Gamida Cell Announces Changes to Board of Directors
March 20 2023 - 04:30PM
Business Wire
Shawn Cline Tomasello to become Chairwoman,
succeeding Chairman Robert I. Blum, who is resigning; Company
focuses on upcoming regulatory milestone and commercialization
Directors Dr. Naama Halevi-Davidov and Dr. Anat
Cohen-Dayag also stepping down
Gamida Cell Ltd. (Nasdaq: GMDA), a cell therapy pioneer working
to turn cells into powerful therapeutics, today announced the
resignation of Chairman Robert I. Blum. The Board of Directors has
elected Shawn Cline Tomasello Chairwoman, effective
immediately.
“On behalf of my fellow board members and Gamida Cell’s
employees, I want to thank Robert for his dedicated service to this
company,” said Abbey Jenkins, Gamida Cell President and Chief
Executive Officer. “Robert has been a tireless advocate for Gamida
Cell for the past five years and has provided strong oversight
through many critical decisions. Shawn is a highly respected and
seasoned biotech executive with tremendous experience in all
dimensions of our industry, including corporate strategy and
commercialization of innovative hematology, oncology and cell
therapies. We look forward to her leadership as we approach our May
1 FDA target action date for omidubicel and, if approved, shift our
focus to commercialization.”
Shawn Cline Tomasello joined Gamida Cell’s Board of Directors in
June 2019, bringing extensive experience in leading successful
commercial activities at several pharmaceutical companies and
providing key strategic guidance on company boards. Most recently,
she served as Chief Commercial Officer of Kite Pharma, now part of
Gilead Sciences, where she oversaw the global commercialization of
Yescarta®, the first approved CAR-T therapy for non-Hodgkin
lymphoma, and was a key executive in the Kite/Gilead acquisition
for $11.9 billion in August 2017. Prior to joining Kite, Ms.
Tomasello was Chief Commercial Officer and had responsibility for
medical affairs at Pharmacyclics. While at Pharmacyclics, the
company’s market cap increased from $8 billion to $19 billion, and
it was ultimately acquired by AbbVie for $21 billion. Ms. Tomasello
has extensive strategic experience in building world-class
organizations working across all relevant encompassing functions.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of
Cincinnati and an MBA from Murray State University and currently
also serves on the public boards of AlloVir, TCR2 Therapeutics,
Inc. and 4D Molecular Therapeutics.
“I’m excited to take on the role of Chairwoman,” said Ms.
Tomasello. “Gamida Cell is at an inflection point, with the
potential FDA approval of omidubicel in the near term. This company
has a therapy that can make a meaningful difference in the lives of
patients, and an executive team that I’m confident can execute an
effective launch.”
In addition, the company announced the resignations of Dr. Anat
Cohen-Dayag and Dr. Naama Halevi-Davidov. Both joined the Board in
January 2022. Dr. Cohen-Dayag chaired the Science and Technology
Committee and served on the Nominating and Governance Committee.
Dr. Halevi-Davidov was a member of the Audit Committee.
About Gamida Cell
Gamida Cell is a cell therapy pioneer working to turn cells into
powerful therapeutics. The company has a diverse pipeline of
potentially curative cell therapy candidates for patients with
blood cancers and solid tumors. We apply a proprietary expansion
platform leveraging the properties of NAM to cell sources including
umbilical cord blood-derived cells and natural killer (NK) cells to
create allogeneic cell therapy candidates with the potential to
redefine standards of care. These include omidubicel, an advanced
cell therapy candidate for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell
transplant that, if approved, has the potential to expand access
and improve outcomes for patients with blood cancers, and a line of
enhanced and engineered NK cells targeted at solid tumors and
hematological malignancies. For additional information, please
visit www.gamida-cell.com or follow Gamida Cell on LinkedIn,
Twitter, Facebook or Instagram at @GamidaCellTx.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, including with respect to timing of the FDA’s review of the
BLA for omidubicel, and the potentially life-saving or curative
therapeutic and commercial potential of Gamida Cell’s product
candidates (including omidubicel). Any statement describing Gamida
Cell’s goals, expectations, financial or other projections,
intentions or beliefs is a forward-looking statement and should be
considered an at-risk statement. Such statements are subject to a
number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those
related to clinical, scientific, regulatory and technical
developments and those inherent in the process of developing and
commercializing product candidates that are safe and effective for
use as human therapeutics. In light of these risks and
uncertainties, and other risks and uncertainties that are described
in the Risk Factors section and other sections of Gamida Cell’s
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC) on November 14, 2022, and other filings
that Gamida Cell makes with the SEC from time to time (which are
available at http://www.sec.gov), the events and circumstances
discussed in such forward-looking statements may not occur, and
Gamida Cell’s actual results could differ materially and adversely
from those anticipated or implied thereby. Although Gamida Cell’s
forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of its
management, these statements are based only on facts and factors
currently known by Gamida Cell. As a result, you are cautioned not
to rely on these forward-looking statements.
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