AIVITA Biomedical Appoints Paul Jenkinson and Philippe Schaison to its Board of Directors

IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- AIVITA Biomedical, Inc., a biotech company specializing in innovative stem cell applications, has announced the appointment of two new members to its Board of Directors. Paul Jenkinson, former Chief Financial Officer at Kite Pharma, Inc., and Dr. Philippe Schaison, former President of Allergan Medical.

Paul Jenkinson was the Chief Financial Officer of Kite Pharma, Inc., a leading developer of CAR-T immunotherapies for cancer, until it's $12BN sale to Gilead Sciences, Inc. in late 2017. Previously he was Vice President of Global Commercial Finance and Corporate Finance at Allergan, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company. He has over 35 years of international finance experience in the financial services, food products, consumer products, pharmaceutical and biotech sectors.

Dr. Philippe Schaison is a 20-year industry executive who has served in several of the world's leading biotechnology companies. He has held leadership roles at Allergan, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oreal, Clarins, and Syneron Candela among others. At Allergan he oversaw the $2.1B acquisition of Kythera and secured market leadership for every Botox product, growing the $2.5B business by 17% each year. Philippe has extensive experience in consumer healthcare, consumer goods and retail.

"The appointment of Mr. Jenkinson and Dr. Schaison symbolizes industry recognition of our 'next-gen' immunotherapy," said Dr. Hans S. Keirstead, AIVITA's Chairman and CEO. "Data from all aspects of the immunotherapy field point to the promise of AIVITA's technology, and such growth warrants world-class Board leadership."

These board appointments and other recent additions to the Company's senior management follow the close of a recent Series B private financing in which AIVITA raised $15M in support of its development efforts. AIVITA is currently recruiting patients for two Phase 2 clinical trials in the USA investigating its platform cancer immunotherapy in glioblastoma and ovarian cancer. The Company is also pursuing commercialization for the treatment of melanoma in Japan. All sales of AIVITA's proprietary skincare products support the treatment of patients with glioblastoma and ovarian cancer.

About AIVITA Biomedical

AIVITA Biomedical is a privately held company engaged in the advancement of commercial and clinical-stage programs utilizing curative and regenerative medicines. Founded in 2016 by pioneers in the stem cell industry, AIVITA Biomedical utilizes its expertise in stem cell growth and directed, high-purity differentiation to enable safe, efficient and economical manufacturing systems which support its therapeutic pipeline and commercial line of skin care products. All proceeds from the sale of AIVITA's skin care products support the treatment of women with ovarian cancer.

SOURCE AIVITA Biomedical