Press Releases

CELLASTRA INC. 2/6/2024

Cellastra Receives US Patent for Recombinant Gene Vectors Encoded to Regulate Endogenous Production of Anti Scarring/Adhesion Lactoferrin Biomolecules

San Francisco, CA, February 06, 2024. Cellastra Inc. (Cellastra or “the Company”), a developer of novel gene therapy assets, announced today, that the company has been granted US Patent No. 11,891,429 B 2, entitled “Methods for regulating endogenous production of lactoferrin and subpeptides thereof.” The patent claims describe a recombinant virus vector (RVV) comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a human lactoferrin protein or a sub-peptide thereof linked to an immunoglobulin, an inverted terminal repeat and a composition comprising said RVV.

“I would like to congratulate my colleagues at Cellastra,” says Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, Cofounder, Chair (Interim), President & CEO of Cellastra. ” This includes the inventor Dr. Brad Thompson, PhD, CTO and Chair of our Scientific Advisory Board, as well as the entire Development team for taking on the challenge of developing new treatments for prevention of scarring and adhesions,” says Dr Mettinger.

Lactoferrin and sub peptides thereof have played a pivotal role in the innate immune system of mammals for millions of years. Previous studies of Ensereptide, a 25 amino acid subpeptide of lactoferrin has been found to have 1) anti immune effects by reducing a numbe of upregulated cytokines, 2) profibrinolytic effect by reducing upregulated inhibitors of tissue plasminogen activator (PAI), 3) antimicrobial effects and 4) anti- adhesion/anti-scarring effect. Whereas single dose studies of Ensereptide formulated in hyaluronic acid have failed to show long term benefit (likely due to too short treatment exposure / too short half-life), Cellastra has demonstrated long term expression over several months in in vivo studies in mice after one intramuscular injection of an encoded (Ensereptide FcIgG) recombinant gene vector. Postmortem studies after the mice were sacrificed Day 77 demonstrated that clinical meaningful concentrations in serum and on the surface of critical target organs such as the lungs can be achieved.

Cellastra is now preparing for clinical studies using inhaled gene vector for scar prevention after respiratory infections (including long COVID) and using in vitro transfected keratinocytes for scar prevention in burn injuries.

About Cellastra Inc.

Cellastra Inc. is a private biotech firm in San Francisco, founded and managed by proven industry executives with a mission to develop first-in-class therapeutics and disruptive technologies that address serious unmet medical needs through partnerships designed to reduce risk and accelerate product development. Cellastra identifies and in-licenses assets, multiplying value by completing preclinical/clinical development via partnerships with world class institutions, then monetizes programs through partnering with pharmaceutical companies at relevant milestones. The initial portfolio focuses on scar prevention and tissue repair using proprietary gene therapy vectors.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Dr Karl Mettinger

+1-510-499-6376

CELLASTRA IMC. 12/26/2023

Cellastra appoints Brad Thompson to Chair, Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), and Karl Mettinger to Chair (Interim), Board of Directors.

San Francisco, CA, December 26, 2023. Cellastra Inc., a developer of novel gene therapy assets, announced today, organizational changes as the company continues the plans to accelerate development of a new potential cure and prevention of Long Covid and potential scarless wound healing after surgery or burn injuries.

“Earlier this year we met with a panel of experts from several NIH Institutes who are responsible for selecting drug candidates suitable for clinical testing in Long COVID," says Dr Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, Cofounder, President and CEO of Cellastra. "Ensereptide, a sub peptide of lactoferrin, is believed to have played a pivotal role in the innate immune defense of mammals for millions of years and has been shown to have several beneficial effects. These include downregulation of hyper-immune response, down regulation of fibrinolysis inhibitors, antimicrobial effects, and anti-scarring effects," Dr. Mettinger explains.

