BrainStorm Strengthens Executive Team with Key Appointments in R&D and Legal

Netta Blondheim-Shraga, PhD Appointed as VP R&D
Antal Pearl-Lendner, Adv. Appointed as Chief Legal Counsel 

NEW YORK, May 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: BCLI), a leading developer of cellular therapies for neurodegenerative diseases, announced two senior management appointments. Netta Blondheim Shraga, PhD has been appointed as VP, Research & Development, and Antal Pearl-Lendner, Adv. has been appointed to the newly created position of Chief Legal Counsel. Both will report directly to Chaim Lebovits, CEO.

"We are thrilled to welcome Netta and Antal, each of whom brings valuable experience in their respective areas of R&D and Legal Affairs," said Chaim Lebovits, Chief Executive Officer of BrainStorm. "As we prepare the company for growth, it is important that we continue to build out our senior executive team and attract professionals with the appropriate skillsets. We look forward to leveraging their backgrounds as we execute on our mission to bring autologous cell therapies to patients with debilitating neurodegenerative diseases."

Dr. Blondheim-Shraga will be responsible for advancing the company's pipeline and steering the R&D team towards significant breakthroughs in the field of cell therapy and development of novel solutions to positively impact patients' health. Dr. Blondheim-Shraga joins BrainStorm with over 14 years of translational research experience in academic, biotech and pharma settings, having led teams in Israel, USA and China, combining scientific, entrepreneurial and management skills. Prior to joining BrainStorm, she was Project Leader on the Academic Affairs team at Teva Pharmaceuticals, Israel. In this role, she managed a portfolio of diverse and highly impactful strategic scientific collaborations with Teva's academic partners and managed Teva's involvement in several international consortia. Prior to Teva, she was Study Director and Senior Scientist at CrownBio, San Diego, CA. Earlier in her career, she was a Senior Scientist at Lifemap Sciences LTD in Tel-Aviv and served as Scientific Advisor to ImmunoHiTech LTD, Ramat Hasharon, Israel for several years. Dr. Blondheim-Shraga received a PhD from the Faculty of Medicine, Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel, an MSc Med from The Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel and a BSc Med from The Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel.

Antal Pearl-Lendner, Adv. is an experienced bilingual attorney with a proven track record in legal and business development capacities. Prior to joining Brainstorm, Ms. Pearl-Lendner spent 8 years at Mizrahi-Tefahot Bank in Israel where her responsibilities included spearheading bank-wide complex projects, negotiating large scale international contracts and providing ongoing advice regarding the international activities of the bank.  Before her tenure at the bank, she worked at GE Capital in Chicago and Connecticut, USA, where she served in GE's premier commercial leadership program, working in business development, strategy & analytics.  Earlier in her career, Ms. Pearl-Lendner was an Associate Attorney in the international department of Caspi & Co. Advocates & Notaries in Tel Aviv, Israel. In this role she represented clients in M&A transactions and led due diligence processes for investments ranging from $5M to $350M. Ms. Pearl-Lendner received an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts and an LLB from Tel Aviv University.

About BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. 

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. is a leading developer of innovative autologous adult stem cell therapeutics for debilitating neurodegenerative diseases. The Company holds the rights to clinical development and commercialization of the NurOwn® technology platform used to produce autologous MSC-NTF cells through an exclusive, worldwide licensing agreement. Autologous MSC-NTF cells have received Orphan Drug designation status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). BrainStorm has completed a Phase 3 pivotal trial in ALS (NCT03280056); this trial investigated the safety and efficacy of repeat-administration of autologous MSC-NTF cells and was supported by a grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM CLIN2-0989). BrainStorm completed under an investigational new drug application a Phase 2 open-label multicenter trial (NCT03799718) of autologous MSC-NTF cells in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) and was supported by a grant from the National MS Society (NMSS).

Safe-Harbor Statement       

Statements in this announcement other than historical data and information, including statements regarding future clinical trial enrollment and data, constitute "forward-looking statements" and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc.'s actual results to differ materially from those stated or implied by such forward-looking statements. Terms and phrases such as "may," "should," "would," "could," "will," "expect," "likely," "believe," "plan," "estimate," "predict," "potential," and similar terms and phrases are intended to identify these forward-looking statements. The potential risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, BrainStorm's need to raise additional capital, BrainStorm's ability to continue as a going concern, prospects for future regulatory approval of BrainStorm's NurOwn® treatment candidate, the success of BrainStorm's product development programs and research, regulatory and personnel issues, development of a global market for our products and services, the ability to secure and maintain research institutions to conduct our clinical trials, the ability to generate significant revenue, the ability of BrainStorm's NurOwn® treatment candidate to achieve broad acceptance as a treatment option for ALS or other neurodegenerative diseases, BrainStorm's ability to manufacture and commercialize the NurOwn® treatment candidate, obtaining patents that provide meaningful protection, competition and market developments, BrainStorm's ability to protect our intellectual property from infringement by third parties, heath reform legislation, demand for our services, currency exchange rates and product liability claims and litigation; the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our clinical trials, supply chain, and operations; and other factors detailed in BrainStorm's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q available at http://www.sec.gov. These factors should be considered carefully, and readers should not place undue reliance on BrainStorm's forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on the beliefs, expectations, and opinions of management as of the date of this press release. We do not assume any obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual results or assumptions if circumstances or management's beliefs, expectations or opinions should change, unless otherwise required by law. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements.

CONTACTS

Investor Relations:
John Mullaly
LifeSci Advisors, LLC
Phone: +1 617-429-3548
[email protected] 

Media:
Uri Yablonka
[email protected] 

SOURCE BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc.