Obsidian Therapeutics Appoints Maria Fardis, Ph.D., as Chair of its Board of Directors

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies, today announced that Maria Fardis, Ph.D., has assumed the role of Chair of Obsidian's Board of Directors. Dr. Fardis succeeds Peter Barrett, Ph.D., who served as Chair of the Board since the Company's inception in 2015 and will remain as a member of the Board.

"Maria joined our Board in October 2021 and has been instrumental in the Company's preparations for a pivotal 2022," said Paul Wotton, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Obsidian. "Maria pioneered the development of TIL therapies at scale, and I look forward to working in partnership with her. Maria will help guide us as we navigate this next phase of growth, including the IND of OBX-115, an engineered TIL armored with membrane-bound IL15 for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma, which we expect will be submitted this year."

Dr. Wotton continued, "My thanks to Peter for his dedicated years of leadership as Board Chair. He had the vision to seed key investments in the early days of the Company, and his support and expertise were critical to our early successes."

Dr. Fardis added, "Obsidian is developing the next generation of engineered TIL products that may offer advantages to unmodified TIL therapy by tethering regulated IL15 onto TIL and demonstrating persistence and potency of OBX-115 in human patient-derived-xenograft (PDX) models without reliance on IL2. I am excited to be able to contribute to the development of this therapy and look forward to working closely with the management team. Peter's leadership and support in driving forward progress and defining Obsidian's path to success has brought the Company a long way, and we hope to continue with that momentum as we move toward bringing this therapy to the clinic in 2022."

Dr. Barrett concluded, "I join my fellow Board Directors in extending our congratulations to Maria on becoming the new Chair. We are confident that her leadership and expertise in the field will be instrumental in ensuring Obsidian's success."

About OBX-115
OBX-115 is Obsidian's lead cytoTIL15 program, currently in preclinical development for the treatment of patients with metastatic melanoma and other solid tumors. OBX-115 is a novel engineered tumor infiltrating lymphocyte therapy armed with regulated membrane-bound IL15 that is designed to remove the need for concomitant IL2 therapy, a toxic and costly requirement for conventional TILs. The Company expects to submit an IND for OBX-115 in 2022.

About Obsidian Therapeutics
Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc. is a biotechnology company pioneering engineered cell and gene therapies to deliver transformative outcomes for patients with intractable diseases. Obsidian's proprietary cytoDRiVE® technology provides a way to precisely control the timing and level of protein function by using FDA approved small molecules. Obsidian is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass. The Company has collaborations with Bristol Myers Squibb and Vertex Pharmaceuticals. For more information, please visit www.obsidiantx.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

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SOURCE Obsidian Therapeutics