Early non-clinical studies demonstrated that Ensereptide has several advantages over lactoferrin and other sub peptides thereof. Ensereptide was found to be about 40-80 times more potent than lactoferrin in terms of antibacterial effects. Furthermore, whereas lactoferrin has a pro-thrombotic effect, Ensereptide has a pro-fibrinolytic effect, which reduces the potential for fibrin formation, micro- thrombi and long-term complications such as scarring/fibrosis. “Fibrinolysis not only reduces the potential for development of fibrin plugs /micro-thrombi, but also helps breaking down existing thrombi and splitting fibrin and fibrinogen to degradation products with well-known viscosity (stickiness) reducing,, anticoagulant and anti- platelet aggregation effects, which may improve microcirculation help prevent new thrombi, which may be critically important, ” says Dr Mettinger.

"Preclinical studies in mice and sheep have shown that long term expression of peptides and monoclonal antibodies’ can be achieved long term over several months or potentially even longer." says Dr Brad Thompson, PhD,CTO of Cellastra and ow new Chair of the SAB.

About Cellastra Inc.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Dr Karl Mettinger: karl.mettinger@cellastra.com

+1-510-499-6376

CELLASTRA INC. 03/02/2023

Cellastra to accelerate Virlexa in Long Covid and Scarlexa in Burn Injuries

Prepares for potential participation in government funded clinical studies in US and Sweden

San Francisco, CA, March 02, 2023. Cellastra Inc., a developer of novel gene therapy assets, announced today, that the company plans to accelerate development of a new potential cure and prevention of Long Covid and potential scarless wound healing in burn injuries.

“Pathological scarring and COVID-19 / Long-Covid share pathophysiological hallmarks such as an immune reaction (often an overreaction), micro-vascular blood clots, and often, over time, secondary infections and sequelae such as scarring/fibrosis, says Dr Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, Cofounder, President and CEO of Cellastra. Ensereptide, a subpeptide of lactoferrin, is believed to have played a pivotal role in the innate immune defense of mammals for millions of years and has been shown to have several beneficial effects. These include downregulation of hyper-immune response, down regulation of fibrinolysis inhibitors, antimicrobial effects, and anti-scarring effects.

Early non-clinical studies demonstrated that ensereptide has several advantages over lactoferrin and other sub peptides thereof. Ensereptide was found to be about 40-80 times more potent than lactoferrin in terms of antibacterial effects. Furthermore, whereas lactoferrin has a pro-thrombotic effect, ensereptide has a pro-fibrinolytic effect, which reduces the potential for fibrin formation, micro- thrombi and long-term complications such as scarring/fibrosis. “Fibrinolysis not only reduces the potential for development of fibrin plugs /micro-thrombi, but also helps breaking down existing thrombi and splitting fibrin and fibrinogen to degradation products with well-known viscosity (stickiness) reducing,, anticoagulant and anti- platelet aggregation effects, which may improve microcirculation help prevent new thrombi,” says Dr Mettinger.

The biggest investment in Long COVID projects so far has been made by the US Government, which in February 2022 set aside $1.5B from the American Rescue Fund for studies to further explore the mechanisms and causes of Long Covid as well as new treatments options. “We have reached out both to the Biden Administration and the RECOVER study Group overseen by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and remain hopeful that we would be able to join their Long Covid Study during the next year,” says Dr Vinod Kumar, MD, CMO and Executive Vice President of Clinical Development at Cellastra.

As for the burn injury study in Sweden, Cellastra is already a partner of the Center of Ad vaned Medical Products (CAMP), a consortium that has received a SEK 50M grant to study new advanced treatments including one study in patients with burn injuries at the National Burn Center of Linkoping University Hospital, overseen by Professor Folke Sjoberg, a Member of Cellastra’s Scientific Advisory Board.

About Cellastra Inc.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Dr Karl Mettinger

+1-510-499-6376

CELLASTRA INC. 10/12/2022

Cellastra to accereate Virlexa in Long Covid

Responds to Emergency call by WHO Director General

San Francisco, CA, October 12, 2022. Cellastra Inc.,a developer of novel gene therapy assets, announced today, that the company plans to accelerate development of a new potential cure and prevention of Long Covid. This comes in direct response to the call to urgent action by the WHO.

