SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., May 01, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALLO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic CAR T (AlloCAR T™) therapies for cancer, today announced the appointment of Robert Abraham, Ph.D., Malcolm K. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., Stephen J. Forman, M.D., and Wendell Lim, Ph.D. to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB).  The SAB comprises experts across oncology, immunology, cell therapy, drug discovery and development.

“We are pleased to welcome Drs. Abraham, Brenner, Forman and Lim, renowned experts in immunotherapy, oncology and pioneering leaders across cell and gene therapy and cell signaling systems, to Allogene’s Scientific Advisory Board,” said David Chang, M.D., Ph.D., President, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Allogene. “This depth of scientific expertise will be critical as we advance our pipeline and leverage the next generation of gene engineering and cell manufacturing technologies to shape a future for AlloCAR T therapies in solid tumors and other hematologic malignancies.”

The new members of Allogene’s SAB include:

• Robert Abraham, Ph.D. – Dr. Abraham is Senior Vice President and Group Head of Pfizer’s Oncology Research & Development Group. He also serves as the Director of the Pfizer Postdoctoral program, helping develop talented early career scientists into outstanding industry and academic researchers. Author of more than 200 scientific publications, Dr. Abraham has served on and chaired grant review panels at the National Institutes of Health, and is a reviewer for leading scientific journals, including Nature, Science, and Cell. Dr. Abraham served as Director, Professor, and consultant at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation; as Duke University's Glaxo-Wellcome Professor of Molecular Cancer Biology; and as Professor and Director of The Burnham Institute's Cancer Center in La Jolla, California. Dr. Abraham holds a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.S. in Biology from Bucknell University. Dr. Abraham previously served as a member of Allogene’s Board of Directors.
   
• Malcolm K. Brenner, M.D., Ph.D. – Dr. Brenner is the Fayez Sarofim Distinguished Service Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and founding Director of the Center for Cell and Gene Therapy at the Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Houston Methodist Hospital. As a professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Brenner’s expertise spans cell and gene therapy, molecular and human genetics, pediatrics, and translational biology & molecular medicine. His primary research interest is the use of gene transfer to augment the immune response to human tumors, using vaccines and adoptive transfer of genetically modified T cells. Dr. Brenner is also member of the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Brenner holds a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge, a M.B.Ch.B. from Westminster Medical College, and a B.S. from the University of Cambridge.

• Stephen J. Forman, M.D. – Dr. Forman is the Francis & Kathleen McNamara Distinguished Chair in Hematology and Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation and leader of the Hematologic Malignancies and Stem Cell Transplantation Institute and Director of the T Cell Therapeutics Research Laboratory at the City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center. An expert in leukemia, lymphoma and bone marrow transplantation, Dr. Forman has served at City of Hope for more than 40 years, deeply involved with the translational and clinical research at City of Hope's Toni Stephenson Lymphoma Center, Center for CAR T Cell Therapy, Judy and Bernard Briskin Center for Multiple Myeloma Research and the Gehr Family Center for Leukemia Research. Dr. Forman was recognized by the American Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation as the 2019 E. Donnall Thomas Lecturer, and awarded the 2019 DKMS Mechtild Harf Science Award. Dr. Forman holds an M.D. from the University of Southern California and a B.A. from St. John’s College.
   
• Wendell Lim, Ph.D. – Dr. Lim is chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). Dr. Lim also holds the Byers Distinguished Professorship at UCSF. As an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Dr. Lim’s laboratory is conducting research on the logic of cell signaling systems. Dr. Lim has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Cancer Institute since 2006 and is Deputy Director of the National Science Foundation Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center. Dr. Lim is also Director of the University of California San Francisco (UCSF)/University of California Berkeley National Institutes of Health (NIH) Nanomedicine Development Center and of the UCSF Center for Systems & Synthetic Biology. Dr. Lim holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.A., A.B. from Harvard University. He completed a postdoctoral training at Yale University.

The new advisors will join the existing SAB members, Chairman Ton Schumacher, Ph.D., Donald B. Kohn, M.D., Matthew Porteus, M.D., Ph.D., and Owen Witte, M.D.

About Allogene Therapeutics
Allogene Therapeutics, with headquarters in South San Francisco, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (AlloCAR T™) therapies for cancer. Led by a world-class management team with significant experience in cell therapy, Allogene is developing a pipeline of “off-the-shelf” CAR T cell therapy candidates with the goal of delivering readily available cell therapy on-demand, more reliably, and at greater scale to more patients. For more information, please visit www.allogene.com, and follow @AllogeneTx on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The press release may, in some cases, use terms such as "predicts," "believes," "potential," "proposed," "continue," "estimates," "anticipates," "expects," "plans," "intends," "may," "could," "might," "will," "should" or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding intentions, beliefs, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things: the ability to advance allogeneic CAR T therapies for cancer and leverage the next generation of gene engineering and cell manufacturing technologies to advance therapies in solid tumors and other hematologic malignancies, and the potential benefits of AlloCAR T therapy. Various factors may cause differences between Allogene’s expectations and actual results as discussed in greater detail in Allogene’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including without limitation in its Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018.  Any forward-looking statements that are made in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Allogene assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.

Allogene Media/Investor Contact:
Christine Cassiano
Chief Communications Officer
(714) 552-0326
Christine.Cassiano@allogene.com

Source: Allogene Therapeutics, Inc.