Coeptis Therapeutics Establishes Scientific Advisory Board to Advance Cell Therapy Product Development

WEXFORD, Pa., Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Coeptis Therapeutics, Inc. (OTC PINK: COEP), a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative cell therapy platforms for cancer, today announces the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), which will contribute key guidance on the advancement of the Company's product portfolio highlighted by CD38-GEAR-NK, a cell therapy technology, and CD38-Diagnostic, an in vitro diagnostic, which the company is co-developing with VyGen-Bio, Inc. 

The Scientific Advisory Board is comprised initially of three renowned scientific researchers from the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; Evren Alici, M.D., Ph.D.; Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, M.D., Ph.D; and Arnika Kathleen Wagner, Ph.D.

"The formation of our Scientific Advisory Board and close affiliation with scientists from Karolinska Institutet marks an important milestone in the evolution of Coeptis Therapeutics and our mission to advance cell therapy platforms for cancer," said Dave Mehalick, President and CEO, Coeptis Therapeutics. "Drs. Alici, Ljunggren, and Wagner have been instrumental in the discovery of the GEAR-NK and GEAR Diagnostic platforms, from which our lead products, CD38-GEAR-NK and CD38 Diagnostic, are being developed. We now have the opportunity to benefit directly from their unparalleled knowledge of this technology and its potential to provide a safer and targeted administration of anti-CD38 mAbs in the treatment of CD38-associated cancers."

CD38-GEAR-NK is a natural killer (NK) cell-based investigational therapeutic engineered to enable combination therapy with anti-CD38 mAbs, potentially minimizing the risks and side effects from CD38-positive NK cell fratricide. The first indication is currently expected to be multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer of plasma cells.

CD38-Diagnostic is an investigational in vitro screening tool to potentially pre-determine which cancer patients are most likely to benefit from targeted anti-CD38 mAb therapies, either as monotherapy or in combination with CD38-GEAR-NK.

The members of the new SAB include:

Evren Alici, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Alici is the Head of the Gene and Cell Therapy Group, Division of Hematology, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital. As a senior researcher and group leader in Hematology at KI, Department of Medicine, he also serves as co-director of NextGenNK, an international Competence Center for the development of next-generation NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies based at KI. Dr. Alici received his M.D. and did his residency at the Ege University, Turkey. He earned his Ph.D. in 2006 at KI.

Dr. Alici's main research interests are novel approaches to generating universal cells including allogeneic NK cells, multiple myeloma, lentiviral and retroviral gene transfer, stem cell transplantation and immunology.

Dr. Alici participated in the planning and design of the first clinical study with gene-modified cells in Sweden and authored the final publication. Additionally, he was also responsible for the first-in-man autologous NK cell therapy clinical trial that was classified as advanced therapy medicinal product use. Dr. Alici is affiliated with VyGen-Bio.

Hans-Gustaf Ljunggren, M.D., PH.D.
Professor Ljunggren is the former Dean of Research at Karolinska Institutet and founder of the Center for Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Karolinska University Hospital and has functioned as Dean of Research at KI. He is a member of the Nobel Assembly at KI, which awards the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Professor Ljunggren earned his medical and doctoral degrees at KI and also serves as Center Director of NextGenNK, an international Competence Center for the development of next-generation NK cell-based cancer immunotherapies based at KI. In 2001, he was appointed Professor of Infection Medicine and Director of the Center for Infectious Medicine (CIM), a Strategic Research Center at the Department of Medicine, and has authored over 300 articles within the fields of immunology, infectious diseases and cancer and been cited more than 40,000 times.

Professor Ljunggren has been a member of the organizing or scientific committees of numerous international conferences and has had multiple national and international assignments, involving external research evaluations and participation in international advisory boards. Dr. Ljunggren is affiliated with VyGen-Bio.

Arnika Kathleen Wagner, Ph.D.
Since 2019, Dr. Wagner has been an assistant professor at the KI's Dept. of Medicine Huddinge, studying NK cells in immunotherapy in Multiple Myeloma. Dr. Wagner is particularly interested in advancing the use of genetically modified NK cells in different immunotherapeutic approaches.

Dr. Wagner earned her M.Sc. in 2008 from the University of Lübeck, Germany and conducted her Ph.D. studies under the supervision of Klas Kärre at the Dept of Microbiology, Tumor and Cell Biology, at KI, where her research focused on NK cells in mouse models for immunotherapy and studied the crosstalk of NK cells with other immune cells. Dr. Wagner is affiliated with VyGen-Bio.

About Coeptis Therapeutics

Coeptis Therapeutics, Inc., along with its wholly owned subsidiary Coeptis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (together "Coeptis"), is a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative cell therapy platforms for cancer that have the potential to disrupt conventional treatment paradigms and improve patient outcomes. Coeptis' product portfolio and rights is highlighted by a cell therapy technology (CD38-GEAR-NK) and an in vitro diagnostic (CD38-Diagnostic) targeting CD38-related cancers, which the company is developing with VyGen Bio and leading medical researchers at the Karolinska Institutet. Coeptis' business model is designed around maximizing the value of its current product portfolio and rights through in-license agreements, out-license agreements and co-development relationships, as well as entering into strategic partnerships to expand its product rights and offerings, specifically those targeting cancer. Coeptis was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Wexford, PA. For more information on Coeptis visit https://coeptistx.com/.

About Karolinska Institutet

Karolinska Institutet is one of the world's leading medical universities. Our vision is to advance knowledge about life and strive towards better health for all. Karolinska Institutet accounts for the single largest share of all academic medical research conducted in Sweden and offers the country's broadest range of education in medicine and health sciences. The Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet selects the Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine.

For more information about Karolinska Institutet, visit https://ki.se/en/research/research-at-karolinska-institutet

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SOURCE Coeptis Therapeutics