Director General , Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who has joined WHO in 2017 after previously being the Minister of Health and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, said that ´it is critical for governments to invest long-term in their health system and workers and make a plan now for dealing with Long Covid.” There is mounting evdence that Long Covid is preventing huge numbers of people “to live their fullest ives,Ghebreyesus said.

The biggest investment so far has been made by the US Government, who in February 2022 set aside $1.5B from the American Rescue Fund for studies to further explore the mechanisms and causes of Long Covid as well as new treatments options.

About Cellastra Inc.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Dr Karl Mettinger

+1-510-499-6376

CELLASTRA INC. 04/02/2022

Cellastra announces update on Pipeline, Promotions and Development Plans

Shareholders Meeting voted in favor of increasing maximum allowed shares from 10 Million to 100 Million
Two industry veterans promoted to Executive Vice Presidents
Announces the CELLEXA TM Platform with a library of encoded gene vectors including Scarlexa TM and Virlexa TM

San Francisco, CA, April 2, 2022. Cellastra Inc., a developer of novel gene therapy assets, announced today, that the company has successfully filed a Certificate of Restated Articles of Incorporation with the California Secretary of State. This allowed the company to increase the maximum number of Shares from 10 Million to 100 Million. This has enabled Cellastra to move forward with previous plans for Financial, Business and Corporate Development.

“Our greatest asset is our team of proven executives, who have invented our technology and delivered multibillion dollar drugs and exits,” says Dr Karl Mettinger, MD. PhD and President & CEO of Cellastra since 2011. “Therefore we have promoted Vinod Kumar, MD to Executive Vice President and CMO. After a distinguished career with drug development in Academia he has spent 20 years in the industry including 16 at Novartis, where he became Section Head and Global Medical Director.”

Furthermore, Dr Hank Kulmala, PhD, has been promoted to Executive Vice Preident of Product Development and Regulatory Affairs. “I have had the pleasure to collaborate with Dr Kulmala for over 25 years across four different organizations, where he worked as a consultant and successfully helped us file NDAs and BLAs worldwide.” Says Dr Mettinger. ‘ He has helped advance more than 75 molecules into clinical studies or the market place.”

Cellastra is developing a potentially revolutionizing technology platform (CELLEXA TM) using an encoded gene vector to enable the production of a human natural lactoferrin derived anti-scarring peptide (Ensereptide or a next generation analogue thereof) at the sites of injury in the skin or the lungs.

Scarlexa TM Gene Vector for injection into and under the skin will initially focus on patients undergoing aesthetic or gynecological surgeries such as mammoplasty (including breast implants) and C-section. “This vector may also be mixed with a skin cell suspension prepared from burn injury victims and may be sprayed on the wound to explore scarless healing,” says Dr Mettinger.

Virlexa TM Gene Vector for inhalation is targeting patients with respiratory infections including RSV and COVID-19 and may potentially be useful to prevent so called “Long Covid.”

“Our pipeline addresses huge unmet medical needs Globally,” says Dr Mettinger. “To move forward we need to manufacture drug and the Series A funding round, now ongoing, will help accelerate our program from the bench to the bedside.”

About Cellastra Inc.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Dr Karl Mettinger

+1-510-499-6376

[KM1]

CELLASTRA INC. 12/10/2021

Cellastra announces Special Shareholders Meeting to vote on increasing maximum allowed shares from 10 Million to 100 Million in preparation for Private Offering

Notice of Special Meeting for Shareholders - See Investors page

CELLASTRA INC. 07/31/2021

Cellastra announces the License of a Recombinant AAV6 Gene Vector from University of Guelph

San Francisco, CA, July 31, 2021. Cellastra Inc., a

developer of novel gene therapy assets, announced today, that the company has licensed the patent on a novel recombinant AAV6 gene vector from university of Guelph, ON, Canada.

