ARUNA BIO APPOINTS STEPHEN FROM AS CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Experienced biotech CEO will advance novel neural exosome to the clinic for neuro-inflammatory and neuro-degenerative diseases

ATHENS, Ga. and CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aruna Bio, a leader in the development of neural exosomes for the treatment of neuro-inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the appointment of Stephen From as Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr. From succeeds Skip Irving who served as interim CEO and who will continue to serve on the Aruna Bio Board of Directors.

"I am very excited to welcome Stephen From as our next CEO. Stephen brings to Aruna extensive experience in building biopharma companies, establishing collaborations and advancing promising products from the research stage and into the clinic," said Mr. Bill Griffin, Chairman of the Aruna Bio Board of Directors. "Having established the unique therapeutic activity of our neural stem cell-derived exosomes, Stephen is the perfect person to exploit these therapeutic properties and guide the development of innovative products for patients with CNS disorders."

"The inherent ability of NEUR-EX neural exosomes to reduce neuro-inflammation, provide neuro-protection and stimulate neuro-regeneration when administered portends a valuable therapeutic role in a potentially wide range of inflammatory and degenerative diseases in the brain," said Mr. From. "Aruna Bio's top priority moving forward is to complete IND enabling studies and file the first ever IND for neural exosomes and establish clinical safety and potentially proof-of-concept for a CNS condition. I look forward to working with Dr. Steven Stice and the Aruna Bio team to achieve this objective."

Prior to joining Aruna Bio, Mr. From served as CEO and Chairman of EyeGate Pharmaceuticals, where he led the company from an early technology platform to a publicly financed product development company. He has experience in drug delivery, clinical development, and working with the FDA. Prior to EyeGate, he worked in investment banking for Bank of America and Robertson Stephens.

"The Aruna Bio Board of Directors would also like to thank Dr. Mark Sirgo for his leadership of the company over the last three years," said Skip Irving, Interim CEO and Director. "Mark provided valuable leadership to the company during his tenure."

Exosomes are naturally derived particles involved in the essential communication between different cells in the body. Dr. Steven Stice, a leading expert in stem cells, is Professor and Director of the University of Georgia's Regenerative Bioscience Center and discovered the neural stem cell platform and the highly-differentiated properties of these neural exosomes. As Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Aruna Bio, Dr. Stice and his team have further elucidated and proven the inherent therapeutic properties of neural-derived exosomes, their ability to cross the blood-brain-barrier and to incorporate other therapeutic moieties such as proteins and oligonucleotides.

Aruna Bio is a leader in the development of neural exosomes for the treatment of neuro-inflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases. A spin-out of the University of Georgia and privately financed, the company recently commissioned a state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility to ensure product consistency. The company is rapidly advancing its proprietary NEUR-EX neural stem cell-derived exosome platform to an IND and first-in-man clinical studies in selective CNS therapeutic development programs. The company intends to pursue, selective CNS programs by leveraging the special properties inherent in neural exosomes, as the exosome alone or in combination with other therapeutic moieties.

SOURCE Aruna Bio, Inc.