Longeveron Welcomes Three New Prominent Board Members

Rhea-AI Summary

Longeveron Inc. announces the election of three new directors, Wa’el Hashad, Khoso Baluch, and Jeffrey Pfeffer, at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders. The new directors bring significant experience in biotechnology and corporate management. Wa’el Hashad will also serve as the new Chief Executive Officer. Longeveron is excited about the potential of its lead investigational product, Lomecel-B™, and looks forward to accelerated progress in its clinical programs.

Seasoned Biotechnology and Corporate Management Experts, Khoso Baluch, Jeffrey Pfeffer, and Wa’el Hashad,
Elected to Board at Annual Meeting of Stockholders

MIAMI, June 13, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Longeveron Inc. (NASDAQ: LGVN) ("Longeveron" or "Company"), a clinical stage biotechnology company developing cellular therapies for life-threatening and chronic aging-related conditions, announced today the election of three distinguished new directors to serve on the Longeveron Inc. Board of Directors. Wa’el Hashad, Khoso Baluch, and Jeffrey Pfeffer were elected at the Company’s Annual Meeting of Stockholders, held Friday June 9, 2023, and will serve until the 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, or until their successors are duly elected. Concurrent with the election of the new Directors, the terms of Donald Soffer, Erin Borger, and Todd Girolamo to serve as directors expired.

“We are very honored to welcome such prominent and experienced new members to our Board and look forward to their tremendous expertise, diverse experience, and counsel as we continue to advance our regenerative medicine toward critical milestones,” said Joshua M. Hare, MD, FACC, and Chairman of Longeveron. “These individuals bring a wealth of critical experience to help Longeveron’s growth, and under Mr. Hashad’s leadership as our new Chief Executive Officer, we are even more excited about the potential of Lomecel-B™, our lead investigational product, and look forward to accelerated progress for this investigational therapy across all of our clinical programs.”

“On behalf of the Board, I also want to thank Messrs. Soffer, Borger, and Girolamo for their many contributions to Longeveron. We believe Longeveron is well positioned to realize the potential of Lomecel-B™, and we thank them for their dedication and service,” concluded Dr. Hare.

Summary biographies of the new directors are as follows:

Wa’el Hashad has served as Chief Executive Officer of Longeveron since February, 2023. Prior to that time, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Avanir Pharmaceuticals from 2017 until 2023. Prior to 2017, he served as the chairman of the strategic advisory board for Morningside Biopharma, a private incubator of several pharmaceutical/bio-tech companies, for three years. In addition, he has held vice president roles at Amgen Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim, and Eli Lilly and Company. Mr. Hashad earned an executive degree from the Wharton Business School, University of Pennsylvania, an MBA degree from the University of Akron, and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Cairo.

Khoso Baluch has over 36 years of experience across global geographies in the biopharmaceutical industry. Since 2012, he has served as an independent director of Poxel S.A., a French publicly traded biotech company, chairs its compensation committee and as of March 2023 became Chairman. He also currently serves as an independent director of Processa Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: PCSA), and serves on its audit and compensation committees. He served as the Chairman of the Board for Da Volterra, a French privately held company, from December 2021 until November 2022. From 2016 to 2021, Mr. Baluch served as the Chief Executive Officer and Board member of CorMedix, Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company in the US. Mr. Baluch also held various senior positions at UCB, S.A. between January 2008 to April 2016, including Senior Vice President and President Europe, Middle East & Africa. Prior to joining UCB, Mr. Baluch worked for Eli Lilly and Company for 24 years, holding international positions spanning Europe, the Middle East and the United States in general management, business development, market access and product leadership. Mr. Baluch holds a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from City University London and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management.

Jeffrey Pfeffer is the Thomas D. Dee II Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, where he has taught since 1979. He is the author or co-author of 16 books. Dr. Pfeffer received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Carnegie-Mellon University and his Ph.D. from Stanford. Dr. Pfeffer currently serves on the advisory boards for Collective Health and Quorso, and on the boards of the nonprofit Quantum Leap Healthcare and the San Francisco Playhouse. In the past he has served on the boards of Resumix, Unicru, and Workstream (WSTM), all human capital software companies, Audible Magic, an internet company, SonoSite (SONO), a NASDAQ company designing and manufacturing portable ultrasound machines, Berlin Packaging, a Chicago-based supplier of packaging services, Portola Packaging, a private company making plastic bottle caps and bottles, and Actify, a software company.