The patent, which covers the triple mutant AAV6.2FF gene vector, was granted in US in October 2020 and was recently allowed in Canada. It also covers multiple routes of administration including intramuscular and intrapulmonary and a range of disease conditions including respiratory infections.

“

“As the previous published study of this gene vector* also demonstrated rapid robust expression in the lungs after pulmonary delivery, we postulated that Virexa, our proposed inhaled gene vector, may have great utility in the current and any future pandemic,” said Dr Vinod Kumar, MD, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Cellastra. “ Our proposed clinical study of Virexa will use intrapulmonary administration in the infected high-risk patients and evaluate if acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and pulmonary fibrosis can be prevented, ”said Dr Kumar.

About Cellastra Inc.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Dr Karl Mettinger

+1-510-499-6376

* Leshout LP et al, Molecular Therapy: Methods & Clinical Development, 2018, 14;9:323-329).

LASTRA INC. 06/22/2021

CEellastra announces joining Centre for Advances Medical Products (CAMP) to explore Cellexa Gene Therapy in Burn Injuries

San Francisco, CA, June 22, 2021. Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel gene therapy assets, announced today, that the company has joined CAMP, a consortium funded with a 48M SEK grant from Swedish Government Innovation Agency Vinnova to explore new treatment modalities in burn injuries.

The consortium was founded on the initiative of Professor Folke Sjoberg, University of Linkoping in collaboration with Karolinska Institute and other Swedish Universities and biotech companies.

“We have been in discussion with Professor Sjoberg during the last several years and the collaboration is expanding. We are particularly intrigued by the invitation to join CAMP as this gives us the opportunity to explore Cellexa, our gene vector for prevention of hypertrophic scarring, an un resolved problem afflicting up to an estimated 70% of patients with severe burn injuries.,” said Dr Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, Cofounder, President & CEO of Cellastra.

“We believe the vector may be an important candidate to further explore in clinical development as part of Cellastra’s proprietary development platform in scar prevention after surgery and burn injuries," said Professor Folke Sjoberg, who is a member of Cellastra’s Scientific Advisory Board..

About CAMP

CAMP is a Vinnova funded project focusing on the science and technology required to translate Advanced Therapy Medical Products (ATMPs) from lab to clinic, including bioprocess development, GMP production and logistics. CAMP drives collaboration between researchers, GMP competent resources, industry and hospitals.

CAMP will receive 48 million SEK (about 5 M USD) between 2018 and 2023. This is a part of the 320 million SEK commitment of the Swedish government towards making Sweden a World leader in Advanced Biological medicines.

About Cellastra Inc.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Dr Karl Mettinger

+1-510-499-6376

CELLASTRA INC. 12/23/2020

Cellastra announces the appointment of Professor Sarah Wootton, PhD, as Member of Cellastra’s Scientific Advisory Board

San Francisco, CA, December 23, 2020, Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today, that the company has appointed Professor Sarah Wootton, PhD, as new Member of Cellastra’s Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr Wootton is an Associate Professor of veterinary virology at the Department of Pathophysiology, Ontario Veterinary College, and Guelph University. She earned her PhD in molecular virology at Guelph University in 2002 and subsequently completed a four year post doc at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. She is a prolific scientist with many dozens of peer reviewed publications and has won numerous awards including City of Guelph's Top 40 under 40 awards and National Sciences and Research Council (NSRC) award for seven consecutive years.

"We are particularly intrigued by the published results obtained with the novel AVV6.2FF vector," said Dr Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, Cofounder, President & CEO of Cellastra. "The AAV6 vector has been referred to as a potential gene vector of choice for expression in skin cells and the triple -mutant gene vector was found to be superior to the natural AAV6 vector. Furthermore the report demonstrated that the gene vector was suitable for pulmonary administration, which may be useful to prevent respiratory infections and pandemics such as COVID-19,” said Dr Mettinger. The report showed that the vector was easily manufactured (in HEK293 cells) and purified (column chromatography), making it suitable for large scale production (van Lieshaut et al Molecular Therapy. Methods & Clinical Development, 2018,14;9:323-329).

