Wugen Announces Appointment of Jim Faulkner, Ph.D., as Chief Technology Officer

ST. LOUIS and SAN DIEGO, Feb. 26, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Wugen, Inc., a clinical-stage U.S. biotechnology company developing allogeneic, off-the-shelf cell therapies for the treatment of hematological and solid tumor malignancies, today announced the appointment of Jim Faulkner, Ph.D., as chief technology officer, initially serving on an interim basis.

“Jim brings a specialized skillset and innovative technology experience at the start of what will be a year of momentum for Wugen,” said Kumar Srinivasan, Ph.D., M.B.A., president and chief executive officer of Wugen. “Jim has been instrumental in bringing more than 25 different therapeutics into the clinic, including multiple gene therapy and CAR-T assets. We remain diligently focused on the launch of our pivotal Phase 2 trial for WU-CART-007, the first CD7-targeted allogeneic CAR-T cell therapy. Jim’s experience will be critical as we advance that program.”

“I was immediately impressed by this team’s laser-focused effort to advance WU-CART-007. The data they have generated suggest WU-CART-007 has great potential,” Dr. Faulkner said. “I’m excited to be joining a company that shares my dedication and commitment to moving the field of cell and gene therapy forward, and I’m especially excited about the opportunity to work with the team to pioneer novel allogeneic cell therapies.”

Dr. Faulkner’s vast experience in the field includes consulting and biotechnology company leadership roles. Currently, Dr. Faulkner operates an independent consultancy company advising clients on diverse aspects of gene and cell therapy development and serves as a non-executive director on several boards, including the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, based in London. A former venture partner at Apple Tree Partners (ATP), Dr. Faulkner simultaneously served as chief technical officer at Ascidian Therapeutics, a gene therapy company developing novel Exon Editing technology. Earlier, he was head of product delivery at Autolus Ltd, a clinical-stage CAR-T company spun out of University College London (UCL), where he was a member of the core senior team that advanced the company from start-up to successful IPO in three years.

Dr. Faulkner holds a degree in biotechnology from the University of Leeds in the U.K. and completed a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology while at the Centre for Applied Microbiology and Research. After starting his career at British Biotech, he joined GlaxoSmithKline, where he held a series of increasingly senior roles in biopharmaceutical development.

About WU-CART-007
WU-CART-007 is an allogeneic, off-the-shelf, fratricide-resistant CD7-targeted CAR-T cell therapy engineered to overcome the technological challenges of harnessing CAR-T cells to treat CD7+ hematological malignancies. Wugen is deploying CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology to delete CD7 and the T cell receptor alpha constant (TRAC), preventing CAR-T cell fratricide and mitigating the risk of graft-versus-host-disease (GvHD). WU-CART-007 is manufactured using healthy donor-derived T cells to eliminate the risk of malignant cell contamination historically observed in the autologous CAR-T setting. WU-CART-007 is currently being evaluated in a global Phase 1/2 clinical trial for the treatment of relapsed or refractory (R/R) T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL)/lymphoblastic lymphoma (LBL). More information on the Phase 1/2 trial is available on clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT# 04984356 and on the Phase 2 pivotal trial on clinicaltrials.gov, identifier NCT06514794.

WU-CART-007 has received Regenerative Medicine Advanced Therapy (RMAT), Fast Track, Orphan Drug, and Rare Pediatric Disease designations from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Priority Medicines (PRIME) Scheme designation in the European Union for the treatment of relapsed/refractory (R/R) T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) and T cell lymphoblastic lymphoma (T-LBL). RMAT and PRIME designations provide increased agency support to expedite the development and review of promising therapies for patients in need.

About Wugen
Wugen, Inc. is a clinical-stage U.S. biotechnology company developing the next generation of off-the-shelf CAR-T and memory natural killer (NK) cell therapies for cancer. For more information, please visit www.wugen.com and follow Wugen’s LinkedIn page.

Investor Contact:
Mark Lewis
Wugen
Mlewis@wugen.com
314-501-1968

Media Contact:
Cory Tromblee
Scient PR
cory@scientpr.com