Allogene Therapeutics Announces Exclusive Collaboration and Global License Agreement with Antion Biosciences for Multiplex miCAR™ Technology

• miCAR Platform Enables Simultaneous Silencing of Multiple Gene Targets
  
• Allogene to Deploy miCAR and other Technologies to Create the Next Generation of Allogeneic Cell Products

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. and GENEVA, Jan. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allogene Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALLO), a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic CAR T (AlloCAR T™) products for cancer and Antion Biosciences, a Swiss cell and gene engineering company, today announced that they have entered into an exclusive collaboration and global license agreement for Antion’s miRNA technology (miCAR™) to advance multiplex gene silencing as an additional tool to develop next generation allogeneic CAR T products.

Antion is an early-stage research company with foundational miRNA technology. In preclinical studies, Antion has demonstrated proof-of-concept for multiplex gene silencing in an allogeneic CAR T cell model. These studies demonstrated the ability of miCAR™ technology to silence multiple gene targets in a single step and indicate this technology has broad application within cell and gene engineering. Allogene plans to deploy miCAR™ with other technologies to develop next-generation strategies for immune evasion and other advances in allogeneic CAR T therapy.

“We believe that Antion has one of the few technology options capable of delivering multiplex gene silencing with a high degree of specificity and potency,” said Rafael Amado, M.D., Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer. “We are excited to be working with Antion to explore how their miCAR technology may advance and accelerate Allogene’s research efforts aimed at creating best in class allogeneic cell therapies.”

As part of this agreement, Antion will exclusively collaborate with Allogene on oncology products for a defined period. Allogene will also have exclusive worldwide rights to commercialize products incorporating Antion technology developed during the collaboration. Allogene will provide Antion an upfront cash payment and a preferred equity investment. Allogene will pay Antion developmental and commercial milestones and a single-digit royalty on any product sales. Allogene will also take a seat on Antion’s Board of Directors.

“This collaboration represents an exciting validation of the power and flexibility of our miCAR platform,” said Sven Kili, M.D., Chief Executive Officer. “We are extremely enthusiastic to be working with Allogene, as the world leader in Allogeneic CAR T therapies to bring next-generation life changing therapies to patients.”

About Antion Biosciences
Antion Biosciences SA is a Swiss cell and gene engineering company developing highly innovative multiplexed allogeneic therapies to cure diseases with significant unmet medical needs through ground-breaking cell engineering. Antion’s proprietary Tunable Expression Modulators (TEM) and miCAR™ technologies allow efficient, simultaneous multi-gene silencing and gene addition in a single step, enabling the creation of multimodal treatments that have the ability to substantially enhance clinical safety and efficacy. These technologies are developed using a unique Smart Data approach to construct design and optimization, ensuring maximum efficiency. Antion’s pipeline is focused on curing challenging cancer and immunotherapy indications with simple, easy to administer cell therapies.

For more information please visit: https://antion.ch/

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™) products for cancer. Led by a management team with significant experience in cell therapy, Allogene is developing a pipeline of “off-the-shelf” CAR T cell product 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.

Allogene’s 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 progress the research collaboration, Antion’s ability to develop a next-generation approach to immune evasion, the ability to develop and manufacture new therapies from Antion technology, and the potential benefits of Antion technology and 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 SEC, including without limitation in its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021. 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.

AlloCAR T™ is a trademark of Allogene Therapeutics, Inc.
miCAR™ is a trademark of Antion Biosciences SA.

Antion Biosciences Contact:
Consilium Strategic Communications
Matthew Neal / Chris Gardner / Ashley Tapp
+44 (0)20 3709 5700
antion@consilium-comms.com

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