Company Appoints Five New Independent
Directors to Reconstituted Board
PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ: PMCB), a biotechnology company
focused on developing cellular therapies for cancer, diabetes and
malignant ascites using its signature live-cell encapsulation
technology, Cell-in-a-Box®, announced today that PharmaCyte and
Iroquois Master Fund Ltd. and its affiliates, the beneficial owners
of approximately 6.7% of PharmaCyte’s outstanding shares of common
stock, have signed a Cooperation Agreement that includes naming two
of Iroquois’ director designees to PharmaCyte’s reconstituted Board
of Directors.
Pursuant to the Agreement, Iroquois’ director designees,
Jonathan L. Schechter and Joshua N. Silverman, will join
PharmaCyte’s reconstituted Board as independent directors. Jack E.
Stover, Daniel S. Farb, and Daniel C. Allen will also join
PharmaCyte’s reconstituted Board as independent directors. Existing
PharmaCyte directors Kenneth L. Waggoner and Dr. Michael M.
Abecassis will complete the 7-member Board.
PharmaCyte’s Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth L. Waggoner,
commented, “We are pleased to have reached this constructive
agreement with Iroquois which we believe is in the best interest of
all shareholders. Our reconstituted Board combines extensive
science, operating and capital markets experience that will make
PharmaCyte a much stronger company. I would like to thank all of
our previous Board members for their numerous and invaluable
contributions, including Dr. Matthias L�hr, Dr. Gerald W. Crabtree,
Thomas Liquard, Dr. Raymond C.F. Tong and Carlos Trujillo. Each
resigned from the Board as part of the Cooperation Agreement after
determining that the Cooperation Agreement, including the
composition of the new Board, was in the best interest of the
Company moving forward.
“We are nearing the end of our process to fulfill the FDA’s
requests to enable the clinical hold to be lifted. To date,
approximately 90% of the FDA’s requests have been completed or are
in process with one major pig study remaining to be completed. We
look forward to integrating our new directors’ ideas to drive our
continued development and growth as a Nasdaq biotechnology company
focused on developing treatments for hard-to-treat diseases like
cancer, diabetes, and malignant ascites.”
In addition, Iroquois has agreed to certain customary standstill
provisions and will support the Board’s full slate of directors at
the 2022 Annual Meeting. The complete agreement between PharmaCyte
and Iroquois will be included as an exhibit to PharmaCyte's Current
Report on Form 8-K, which will be filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission.
Richard Abbe, President of Iroquois, concluded, “We appreciate
the engagement we have had with PharmaCyte and its shareholders
over the last several months. With the appointment of five new
highly qualified directors, the majority of whom are direct
shareholder representatives, we are confident that the
reconstituted Board is well-poised to unlock value for all
shareholders.”
Biographies for New Board Members:
Daniel C. Allen is an experienced CEO and public company
director with significant investment, financial, and operational
experience. Currently, Mr. Allen is the Managing Partner of Corona
Park Investment Partners, LLC, a firm he founded, and the Executive
Chairman on the Board of Directors of Zagg, a global leader in
mobile accessories and technologies. He also served as a Director
of SharpSpring, Inc. and as the CEO and Director of Evercel, Inc.
Prior to forming Corona Park Investment Partners, LLC, Mr. Allen
worked for nearly a decade at Bain Capital where he led more than a
dozen investments in venture and late-stage technology companies.
He also served as a strategy consultant at McKinsey and Company. He
received an undergraduate degree in Economics from Harvard College
and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Daniel S. Farb is an experienced investor and public company
director. He is currently the Managing Member of Mill Pond Capital.
Previously, Mr. Farb served as a Director of Meg Energy Corp. and
as a Managing Director at Highfields Capital Management. Mr. Farb
has also worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in the Mergers &
Acquisitions and Principal Investment Groups. Mr. Farb is a
graduate of the Harvard Business School, and holds a Bachelor of
Commerce Degree from McGill University.
Jonathan L. Schechter is an experienced public company director
with expertise in capital allocation and mergers and acquisitions
having worked with public companies for over two decades, including
ten years of legal experience and fourteen years of investment
banking experience. He is currently a partner of The Special
Equities Group, a division of Dawson James Securities, Inc., a
full-service investment bank specializing in healthcare,
biotechnology, technology, and clean-tech sectors. Mr. Schechter is
one of the founding partners of The Special Equities Opportunity
Fund, a long-only fund that makes direct investments in micro-cap
companies. He currently serves on the board of directors of
Synaptogenix, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. Mr.