Compared to the natural AVV6 vector the novel vector demonstrated a rapid and potent expression (ten to hundred fold higher expression in the cell systems studied (lung and muscle), and tenfold high resistance to pre-existing AAV antibodies. Furthermore, the expression remained robust throughout the 206 day study period.

“We believe the vector may be suitable for clinical development as part of Cellastra’s proprietary development platform in scar prevention after surgery and burn injuries," said Dr Vinod Kumar, Cellastra’s Chief Medical Officer.. “We are also preparing to explore inhalation of the vector in COVID-19 positive high risk patients to prevent lung fibrosis and multi-site organ damage,” said Dr Kumar.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Dr Karl Mettinger

+1-510-499-6376

CELLASTRA INC. 08/07/2020

Cellastra announces the appointment of BIOTECanada veteran Brad Thompson, PhD, as Chairman of the Board and Ex-Novartis veteran Vinod Kumar, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer.

San Francisco, CA, August 8, 2020, Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today, that the company has appointed Brad Thompson, PhD, as new Chairman of the Board, and Vinod Kumar,M.D, ,as Chief Medical Officer.

Brad Thompson has a long and distinguished career in the North American Biotech industry for more than 40 years, including as Chairman BIOTECanada and is currently chairman and CEO of Avamab Pharma Inc. and CEO of Kickshaw Ventures. He joined the Cellastra board in 2017 and was appointed Chief Technology Officer in 2018.

Vinod Kumar has a long and distinguished career in academic medicine as Professor at the University of Illinois and University of Miami. During his 16 years At Novartis, a leader in cell and gene therapy, he held positions as Section Head and Executive Global Program Medical Director, Development and Medical Affairs.

“We are excited that these appointments happen at this junction as we currently are accelerating the development of our proprietary platform for anti scarring gene therapy and are preparing for entering our clinical development. This puts the company at the frontier of the current gene therapy revolution. This is a first in man program using this new technology for scar prevention, a major unmet need in global health care,” says Dr. Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, cofounder, President & CEO of Cellastra.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Karl Mettinger

510-499-6376

CELLASTRA INC 03/03/2020

Cellastra announces long-term results from in-vivo transgene expression of proprietary anti-scarring peptide

Preparing for clinical study in burn injuries

San Francisco, CA, March 3, 2020 Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today that the company has obtained promising results for CELLEXA, a proprietary gene vector enabling in-vivo production of a potent anti-scarring peptide.

Cellastra recently reported results demonstrating that CELLEXA delivers the genetic code for the lactoferrin sub-peptide with the same amino acid sequence enabling expression during the first month of ovservation.

“Our new results from long-term follow up demonstrate continued robust and durable transgenic expression and production of the peptide throughout the 11 week observation period after intramuscular injection, and furthermore no adverse effects were noted” said Dr Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, President & CEO of Cellastra Inc.

“The results are very timely as we are preparing for a clinical study in patients with severe burn injuries where severe scarring may be a life-long stigma. CELLEXA, by enabling local production of a potent anti-scarring peptide at the site of injury for several weeks or months brings new hope for patients with a great unmet after failure of previous treatments,” said Dr Mettinger.

The study utilized a novel triple-mutant AAV6.2FF gene vector developed by Professor Sarah Wootton’s group at Guelph University. In a previous study this gene vector showed a rapid and potent transgene expression for more than six months which showed a 100 fold increase compared to intramuscular injection of the parental AAV6 vector (van Leshout LP et al, Molecular Therapy: Methods & Clinical Development, 2018, 14;9:323-329).

