CARGO Therapeutics Adds Experienced Biopharma Executive to Board of Directors with the Appointment of Jane Pritchett Henderson as Independent Director

– Appointment adds strategic finance and broad operating experience to Board as Company advances potentially pivotal Phase 2 clinical study for CAR T-cell therapy candidate, firicabtagene autoleucel (firi-cel) –

SAN CARLOS, Calif., June 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CARGO Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRGX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company positioned to advance next generation, potentially curative cell therapies for cancer patients, today announced the appointment of Jane Pritchett Henderson to its Board of Directors. Ms. Henderson will also serve as a member of the audit and compensation committees.

"Jane's appointment exemplifies CARGO's ongoing commitment to strong corporate governance, deep industry expertise, and diverse, independent thought, given her decades of healthcare investment banking experience in addition to her extensive operating and executive leadership experience across numerous biotech companies," said Gina Chapman, President and Chief Executive Officer of CARGO Therapeutics. "Her strong background further bolsters the skillsets of our Board and will be invaluable to CARGO as we continue to progress our Phase 2 clinical study of firi-cel while advancing our CRG-023 program, which incorporates a tri-specific CAR T with CD2 co-stimulation."

"CARGO's pipeline, platform technologies, manufacturing strategy and team uniquely position the company to be a leader in the cell therapy space by addressing the existing limitations of approved therapies," said Ms. Henderson. "In particular, I am impressed with the progress and execution of CARGO's potentially pivotal Phase 2 study of firi-cel, which builds on the impressive data from Stanford's Phase 1 study. I look forward to collaborating with this exceptional leadership team and fellow Board members to support the advancement of the company's critical programs and importantly, its mission to bring to market potentially curative therapies for patients with cancer."

Ms. Henderson has served as Chief Financial Officer of Apogee Therapeutics since January 2023. Prior to joining Apogee, she served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Business Officer of Adagio Therapeutics (now Invivyd, Inc.). She has also served as Chief Financial Officer of Turnstone Biologics, Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President of Corporate Development of Voyager Therapeutics, and as the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial and Business Officer of Kolltan Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Kolltan Pharmaceuticals, Ms. Henderson served in various financial and business development executive roles at biopharmaceutical companies after spending almost 20 years in healthcare investment banking. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. and Ventus Therapeutics and had previously served on the Board of IVERIC (formerly Ophthotech) and Sesen Bio (formerly Eleven Bio).

About CARGO Therapeutics

CARGO Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company positioned to advance next-generation, potentially curative cell therapies for cancer patients. CARGO's programs, platform technologies, and manufacturing strategy are designed to directly address the limitations of approved cell therapies, including limited durability of effect, safety concerns and unreliable supply. CARGO is currently evaluating its lead program, firicabtagene autoleucel (firi-cel) (CRG-022), an autologous CD22 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy candidate, in a potentially pivotal Phase 2 clinical study in patients with large B-cell lymphoma (LBCL) whose disease relapsed or was refractory (R/R) to CD19 CAR T-cell therapy. CARGO also plans to evaluate firi-cel (CRG-022) in patients at earlier stages of disease, including LBCL and other hematologic malignancies. Beyond its lead program, CARGO is leveraging its proprietary cell engineering platform technologies to develop a pipeline of programs that incorporate multiple transgene therapeutic "cargo" designed to enhance CAR T-cell persistence and trafficking to tumor lesions, as well as to help safeguard against tumor resistance and T-cell exhaustion. This includes the CRG-023 program, which incorporates a tri-specific CAR T with CD2 co-stimulation. CARGO's founders are pioneers and world-class experts in CAR T-cell therapy, and its team has significant experience and success in developing, manufacturing, launching and commercializing oncology and cell therapy products. For more information, please visit the CARGO Therapeutics website at https://cargo-tx.com/.

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Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

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. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "aim," "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "design," "due," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "positioned," "potential," "predict," "seek," "should," "target," "will," "would" and other similar expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events and future trends, or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. All statements other than statements of historical facts contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements about: advancement of CARGO's clinical and preclinical programs; the potential benefits from treatment with CD19 CAR T-cell therapies; and the implementation of CARGO's strategic plans for its business and product candidates. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, risks and uncertainties related to: the company's ability to obtain necessary capital to fund its clinical programs; the early stages of clinical development of the company's product candidates; the company's ability to obtain regulatory approval of and successfully commercialize its product candidates; any undesirable side effects or other properties of the company's product candidates; the company's reliance on third-party suppliers and manufacturers, including CROs; the outcomes of any future collaboration agreements; and the company's ability to adequately maintain intellectual property rights for its product candidates. For a detailed discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to CARGO's business in general, please refer to the risk factors identified in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including but not limited to its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. Any forward-looking statements that the company makes in this press release are made pursuant to the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended, and speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 

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