahal (investors) Jasper Therapeutics 650-549-1403 jmahal@jaspertherapeutics.com Lauren Barbiero (media) Real Chemistry 646-564-2156 lbarbiero@realchemistry.com