Cytonus expands its Scientific Advisory Board with mRNA expert Michael Houston, PhD

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cytonus Therapeutics, Inc. has expanded its Scientific Advisory Board with the appointment of Michael Houston, PhD, former Chief Scientific Officer of TriLink the leading mRNA Contract Research Organization.

“It is a great privilege for Cytonus to be joined by Dr. Houston, who has contributed important advances in the field of mRNA therapeutics,” said Richard Klemke, PhD., Cytonus’ cofounder and Chief Scientific Officer.

Cytonus’ Scientific Advisor Board is comprised of accomplished business leaders, distinguished research scientists, and key opinion leaders from prestigious academic institutions, immune-oncology centers, cell therapy centers and private industry.

“I am excited to join the Scientific Advisory Board of Cytonus Therapeutics and feel it's critical to advance delivery systems other than LNPs to target diseases beyond the liver,” said Dr. Houston. “Cargocytes are novel delivery vehicles which enable delivery of a variety of biological agents to a variety of tissues and organs, including tumors, the brain and fibrotic tissues.”

Dr. Houston brings over 25 years of experience as a leader in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries to Cytonus. As Chief Scientific Officer of TriLink he led teams developing new mRNA capping technologies as well as optimizing processes for making mRNA therapeutics and vaccines.

“The expertise and operational perspectives of Dr. Houston will help accelerate the realization of our shared vision for Cytonus as a new and differentiated mRNA based therapeutic company,” said Remo Moomiaie-Qajar, MD., Cytonus’ cofounder and CEO. “The field of mRNA therapeutics is currently anchored to Lipid Nano Particle usage as an approach; at Cytonus we are utilizing mRNA in a highly differentiated approach via our Cargocyte platform. Dr. Houston has been influential in the growth of the industry and TriLink and we are extremely excited to work with him to realize the next generation of mRNA therapeutics.”

Prior to TriLink, Dr. Houston was the Chief Scientific Officer at PhaseRx, where he developed mRNA-based therapeutics. He also served as Vice President of Chemistry and Formulations for Marina Biotech, where he led a team in the development of siRNA-based therapies and LNP-based delivery systems.

Dr. Houston has considerable experience in peptide-based therapeutics, as demonstrated in his role as Vice President of Preclinical Chemistry and CMC at Ascent Therapeutics. He also served as Senior Director of Chemistry and Formulations at Nastech Pharmaceutics. He received a Ph.D. in bio-organic chemistry and a B.Sc. with honors in chemistry from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

About Cytonus Therapeutics, Inc.

Cytonus is a San Diego-based biotech company that has developed a vast platform of proprietary immunotherapeutic products to treat a wide range of medical conditions including cancers, infectious diseases, inflammatory diseases, and cognitive disorders, and to improve patient outcomes. Its proprietary Cargocyte™ technologies are next-generation biomolecular delivery devices which have numerous medical applications across unmet therapeutic areas. Cargocytes™ are engineered to safely transport a multiplicity of therapeutic payloads into difficult-to-reach targeted tissues, and can be programmed to deliver selective, potent, and controllable "off-the-shelf" therapies.

For more information, visit www.cytonus.com and follow Cytonus on LinkedIn and on Twitter at: @CytonusTx.

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