Arcellx Announces Appointment of Maryam Abdul-Kareem as General Counsel

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., June 21, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Arcellx, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACLX), a biotechnology company reimagining cell therapy through the development of innovative immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases, today announced the appointment of Maryam Abdul-Kareem, J.D., as General Counsel. Ms. Abdul-Kareem brings extensive legal and business expertise in the biopharmaceutical industry, including serving in senior positions at Kinnate Biopharma and AstraZeneca. At Arcellx, she will oversee a broad spectrum of legal, contracts, and compliance matters. 

"Maryam is an exceptional leader and thought partner who brings a broad skill set managing complex legal matters including business development and commercial compliance responsibilities which are valuable as we scale our company through clinical development and towards commercial release," said Rami Elghandour, Arcellx's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. "In addition to her experience, Maryam is a champion of gender equity and diversity which made her an outstanding fit for the culture we're building at Arcellx. On behalf of our organization and Board of Directors, we welcome Maryam to our team and look forward to benefiting from her leadership and experience as we drive towards delivering our novel technology to patients."

Ms. Abdul-Kareem joins Arcellx from Kinnate Biopharma Inc., where she served as Deputy General Counsel, responsible for legal and corporate compliance matters. Previously, she worked at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP over a seven-year period in positions of increasing responsibility, most recently as Assistant General Counsel, Corporate, where she led negotiations for numerous complex strategic transactions, including a landmark license deal with the University of Oxford for global rights to the ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine. Prior to AstraZeneca, she served as Associate, Corporate & Securities at Pepper Hamilton LLP (now Troutman Pepper). Ms. Abdul-Kareem began her career as Study Technician/Assistant Toxicologist, Genetic Toxicology at Covance Labs Inc. (now Labcorp); and Clinical Marketing Specialist, Global Marketing at Given Imaging Ltd. (now Medtronic).

Ms. Abdul-Kareem holds a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, an M.S. in Biotechnology/Regulatory Affairs from Johns Hopkins University, and a B.S. in Laboratory Animal Science from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She is an attorney licensed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the State Bar of California (Registered In-house Counsel).

Arcellx, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company reimagining cell therapy by engineering innovative immunotherapies for patients with cancer and other incurable diseases. Arcellx believes that cell therapies are one of the forward pillars of medicine and Arcellx's mission is to advance humanity by developing cell therapies that are safer, more effective, and more broadly accessible. Arcellx's lead product candidate, CART-ddBCMA, is being developed for the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (r/r MM) in an ongoing Phase 1 study. CART-ddBCMA has been granted Fast Track, Orphan Drug, and Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy designations by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Arcellx is also advancing its dosable and controllable CAR-T therapy, ARC-SparX, through two programs: a Phase 1 study of ACLX-001 for r/r MM, initiated in the second quarter of 2022; and ACLX-002 in relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia and high-risk myelodysplastic syndrome, expected to enter the clinic in the second half of 2022.

Visit www.arcellx.com for more information.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements in this press release that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained herein are based upon Arcellx's current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. These forward-looking statements are neither promises nor guarantees and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, including those set forth in Part I, Item 1A (Risk Factors) of Arcellx's Annual Report on Form 10-K and in other reports, such as Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, that Arcellx may file from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release, and Arcellx assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.

Investor Contact:
Myesha Lacy
Arcellx, Inc.
[email protected]
510-418-2412

Media Contact
Andrea Cohen
Sam Brown Inc.
[email protected]
917-209-7163

SOURCE Arcellx, Inc