WARREN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Tevogen Bio Inc, a late stage clinical biotechnology company specializing in developing cell and gene therapies in oncology, neurology, and virology, today announced the appointment of preeminent oncologist Neal Flomenberg, M.D. as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and Global Head of Research and Development. Dr. Flomenberg will lead the company’s diverse and rapidly advancing research and development initiatives of its highly adaptable precision T cell product pipeline in oncology, neurology, and virology.

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Acclaimed oncologist and immunotherapy expert, Neal Flomenberg, M.D. joins Tevogen Bio as Chief Scientific Officer and Global Head of R&D (Photo: Business Wire)

Most recently, Dr. Flomenberg served as Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medical Oncology and Deputy Director of Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center of Thomas Jefferson University & Hospital. Under his leadership, Jefferson’s Department of Medical Oncology more than tripled in size, established a nationally recognized senior adult oncology program as well as an embedded Supportive Medicine and Survivorship Program. At Jefferson, Dr. Flomenberg also served as Director of the Hematologic Malignancies, Blood and Marrow Transplantation (BMT) Program.

Throughout his more than forty-year career, Dr. Flomenberg has maintained a longstanding interest in the immunogenetics and immunology of stem cell transplantation, with the goal of making transplantation safer and more widely available. As Chairman of Tevogen’s Scientific Advisory Board, he helped advance Tevogen’s lead investigational product, TVGN-489, through proof-of-concept clinical trial for treatment of high-risk COVID-19 patients. Trial enrollment is currently nearing completion.

In his new capacity at Tevogen, Dr. Flomenberg will serve as member of the executive team and lead company’s ambitious R&D initiatives, allowing for further advancement of its next generation precision T cell technology platforms. Dr. Flomenberg and his leadership team will operate out of Tevogen’s R&D Center located in Philadelphia’s Wanamaker building.

“There is no better person than Neal to lead the advancement of Tevogen’s highly promising genetically unmodified T cell technology platforms, which we believe will pave the way for the next era of personalized T cell therapeutics for large patient populations through convenience and affordability for the very first time,” said Tevogen CEO Ryan Saadi, M.D., M.P.H. “A lifelong student of science, Neal’s compassionate nature, brilliant mind, and unwavering passion to innovate leading-edge medicines for the good of humanity are just a few of the characteristics that make him the ideal leader to realize the fullest potential of our R&D initiatives.”

“I am thrilled to serve in this new role at Tevogen, a truly patient-centric company designed to achieve commercial success through its advanced science and efficient business model which ensure affordability. I have dedicated my career to increasing our understanding of blood cancers and the infections which plague these and other patient groups as well as the cellular immunologic approaches which might be used to address these problems,” said Dr. Flomenberg. “Tevogen’s proprietary approach allows cellular immunotherapeutics to be developed with unprecedented specificity and precision while remaining affordable and broadly applicable. Applications range from acute viral infections such as COVID-19, to longer term consequences of infections such as Long-COVID and Multiple Sclerosis, to viral-induced and non-viral induced cancers,” he added.

Dr. Flomenberg has been the recipient of numerous awards including: The Simon Gratz Award for Research Most Likely to influence Patient Care (2003), The Leukemia Lymphoma Society Contributions to Mankind Award (2006), The Pennsylvania State University Outstanding Science Alumnus Award (2006), Inaugural recipient of the Philadelphia Chapter of the Leukemia Lymphoma Society’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2018), Thomas Jefferson University’s Alumnus of the Year Award (2019), and Jefferson’s Dean’s Lifetime Distinguished Service Award (2022).He received a Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University and earned a Doctor of Medicine degree from Jefferson Medical College.

About Tevogen’s Next Generation Precision T Cell Platform

Tevogen’s next generation precision T cell platform is designed to provide increased specificity to eliminate malignant and virally infected cells, while allowing healthy cells to remain intact. Multiple targets are selected in advance with the goal of overcoming mutational capacity of cancer cells and viruses.

Tevogen is investigating its technology’s potential to overcome the primary barriers to the broad application of personalized T cell therapies: potency, purity, production-at-scale, and patient-pairing, without the limitations of current approaches. Tevogen’s goal is to open the vast and unprecedented potential of developing personalized immunotherapies for large patient populations impacted by common cancers and viral infections.

The company’s lead product, TVGN-489, is currently in clinical trial for high-risk COVID-19 patients at Jefferson University Hospitals in Philadelphia. TVGN-489 is a highly purified, genetically unmodified, off-the-shelf, allogeneic SARS-CoV-2-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocyte (CTL) product designed to detect targets spread across the entire viral genome.

Tevogen recently announced the initiation of the fourth and final dose level of its investigational T cell therapy for high-risk COVID-19 patients in the proof of concept clinical trial of TVGN-489. No dose limiting toxicities or treatment-related adverse events, including Cytokine Release Syndrome (CRS), have been observed to date in any of the dose cohorts.

About Tevogen Bio

Tevogen Bio is driven by a team of distinguished scientists and highly experienced biopharmaceutical leaders who have successfully developed and commercialized multiple franchises. Tevogen’s leadership believes that accessible personalized immunotherapies are the next frontier of medicine, and that disruptive business models are required to sustain medical innovation in the post-pandemic world.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to Tevogen Bio™ Inc (the “Company”) and its business. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs as of the date of this release and are subject to a number of factors which involve known and unknown risks, delays, uncertainties and other factors not under the Company’s control that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or other expectations implied by these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can sometimes be identified by terminology such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “intend,” “expect,” “believe,” “potential,” “possible,” or their negatives or comparable terminology, as well as other words and expressions referencing future events, conditions, or circumstances. In any forward-looking statement in which the Company expresses an expectation or belief as to future results, there can be no assurance that the statement or expectation or belief will be achieved. Various factors may cause differences between the Company’s expectations and actual results, including, among others: the Company’s limited operating history; uncertainties inherent in the execution, cost and completion of preclinical studies and clinical trials; risks related to regulatory review and approval and commercial development; risks associated with intellectual property protection; and risks related to matters that could affect the Company’s future financial results, including the commercial potential, sales, and pricing of the Company’s products. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or any of the information in this release, or provide additional information, and expressly disclaims any and all liability and makes no representations or warranties in connection herewith or with respect to any omissions herefrom.

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