Poseida Therapeutics Appoints Harry J. Leonhardt, Esq. as General Counsel

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Jul 16, 2020, 09:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, July 16, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Poseida Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: PSTX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to utilizing proprietary gene engineering platform technologies to create next generation cell and gene therapeutics with the capacity to cure, today announced biotech veteran Harry J. Leonhardt, Esq. has joined the company as General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer.

"Harry's extensive legal expertise and executive management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry make him the ideal person to lead Poseida's legal and compliance functions as we transition from a private entity to a publicly traded company," said Eric Ostertag, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Poseida. "Moreover, we look forward to the strategic and transactional input that Harry will bring as we progress our innovation-based business strategies in the development of differentiated cell and gene therapy product candidates utilizing our core proprietary gene engineering platform technologies, including the piggyBac DNA Modification System and Cas-CLOVER site-specific gene editing system."

Mr. Leonhardt most recently served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Corporate Secretary and a member of the executive committee for Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. where he provided strategic counsel on a broad range of legal matters for the company and its board of directors. Prior to Halozyme, Mr. Leonhardt served as Senior Vice President, Legal and Compliance & Corporate Secretary and as a member of the executive committee for Amylin Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2012. Prior to that time, Mr. Leonhardt served as General Counsel for a number of San Diego-based biotech companies, and as Chief Litigation Counsel and later as General Counsel for the European Region at Allergan Pharmaceuticals. Prior to that time Mr. Leonhardt was an intellectual property litigator in Los Angeles.

"This is an exciting time to join the Poseida team as it begins its transition to a publicly traded company and executes its strategy on delivering its novel gene engineering platform technologies targeted at overcoming the primary limitations of current generation cell and gene therapeutics," said Leonhardt.

Poseida's portfolio includes allogeneic and autologous CAR-T product candidates in both hematological and solid tumor oncology indications, as well as liver-directed gene therapy programs in orphan genetic diseases.

About Poseida Therapeutics, Inc.
Poseida Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to utilizing our proprietary gene engineering platform technologies to create next generation cell and gene therapeutics with the capacity to cure. We have discovered and are developing a broad portfolio of product candidates in a variety of indications based on our core proprietary platforms, including our non-viral piggyBac^® DNA Modification System, Cas-CLOVER™ site-specific gene editing system and nanoparticle- and AAV-based gene delivery technologies. Our core platform technologies have utility, either alone or in combination, across many cell and gene therapeutic modalities and enable us to engineer our wholly-owned portfolio of product candidates that are designed to overcome the primary limitations of current generation cell and gene therapeutics.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, the expected contributions of Mr. Leonhardt, the potential benefits of Poseida's technology platforms and product candidates and Poseida's plans and strategy with respect to developing its technologies and product candidates. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Poseida's current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks and uncertainties associated with development and regulatory approval of novel product candidates in the biopharmaceutical industry and the other risks described in Poseida's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made. Poseida undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

SOURCE Poseida Therapeutics, Inc.