Obsidian Therapeutics Appoints Heidi Hagen to Board of Directors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies, today announced the appointment of Heidi Hagen to its Board of Directors. Ms. Hagen is an experienced and entrepreneurial biotechnology operations executive, currently serving as Chief Technical Officer at Sonoma Biotherapeutics.

"Heidi's impressive track record and deep operational experience make her an excellent addition to our Board," commented Paul Wotton, Chief Executive Officer of Obsidian. "This is a very exciting time for Obsidian, as we rapidly progress towards entering the clinic with our lead cytoTIL15 program, OBX-115, for patients with metastatic melanoma and other solid tumors.  I am delighted to welcome Heidi to our Board of Directors."

"I am pleased to join Obsidian during this stage of the company's evolution," Ms. Hagen added. "I look forward to contributing to Obsidian's forward progress and growth as they execute on their plan to bring more efficacious and safer TIL therapies to more patients."

Ms. Hagen has extensive experience in operations management and commercializing innovative technologies, including 20 years in the cell and gene therapy industry. Currently, Ms. Hagen is Chief Technical Officer of Sonoma Biotherapeutics, a privately-held company leading the development of adoptive Treg cell therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Vericel, a cell therapy company. Most recently, she served as interim CEO and sat on the board for Ziopharm Oncology, Inc., a publicly traded company developing immune-oncology gene and cell therapies. She is also co-founder and former Chief Strategy Officer of Vineti, a software platform company for cell and gene therapy supply chain management. Formerly, she served as Global COO for SOTIO Biotech a.s. and the Senior Vice President of Operations for Dendreon. She began her career at Immunex Corporation and worked for ten years in a range of roles in drug development and operations management. Ms. Hagen has a B.S. in Cell and Molecular Biology, an M.S. in Bioengineering, and an MBA from the University of Washington.

About OBX-115
OBX-115 is Obsidian's lead cytoTIL15 program, currently in preclinical development for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma and other solid tumors. OBX-115 is a novel engineered tumor infiltrating lymphocyte therapy armed with regulated membrane-bound IL15 that is designed to remove the need for concomitant IL2 therapy, a toxic and costly requirement for conventional TILs. The Company expects to submit an IND for OBX-115 in mid-2022.

About Obsidian Therapeutics
Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies to deliver transformative outcomes for patients with intractable diseases. Obsidian's proprietary cytoDRiVE® technology provides a way to precisely control the timing and level of protein function by using FDA approved small molecules. Obsidian is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. The Company has collaborations with Bristol Myers Squibb and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. For more information, please visit www.obsidiantx.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Media Contact:
Maggie Beller
Russo Partners, LLC
[email protected]
646-942-5631

SOURCE Obsidian Therapeutics

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