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Karl Mettinger

510-499-6376

Karl.Mettinger@cellastra.com

CELLASTRA INC 12/15/2019

Cellastra announces results from in-vivo transgene expression of proprietary anti-scarring peptide

Preparing for clinical study in burn injuries

San Francisco, CA, December 15, 2019 Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today that the company has obtained promising results for CELLEXA, a proprietary gene vector enabling in-vivo production of a potent anti-scarring peptide.

Previous studies have demonstrated that PXL01, a lactoferrin derived sub-peptide, has potent anti-scarring and anti-adhesion effects when delivered in a hyaluronic acid formulation as reported in preclinical and clinical proof-of concept studies. “Our results demonstrated that CELLEXA delivers the genetic code for the lactoferrin sub-peptide with the same amino acid sequence enabling robust and durable transgenic expression and production of the peptide at the site of injury after intramuscular injection,” said Dr Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, President & CEO of Cellastra Inc. “The results are very timely as we are preparing for a clinical study in patients with severe burn injuries where severe scarring may be a life-long stigma. CELLEXA, by enabling local production of a potent anti-scarring peptide at the site of injury for several weeks or months brings new hope for patients with a great unmet after failure of previous treatments,” said Dr Mettinger.

“The results for CELLEXA shows a robust and increasing expression over the first month, so far reported, “said Dr Brad Thompson, PhD, Board member and CTO of Cellastra. “The study continues to evaluate the duration of gene expression over several months and furthermore, no adverse effects have been reported,” said Dr Thompson.

Dr Thompson is Cofounder and CEO of Kickshaw Ventures, Calgary., and has been instrumental in funding and filing Cellastra's patent on using gene vectors for endogenous expression and production of natural lactoferrin derived anti-scarring peptides. He has more than 30 years successful career in Biotech, including Chair CANADABiotec, Cofounder, CEO and Chair of Oncolytic Biotech, and Head Biotech Alberta Research Council. He is also a prolific inventor in viral and gene therapies and involved in several new gene therapy startup companies. He obtained his B.Sc. from Alberta University and PhD in microbiology and immunology from University of Western Ontario.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Karl Mettinger

510-499-6376

Karl.Mettinger@cellastra.com

CELLASTRA INC 07/15/2019

Cellastra announces filing of global patent application for prevention of scars and adhesions.

San Francisco, CA, July 15, 2019 Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today that the company has filed a PCT patent application to expand its proprietary platform in treatment and prevention of scars and adhesions after trauma including bur injuries and surgery.

The application, which is an extension of the US patent filed on July 17 last year, covers. composition of matter, methods of administration and use of a broad range of gene vectors and lactoferrin subpeptides targeting a broad range of cells involved in scarring and adhesions.

“I am pleased to assign global exclusive rights to these inventions to Cellastra,” said Dr. Brad Thompson, the inventor, who is Chief Technology Officer and Director on the Board of Cellastra.

Dr Thompson is Cofounder and CEO of Kickshaw Ventures, Calgary, and has been instrumental in filing and funding Cellastra's patent on using encoded gene vectors. He has more than 30 years successful career in Biotech, including Chair CANADABiotec, Cofounder, CEO and Chair of Oncolytic Biotech, and Head Biotech Alberta Research Council. He is also a prolific inventor in viral and gene therapies and involved in several new gene therapy startup companies. He obtained his B.Sc. from Alberta University and PhD in microbiology and immunology from University of Western Ontario.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Karl Mettinger

510-499-6376

Karl.Mettinger@cellastra.com

CELLASTRA INC 04/04/2019

Cellastra announces updates from American Burn Association's Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, April 2-5, 2019

Prof. Folke Sjoberg , Cellastra Scientific Advisory Board Member awarded to give the Everett Idris Evans Memorial Lecture on frontiers in burn injury treatment

Cellastra prepares for clinical study in burn injury

San Francisco, CA, April 5, 2019 Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today that the company attended the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Burn Association (ABA), which was held in Las Vegas with more than 1,200 participants from US, Canada and other countries around the world.

