Adicet Announces Promotion of Blake Aftab, Ph.D. to Chief Scientific Officer

MENLO PARK, Calif. and BOSTON, Oct. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Adicet Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACET), a biotechnology company discovering and developing first-in-class allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapies for cancer and other diseases, today announced Blake Aftab, Ph.D., has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. In this role, Dr. Aftab will be responsible for the continued expansion of Adicet’s pipeline of therapeutic candidates in solid and hematologic tumors.

“It is my pleasure to announce Blake’s promotion to Chief Scientific Officer. During his tenure, Blake’s strong scientific acumen, leadership, and deep knowledge of cell therapies has led us to new strategic opportunities for expansion of our preclinical pipeline of allogeneic gamma delta T cell product candidates,” said Chen Schor, President and Chief Executive Officer of Adicet. “In addition to the momentum we’re seeing in our research and development initiatives, we are excited for the future as we plan to take our first glimpse at interim data from our ongoing Phase 1 trial of ADI-001 in non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Adicet’s ADI-001 Phase 1 study marks the first gamma delta CAR-T cell therapy in clinical development, and we look forward to seeing preliminary data later this year.”

Dr. Aftab has served as Vice President and Head of Research since April 2021. Prior to Adicet, he was Vice President and Head of Preclinical Science and Translational Medicine at Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc., where he contributed to the company’s initial transition to cell therapy and led the focus on developing Allo-CAR T cell therapies. Previously, Dr. Aftab led multiple research programs at University of California, San Francisco focused on drug discovery and clinical translation in multiple myeloma, including early research supporting targeted approaches for CD38, as well as other impactful targets of interest for CAR-T therapies. Dr. Aftab received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and holds a B.Sc. in Pharmacology and Drug Discovery, from The University of California, Santa Barbara.

“Adicet is home to strong science and a world-leading foundation for delivering allogeneic gamma delta CAR T cell therapeutics at this important time in the field of cell therapy,” said Dr. Aftab. “I am excited to lead this exceptional team in our mission to meet the needs of patients suffering from life threatening diseases.”

About Adicet Bio, Inc.

Adicet Bio, Inc. is a biotechnology company discovering and developing allogeneic gamma delta T cell therapies for cancer and other diseases. Adicet is advancing a pipeline of “off-the-shelf” gamma delta T cells, engineered with chimeric antigen receptors and T cell receptor-like targeting moieties to enhance selective tumor targeting, facilitate innate and adaptive anti-tumor immune response, and improve persistence for durable activity in patients. For more information, please visit our website at http://www.adicetbio.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" of Adicet within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 relating to business and operations of Adicet including, but not limited to, Adicet's advancement of ADI-001 for the treatment of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, including expectations regarding the timing, success and data announcements of the ongoing Phase 1 study; Adicet’s growth as a company; and the anticipated contribution of the members of Adicet’s executive team to the company’s operations and progress. Any forward-looking statements in this press release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs of future events, and are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially and adversely from those set forth in or implied by such forward-looking statements, including without limitation, the effect of COVID-19 on Adicet’s business and financial results, including with respect to disruptions to its clinical trials and business operations; future clinical studies may fail to demonstrate adequate safety and efficacy of our product candidates, which would prevent, delay, or limit the scope of regulatory approval and commercialization; regulatory approval processes of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and comparable foreign regulatory authorities are lengthy, time-consuming, and inherently unpredictable; as well as those risks and uncertainties set forth in Adicet’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). For a discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, and other important factors, any of which could cause Adicet’s actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements, see the section entitled “Risk Factors” in Adicet’s most recent annual report on Form 10-K and periodic reports on Form 10-Q and Form 8-K filed with the SEC, as well as discussions of potential risks, uncertainties, and other important factors in Adicet’s other filings with the SEC. All information in this press release is as of the date of the release, and Adicet undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.

Adicet Bio, Inc.
Investor and Media Contacts
Anne Bowdidge
abowdidge@adicetbio.com

Janhavi Mohite
Stern Investor Relations, Inc.
212-362-1200
janhavi.mohite@sternir.com