Medgenics Hires Michael Diem as Senior Vice President of Business and Corporate Development

PHILADELPHIA, PA--(Marketwired - May 3, 2016) - Medgenics, Inc. (NYSE MKT: MDGN) today announced the appointment of Michael Diem, MD as Senior Vice President of Corporate and Business Development. Dr. Diem will be a key member of the Medgenics leadership team, heading all business and corporate development activities. Mike was recently with AstraZeneca as the Head of Corporate Strategy and Corporate Development, where he was responsible globally for corporate strategy, corporate development and MedImmune Ventures. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Mike was the Head of Business Development for GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Rare Diseases where he was responsible for partnerships, licensing and mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Earlier in his career at GSK, Mike was a partner in its corporate venture capital firm, SR One, Limited where he was responsible for many of the firm's investments and served on the boards of numerous companies. Prior to GSK, Mike was an associate at Frantz Medical Ventures and practiced medicine for 6 years. He holds a BA in biological sciences from Rutgers University, an MD from the Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, completed his medical training at Duke University Medical Center and is an alumnus of the Kauffman Fellows Program. 

"We are very pleased to announce the appointment of Mike to our team," said Mike Cola, Chief Executive Officer of Medgenics. "Mike brings tremendous experience resulting from multiple strategic corporate development roles to Medgenics, and he will contribute significantly to our future growth as a company." 

In connection with the appointment of Dr. Diem, the Compensation Committee of the Medgenics Board of Directors has granted him inducement awards consisting of stock options covering up to 350,000 shares of the Company's common stock, $0.0001 par value per share (Common Stock), at a per share exercise price of $5.10, representing the closing price of the Common Stock on the grant date, May 2, 2016. These options have a 10-year term, with one-third of the options vesting on the first anniversary of grant, the balance vesting in equal increments on a monthly basis thereafter, subject to Dr. Diem's continuous service through each vesting date. The Compensation Committee of the Medgenics Board of Directors, which is comprised solely of independent directors, granted this award on May 2, 2016 pursuant to a stand-alone award agreement outside of Medgenics' Stock Incentive Plan, as an inducement material to Dr. Diem's acceptance of his appointment to the company in accordance with Section 711 of the NYSE MKT Company Guide.

About Medgenics, Inc.

Medgenics is dedicated to unlocking the potential of genomic medicine to identify and treat patients with life-altering conditions. Its efforts, including its internal research and development and ongoing sponsored research and licensing agreements with a well-respected pediatric academic medical center, give Medgenics the ability to focus on the underlying genetic pathway of pediatric diseases with the goal of finding therapeutic solutions for subpopulations of both children and adults living with rare and other difficult-to-treat diseases. Medgenics is the developer of TARGT™ (Transduced Autologous Restorative Gene Therapy), a proprietary platform for the sustained production and delivery of therapeutic proteins, monoclonal antibodies and peptides in patients using ex vivo gene therapy and their own tissue for the treatment of rare and orphan diseases. For more information, visit the Company's website at www.medgenics.com.

Forward-looking Statements
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