Folke Sjöberg, Professor of burn surgery/critical care at Linkoping University, Sweden and an internationally recognized leader in the field, was invited to give this year's award Everett Idris Evans Memorial Lecture. He is past President of the European Burns Association and gave an update on research frontiers in burn injuries from his European vantage point, He also gave an update on the program using GMP cultivated keratinocytes, which is expected to enter a clinical study during this coming year. The consortium is sponsored by a 50M SEK grant from Vinnova, the Swedish Government Innovation Agency Prof Sjöberg also disclosed the plan to expand the program to a European multicenter study.

Cellastra participated in the meeting and met met with a number of companies active in the burn injury market and discussions are ongoing about potential collaboration with Cellastra to explore the company’s proprietary gene vector platform for scar prevention. Cellastra also met with professor Fiona Woods, who gave a personal account on the invention of the RECELL system, recently approved in the US. This is a simple advice to harvest skin cells from a small unaffected skin area of the patient and to prepare a suspension of skin cells ready to be sprayed on the burn wound within 30-60 minutes.

Cellastra is currently exploring opportunities to accelerate its gene vector program into Phase 1 and 2 studies in Sweden and Europe during the next year. "Severe scarring is the number one long term physical, psychological and social handicap in more than 70 percent of severe burn injuries. This leads to social isolation and suffering for the patient as well as heavy economic burden for the society.

“We are excited about the opportunity and challenge to test our CELLEXA Gene Vector, as it is designed and programmed for production of a promising anti-scarring peptide directly in the wound area, “said Dr Karl Mettinger, President and CEO of Cellastra. The Peptide has already been demonstrated to be safe and have potent activity in published preclinical and clinical Phase 2 studies. Gene therapy offers the prospect of long term production of the peptide in skin cells directly in the wound area for weeks and months after one single treatment.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Karl Mettinger

510-499-6376

Karl.Mettinger@cellastra.com

CELLASTRA INC. 01/07/2019

Cellastra announces 10M USD Series A capital call to support new gene therapy program for scar prevention after surgery and burn injuries

Appoints gene therapy leadership in new management positions

Recently acquired novel gene therapy platform including global development and commercialization rights for scar prevention.
First indication will be prevention of scarring and adhesions after surgery as well as burn injuries. Other indications to follow will include scar prevention after hip and knee replacement
One treatment may provide scar prevention for many months.
Dr. Larry Couture appointed Chair of Cellastra’ s Scientific advisory Board, Dr. .Alan J. Lewis to Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Dr. Brad Thompson to Chief Technology Officer,

San Francisco, CA, January 7, 2019 . Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today that the company has initiated a 10M USD Series A capital call to develop gene therapy for scar prevention. The company recently acquired a novel gene therapy platform including global development and commercialization rights for scar and adhesion prevention with application in a broad range of indications including dermal scarring after surgery and burn injuries as well as scarring in the joints after hip and knee replacement.

“We are excited that this intellectual property for development and commercialization has been assigned to Cellastra. This puts the company at the frontier of the current gene therapy revolution. This is a first in man program using this new technology for scar prevention, a major unmet need in global health care,” says Dr. Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, cofounder, President & CEO of Cellastra. “We also welcome the opportunity to work closely with the eminent members our Scientific Advisory board, which includes international pioneers in cell and gene therapy,” says Dr. Alan Lewis, Executive Chairman of the board of directors,

Dr. Larry Couture, PhD, who was appointed to Chair of the Cellastra Scientific Advisory Board, has been a pioneer in Gene therapy for 30 years and previous member of the FDA’s Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. Dr. Couture was a key participant in numerous first-in-man clinical studies, including the first human gene therapy trials, the first direct administration to humans of a genetically engineered virus, and many other cell and gene therapy firsts. During his 20 years as Founding Director and Senior Vice President at the Center of Technology, City of Hope Dr. Couture directed the successful production of over 300 lots of clinical grade viral vectors for gene therapy, and other biological products.

