Celularity Announces $250M in Funding to Deliver Treatments for Cancer, Inflammatory and Degenerative Diseases, and Functional Regeneration

WARREN, N.J., Feb. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Celularity has been created through the contribution and acquisition of extensive intellectual property, clinical-stage assets, basic and clinical research, and product development expertise including:

• First proprietary allogeneic "off-the-shelf" immunotherapeutic platform
• Proprietary clinical stage Placental Natural Killer (PNK) Cell Program
• IND-ready CD38 CAR-T program
• Innovative allogeneic CD38 CAR NK program
• Phase 3-ready placental adherent cell products for serious Crohn's Disease
• Sorrento Therapeutics G-MAB™ Library of 50+ fully-human antibody-CAR constructs
• Unparalleled IP position: 800+ issued patents in cell therapy and regenerative medicine; dominating position worldwide for placental stem cells
• World-class cell and biomaterials manufacturing capabilities
• Commercial-stage functional regeneration products Biovance® and Interfyl®, and late-stage pipeline assets across broad disease indications
• LifeBankUSA, pioneering stem cell biobanking business with two decades' operating expertise

Celularity, a biotechnology company founded by stem cell pioneer Robert Hariri, MD, PhD, is announcing the formation of the company with $250M in funding with contributions from Celgene (NSDQ: CELG), United Therapeutics (NSDQ: UTHR), Sorrento Therapeutics (NSDQ: SRNE), Human Longevity, Inc., Genting Group, the Dreyfus Family Office, Section 32, and Heritage Group. Celularity is co-founded with Vice Chairman, Peter H. Diamandis, MD, alongside Dr. Hariri, and has a board of industry luminaries including Vice Chairman, John Sculley, formerly of Apple and Pepsi-Cola, Bill Maris of Section 32 (previously founder and CEO of Google Ventures), and Andrew von Eschenbach, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration.

Celularity sources, develops, and deploys transformative therapies derived from the placenta for treatment of complex medical conditions including hematological and solid tumors, autoimmune disease, diabetes, as well as degenerative effects of aging. By combining synergistic assets from Celgene, United Therapeutics, Sorrento Therapeutics, and Human Longevity Inc., Celularity is accelerating the development of cell and tissue regenerative products to address unmet medical needs. These treatments have the potential to reverse life-threatening diseases and extend the healthy human lifespan.

"My goal is to make it so the next generation grows up in a world where cancer is managed just like the common cold, and the body's natural regenerative engine remains empowered throughout our lives," said Dr. Hariri, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Celularity. "Celularity is a new biotechnology company model founded to harness the placenta as a platform for discovery and therapeutics, ultimately with a goal of amplifying the body's ability to fight disease, restore function and extend the healthy lifespan. It is my vision that the cellular medicines we derive from the placenta will lead to abundant and affordable treatments."

Celularity has assembled an industry-leading intellectual property portfolio of more than 800 issued patents, which attain a dominating position around placental-derived stem and progenitor cells. Celularity is also the first to own and deploy the full value chain ranging from sourcing placental stem cells to delivering patient treatment. The company is built on three key pillars: Cell Therapy, Functional Regeneration, and Biosourcing:

• Cell Therapy: Celularity has developed five clinical stage cell therapy candidates currently being evaluated for cancer, and immunological and degenerative diseases
• Functional Regeneration: Celularity is addressing serious wounds, burns, orthopedic, and other surgical indications including reconstructive and aesthetic applications with a broad range of placental biomaterials. Derived from placental tissue, Celularity's BIOVANCE® and Interfyl® were the first biomaterial products introduced to the market to enhance the body's regenerative processes
• Biosourcing: Celularity owns and operates LifeBankUSA, the world's only repository that allows families to bank their newborn's placental cells and biomaterials for future therapeutic and regenerative use

Celularity is the only company with an allogeneic placental cell platform. Placental stem cells are uniquely immunoprivileged, therefore treatments do not require cells to be engineered or matched for each individual patient. Celularity is focused on this highly-scalable platform of technology to optimize economics and access to these cutting-edge therapies, including immuno-oncology. These placental stem cells allow for unprecedented scalability for Celularity's CAR-T and CAR-NK platforms.

"Celularity's technology has the potential to augment human immunity and longevity," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Co-Founder and Vice-Chairman of Celularity. "The company's ultimate vision is to make 100 years old the new 60, providing people with maximal cognition, mobility and aesthetics as they age. The 20 years of science, research, and intellectual property pioneered by Dr. Bob Hariri has the highest potential to become the cornerstone for this vision."                

Andrew von Eschenbach, MD, among the founding members of the Celularity Board of Directors, and the former United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner and Director of the National Cancer Institute, said, "The pioneering work of Celularity founder Bob Hariri has unleashed the unique properties of placental derived stem cells, which have renewed hope for creating safe and effective therapies for the most challenging degenerative diseases." Dr. von Eschenbach added, "Celularity, with its focus on accelerating innovation in regenerative medicine, can become the leading catalyst for cell therapy to address many of the world's unmet medical needs."

"Our investment in Celularity brings together its proprietary allogeneic placental platform and Sorrento's best in class CAR-T products and cGMP manufacturing capabilities," said Henry Ji, another founding member of Celularity's Board of Directors and Chairman, President and CEO of Sorrento Therapeutics. "Together, we can deliver these health solutions at scale to treat exponentially more people than we ever thought possible."

More information can be found by visiting www.celularity.com.

About Celularity:                 
Celularity (www.celularity.com) is a biotechnology company that harnesses the power of placenta-derived cells and tissue to create regenerative health solutions. These therapies have the potential to rid the body of life threatening disease and ultimately extend the human lifespan. Celularity's intellectual property and research portfolio consists of 800 patents as well as pre-clinical and clinical assets, including CAR constructs for allogeneic CAR-T/NK products, licenses to 100+ immunotherapy assets, and commercial stage biosourcing and functional regeneration businesses.

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SOURCE Celularity