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Source: Cabaletta Bio

Cabaletta Bio Appoints Experienced Financial Executive, Richard Henriques, to its Board of Directors

RADNOR, Pa., Feb. 19, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cabaletta Bio, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of cellular therapies for B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases, announced today the appointment of Mr. Richard C. Henriques, Jr., MBA, to its Board of Directors. He will also be a Chair of the Audit Committee. Mr. Henriques joins Cabaletta with more than 25 years of financial executive experience.

“Dick’s extensive financial experience, particularly throughout his career in the biopharmaceutical industry, will be an important asset to Cabaletta as we continue to build our corporate infrastructure and advance our pipeline into clinical development,” said Steven Nichtberger, M.D., Co-founder, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Cabaletta Bio. “In addition, Dick’s experience serving on several Boards will be particularly valuable as we rely on Dick to provide experienced financial judgement and expertise building financial infrastructures for small companies.”

Mr. Henriques has broad financial expertise. He is currently Senior Fellow at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, he was the Chief Financial Officer for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he was responsible for finance and accounting, financial planning and analysis, strategic planning, measurement and evaluation, program related investments and information technology. Prior to this, Mr. Henriques served for more than 25 years in the finance organization at Merck & Co., Inc., where he held many roles with increasing responsibility. Most recently, he was Senior Vice President of Finance for Global Human Health. He also served as Vice President and Corporate Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer, among other roles.  In both roles, Mr. Henriques provided direct financial support for Merck’s worldwide human health commercial operations.  Mr. Henriques currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors for Arbutus Biopharma, Nativis, The Franklin Institute, the Pennsylvania State Chapter of The Nature Conservancy, Episcopal Community Services (a Philadelphia based social services organization) and Delaware Canal 21. He holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Oriental Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.B.A. with a concentration in Finance from The Wharton School. 

Editor’s Note: Dr. Nichtberger is a University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”) adjunct faculty member and holds an equity stake in the Company, and Penn is an equity holder and investor in the Company. In addition, both Penn and the inventors of the licensed technology may receive additional financial benefits under the license in the future.

About CAAR T Cell Therapy

Chimeric AutoAntibody Receptor (CAAR) T cells are engineered to bind and destroy only disease-causing B cells, while sparing the normal B cells which are essential for human health. CAAR T cells are based on the revolutionary chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell technology developed at the University of Pennsylvania. Rather than a CD19-targeting molecule, CAAR T cells express an autoantibody-targeted antigen on their surface. The 4-1BB co-stimulatory domain and the CD3-zeta signaling domain of the CAAR construct carry out the same activation and cytotoxic functions as in CAR T cells. Thus, Cabaletta’s CAARs direct the patient’s T cells to kill only the self-reactive B cell population, potentially leading to complete and durable remission of disease while sparing all other B cell populations that provide beneficial immunity from infection.

About Cabaletta Bio

Cabaletta Bio is focused on the discovery and development of T cell therapies for B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases. Cabaletta’s therapeutic platform produces highly selective autologous Chimeric AutoAntibody Receptor (CAAR) T cells that are designed to precisely bind and destroy only specific autoantibody-producing B cells while sparing normal antibody-producing B cells, which are essential for human health. The platform is based on the revolutionary Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell technology developed at the University of Pennsylvania (“Penn”) that resulted in one of the first commercially-available CAR T cell products for the treatment of B cell malignancies. Cabaletta was founded by Penn physician/scientists Michael Milone, M.D., Ph.D., and Aimee Payne, M.D., Ph.D., who serve as co-chairs of Cabaletta’s Scientific Advisory Board and Steven Nichtberger, M.D., CEO of Cabaletta. Cabaletta has an exclusive global licensing agreement and multiple sponsored research agreements with the University of Pennsylvania to develop the CAAR T technology to treat B cell-mediated autoimmune diseases.  The Company’s lead therapeutic program is a potential treatment for a prototypical B cell-mediated autoimmune disease, mucosal pemphigus vulgaris (mPV), which is a rare skin disorder that causes painful blisters and sores on mucous membranes leading to severe and sometimes debilitating and life-altering effects. An IND submission is planned for 2H19. For more information, visit www.cabalettabio.com.  

Contacts:
Steven Nichtberger, M.D.
Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
investors@cabalettabio.com

Media:
Nancie Steinberg
212-213-0006, ext. 318
nsteinberg@burnsmc.com

Robert Flamm, Ph.D.
212-213-0006, ext. 364
rflamm@burnsmc.com

Investors:
Bill Slattery, Jr.
212-213-0006, ext. 351
bslattery@burnsmc.com