About Longeveron Inc.
Longeveron is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing regenerative medicines to address unmet medical needs. The Company’s lead investigational product is Lomecel-B™ an allogeneic medicinal signaling cell (MSC) therapy product isolated from the bone marrow of young, healthy adult donors. Lomecel-B™ has multiple mechanisms of action encompassing pro-vascular, pro-regenerative, anti-inflammatory, and tissue repair and healing effects with broad potential applications across a spectrum of disease areas. Longeveron is currently advancing Lomecel-B™ through clinical trials in three indications: hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS), Alzheimer’s Disease, and Aging-Related Frailty. Additional information about the Company is available at www.longeveron.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which reflect management's current expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future operations, performance and economic conditions, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by the statements made herein. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believe," "expects," "may," "looks to," "will," "should," "plan," "intend," "on condition," "target," "see," "potential," "estimates," "preliminary," or "anticipates," or the negative thereof or comparable terminology, or by discussion of strategy or goals or other future events, circumstances, or effects. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements in this release include, but are not limited to, statements about the ability of Longeveron’s clinical trials to demonstrate safety and efficacy of the Company’s product candidates, and other positive results; the timing and focus of the Company’s ongoing and future preclinical studies and clinical trials and the reporting of data from those studies and trials; the size of the market opportunity for the Company’s product candidates, including its estimates of the number of patients who suffer from the diseases being targeted; the success of competing therapies that are or may become available; the beneficial characteristics, safety, efficacy and therapeutic effects of the Company’s product candidates; the Company’s ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of its product candidates in the U.S., Japan and other jurisdictions; the Company’s plans relating to the further development of its product candidates, including additional disease states or indications it may pursue; the Company’s plans and ability to obtain or protect intellectual property rights, including extensions of existing patent terms where available and its ability to avoid infringing the intellectual property rights of others; the need to hire additional personnel and the Company’s ability to attract and retain such personnel; the Company’s estimates regarding expenses, future revenue, capital requirements and needs for additional financing; the Company’s need to raise additional capital, and the difficulties it may face in obtaining access to capital, and the dilutive impact it may have on its investors; the Company’s financial performance, and the period over which it estimates its existing cash and cash equivalents will be sufficient to fund its future operating expenses and capital expenditure requirements. Further information relating to factors that may impact the Company's results and forward-looking statements are disclosed in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Longeveron’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, filed with the SEC on March 14, 2023. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company disclaims any intention or obligation, other than imposed by law, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Investor Contact
Mike Moyer
LifeSci Advisors
Tel: 617-308-4306
Email: mmoyer@lifesciadvisors.com

FAQ

Who are the new directors elected to the Longeveron Inc. Board of Directors?

The new directors elected to the Longeveron Inc. Board of Directors are Wa’el Hashad, Khoso Baluch, and Jeffrey Pfeffer.

What is the background of Wa’el Hashad?

Wa’el Hashad has served as the Chief Executive Officer of Longeveron since February 2023. He previously served as the President and CEO of Avanir Pharmaceuticals and held vice president roles at Amgen Inc., Boehringer Ingelheim, and Eli Lilly and Company.

What is the background of Khoso Baluch?

Khoso Baluch has over 36 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He currently serves as an independent director of Poxel S.A. and Processa Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He previously served as the CEO of CorMedix, Inc. and held senior positions at UCB, S.A. and Eli Lilly and Company.

What is the background of Jeffrey Pfeffer?

Jeffrey Pfeffer is a professor at Stanford University and has authored multiple books. He currently serves on advisory boards and has previously served on the boards of various companies.

What is the potential of Longeveron's lead investigational product, Lomecel-B™?

Longeveron is excited about the potential of Lomecel-B™ and looks forward to accelerated progress in its clinical programs.