Schechter earned his A.B. in Public Policy/Political Science from
Duke University and his J.D. from Fordham University School of
Law.
Joshua N. Silverman is currently the Co-Founder and Managing
Member of Parkfield Funding LLC and is a former Principal and
Managing Partner of Iroquois Capital Management, LLC. Mr. Silverman
served as Co-Chief Investment Officer of Iroquois from 2003 until
July 2016. From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Silverman served as Co-Chief
Investment Officer of Vertical Ventures, LLC, a merchant bank.
Prior to forming Iroquois, Mr. Silverman was a Director of Joele
Frank, a boutique consulting firm specializing in mergers and
acquisitions. Previously, Mr. Silverman served as Assistant Press
Secretary to The President of The United States. Mr. Silverman
currently serves on the boards of directors of Ayro Inc., MYMD
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Petros Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and
Synaptogenix, Inc. Mr. Silverman received his B.A. from Lehigh
University.
Jack E. Stover is an experienced CEO, public company director,
and investor with extensive knowledge of corporate governance,
capital markets strategies and strategic transactions. He is
currently CEO of NorthView Acquisition Corp. and has served as CEO
and director of multiple life science companies, including Onconova
Therapeutics, Interpace Biosciences, and Antares Pharma, Inc. Mr.
Stover was formerly a partner with PricewaterhouseCoopers (then
Coopers and Lybrand), working in the bioscience industry division
in New Jersey. Mr. Stover received his B.A. in Accounting from
Lehigh University.
About PharmaCyte Biotech
PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing
cellular therapies for cancer, diabetes, and malignant ascites
based upon a proprietary cellulose-based live-cell encapsulation
technology known as “Cell-in-a-Box®.” This technology is being used
as a platform upon which therapies for several types of cancer,
diabetes and malignant ascites are being developed.
PharmaCyte’s therapy for cancer involves encapsulating
genetically engineered human cells that convert an inactive
chemotherapy drug into its active or “cancer-killing” form. For
pancreatic cancer, these encapsulated cells are implanted in the
blood supply to the patient’s tumor as close as possible to the
site of the tumor. Once implanted, a chemotherapy drug that is
normally activated in the liver (ifosfamide) is given intravenously
at one-third the normal dose. The ifosfamide is carried by the
circulatory system to where the encapsulated cells have been
implanted. When the ifosfamide flows through pores in the capsules,
the live cells inside act as a “bio-artificial liver” and activate
the chemotherapy drug at the site of the cancer. This “targeted
chemotherapy” has proven effective and safe to use in past clinical
trials and we believe results in little to no treatment related
side effects.
PharmaCyte’s candidate therapy for Type 1 diabetes and
insulin-dependent Type 2 diabetes involves encapsulating a human
cell line that has been genetically engineered to produce and
release insulin in response to the levels of blood sugar in the
human body. The encapsulation of the cell line will be done using
the Cell-in-a-Box® technology. Once the encapsulated cells are
implanted in a diabetic patient, we anticipate that they will
function as a “bio-artificial pancreas” for purposes of insulin
production.
PharmaCyte’s therapy for malignant ascites involves using the
same encapsulated cells PharmaCyte employs for pancreatic cancer
but placing the encapsulated cells in the peritoneal cavity of a
patient and administering ifosfamide intravenously.
Safe Harbor
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
that express the current beliefs and expectations of PharmaCyte’s
management and Board of Directors. Any statements contained in this
press release which do not describe historical facts are
forward-looking statements subject to risks and uncertainties that
could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ
materially from those discussed in such forward-looking statements.
Factors that could affect our actual results include our ability to
satisfactorily address the issues raised by the FDA in order to
have the clinical hold on our IND removed, as well as such other
factors that are included in the periodic reports on Form 10-K and
Form 10-Q that we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission. These forward-looking statements are made only as of
the date hereof, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise
the forward-looking statements, except as otherwise required by
law, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
More information about PharmaCyte Biotech can be found at
https://www.PharmaCyte.com.
Information may also be obtained by contacting PharmaCyte's
Investor Relations Department.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220815005323/en/
Investor Relations: PharmaCyte Biotech, Inc. Telephone:
917.595.2856 Email: InvestorRelations@PharmaCyte.com Attn: Dr.
Gerald W. Crabtree
PharmaCyte Biotech (NASDAQ:PMCB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
PharmaCyte Biotech (NASDAQ:PMCB)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024