CEO Today USA Awards

NEW JERSEY www.ceotodaymagazine.com 62 CEO Today USAAwards 2018 nature’s stem cell factory and the most abundant source of cells and biomaterials that can be used to treat disease. We have invested 20 years in understanding how cells from the placenta can be used as cellular ‘medicines’, and now, we have a comprehensive portfolio of commercial products and clinical-stage, investigational therapies that have the potential to treat diseases ranging from cancer to degenerative diseases, and even to augment the immune system to fight infectious disease. I am very proud of the fact that we are in a global leadership position in this space, and have the opportunity to shape the future for this entire industry and the patients we reach. What has been your greatest discovery in the study of stem cells and tissue engineering? Our greatest discovery has been understanding the placenta is a natural bio- reactor – responsible for the proliferation, propagation and differentiation of cells that can be called upon for therapeutic purposes. Stem cells derived from healthy placenta are abundant, scalable and versatile. Moreover, they are considered universal donor cells, so they do not need to be matched to be used for a specific recipient. While much of the world was discarding the placenta, we developed the procurement system enabling us to isolate derivatives of this biological waste material and refine them into cellular and biomaterial products. We have several of those products on the market today, treating everything from serious burns and wounds to reconstructive surgical purposes, and we are aggressively building that part of our business. We continue leading in augmented immunity, through which placental derived immune cells and biological materials can be used to repair anything that’s damaged as a consequence of disease or injury. In the background of the work we’re doing, the application of our cell development platform is one of the most powerful technologies in the quest to increase human lifespan and maintain physical and neurological performance as we age. In addition to Celularity, you also founded Celgene Cellular Therapeutics – what are the main differences between the two? Celgene Cellular Therapeutics is the predecessor company of Celularity. My original company was acquired by Celgene, became its cell therapy division, and then we spun out that business into Celularity. Celularity has grown exponentially from the original company that I founded 20 years ago to the global leader it is today. The world-class leadership team I have assembled has been integral to the success of numerous clinical development and commercial programs, has deep experience across discovery research, clinical development and commercialization in cancer immunotherapies and cell therapeutics. What would you say is the backbone to Celularity’s success and research? A commitment to scientific innovations and advancing the development of the next generation of off-the-shelf allogeneic cell therapies is woven into the fabric of our company culture. We have a team of the best scientists in the world who have been uncovering and unlocking the biological power of the placenta, and developing the systems and the data to support the use of the cells and biological materials in the treatment of different diseases and injuries. The backbone to our success has been the world-class science that is done at our company, and the other very important factor is that we have always been ahead of the curve. I am an aviator – my life’s passion -- and I have been flying longer than anything else I do. Just as in the cockpit, I have been described as most comfortable “flying at the edge of the envelope.” To me, this means learning to operate and be effective at the upper limits of performance. Celularity operates at the edge of the envelope as well. We push ourselves to be ahead of the industry by a decade in virtually everything we do: we were the first to discover the placenta as a source of cells; we were the first to put those cells into human beings; we were the first to unlock the immunologic activity of the placenta and how it can be used to change the way we treat cancer being the world’s first and leading allogeneic immunotherapy company; and we were the first to turn the biological Q Q Q “The backbone to our success has been the world-class science that is done at our company, but the other very important factor is that we have always been ahead of the curve.”