Dr. Brad Thompson, who joined the Cellastra board two years ago, was appointed Chief technology Officer (CTO) on the Executive Team with responsibilities overseeing Cellastra’ s collaboration with Guelph University, Ontario, Canada, where contract gene therapy vector manufacturing and research are being established. He is also the inventor of several viral and gene therapy patents, including the technology platform now assigned to Cellastra. Dr. Thompson, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kickshaw Ventures, is an experienced and highly respected biotechnology professional for more than 30 years. Most recently he served as Director and the Chairman of BIOTECanada. He started his career in biotech as Head of Biotechnology at The Alberta Research Council where he was responsible for GMP manufacturing for biologics.

“Cellastra’ s gene therapy for scar prevention involves application of pre-programmed viral vectors, which turns on the production line in cell factory in the targeted skin cells to produce anti -scarring peptides continuously delivered to the wound area for many months. ‘Such peptides have already been tested in animals and clinical studies and found to be safe and effective in studies until date, which we believe will help accelerate the development and approval of our future products,” says Dr. Mettinger.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Karl Mettinger

510-499-6376

Karl.Mettinger@cellastra.com

CELLASTRA INC. 12/01/2018

Cellastra announces the appointment accounting veteran Bruce Phillips as new Chief Financial Officer.

San Francisco, CA, , December 1, 2018, Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today that the company has appointed Bruce Phillips, CPA, as new Chief Financial Officer.

Bruce Phillips has a long and distinguished career in the accounting industry for more than 3o years. After graduating from the College of William & Mary he joined Arthur Young and became an accounting manager for Ernst & Young. In 1992, he became a Founding Partner, and later CEO of HPC (Harshman, Phillips & Company) which for decades operated as a traditional accounting firm in Atlanta. At the annual accounting convention In 2011 he met Rodney Drury, the founder of XERO, the pioneer of the cloud based accounting technology platform, Soon HPC became a Platinum Partner of XERO and leading cloud based accounting firm and is today a full service provider working remotely all over United States, from California, to Florida and New Hampshire and with an increasing number of clients all over the globe.

“We are excited that this appointment happens at this junction as we recently acquired a proprietary platform for anti scarring gene therapy. This puts the company at the frontier of the current gene therapy revolution. This is a first in man program using this new technology for scar prevention, a major unmet need in global health care,” says Dr. Karl Mettinger, MD, PhD, cofounder, President & CEO of Cellastra.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Karl Mettinger

510-499-6376

Karl.Mettinger@cellastra.com

CELLASTRA INC. 11/01/2018

Cellastra announces acquisition of a novel gene therapy platform including global development and commercialization rights for scar prevention

First indication will be prevention of scarring and adhesions after surgery as well as burn injuries. Other indications to follow will include scar prevention after hip and knee replacement
One treatment may provide scar prevention for many months.

San Francisco, CA, November 1, 2018, Cellastra, Inc., a developer of novel cell and gene therapy assets, announced today that the company has acquired intellectual property platform for gene therapy for scar prevention. The acquisition includes global development and commercialization rights for scar and adhesion prevention with application in a broad range of indications including dermal scarring after surgery and burn injuries as well as scarring in the joints after hip and knee replacement.

Dr. Brad Thompson, who joined the Cellastra board two years ago, is also the inventor of several viral and gene therapy patents, including the technology platform now assigned to Cellastra. Dr. Thompson, who is the CEO and Co-Founder of Kickshaw Ventures, is an experienced and highly respected biotechnology professional for more than 30 years. Most recently he served as Director and the Chairman of BIOTECanada. He started his career in biotech as Head of Biotechnology at The Alberta Research Council where he was responsible for GMP manufacturing for biologics.

The intellectual property acquired relates to a recent patent filing “Methods for regulating endogenous production of lactoferrin and sub-peptides thereof and covers a broad range of viral vectors, routes of administration and therapeutic indications.

For more information, visit our website www.cellastra.com

Contact: Karl Mettinger

510-499-6376

Karl.Mettinger@cellastra.com