CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American and TASE: LCTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic cell therapies for unmet medical needs, and the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing innovative research and improving quality of life for individuals impacted by paralysis, are proud to again collaborate to present the 2^nd Annual Spinal Cord Injury Investor Symposium (“2^nd SCIIS”). The 2^nd SCIIS builds upon a successful inaugural event held on June 29, 2023, and will connect a diverse set of stakeholders in the field of spinal cord injury (SCI). This year’s event aims to accelerate development in SCI research and treatments by bringing together companies working in the development of treatments for SCI, with regulators, key opinion leaders, persons with lived experience, patient and community advocacy organizations and the investment community, in order to discuss perspectives on current and future treatment alternatives, impact and support SCI disease awareness and clinical trial participation through the implementation of patient appropriate clinical endpoints, and importantly, broaden awareness of and investment capital into SCI. The 2nd SCIIS will be held on June 26 and 27, 2024 at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla, CA.

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“We are excited to continue our collaboration with the Reeve Foundation on this event, which provides an excellent opportunity to highlight the important work being done by for-profit and non-profit organizations alike and to broaden awareness and impact for those affected by this debilitating condition,” stated Brian M. Culley, Lineage CEO. “Our aim at Lineage is to improve recovery and mobility by replacing the cells which are destroyed following a spinal cord injury. We are encouraged by the initial clinical testing which has been performed with our approach and look forward to continuing our work. In certain rare disease settings, we have seen that raising investor awareness can lead to greater investment, which can help to accelerate new treatments. This year’s symposium aims to build on the success of last year’s event and to continue to foster open and collaborative dialogue among leading experts, companies, researchers, persons with lived experience, caregivers, advocacy organizations, regulators and members of the investment community.”

“Real breakthroughs in SCI science require diverse stakeholders to start talking, sharing data and collaborating,” said Marco Baptista, Ph.D, Chief Scientific Officer at the Reeve Foundation. “We are focused on propelling the field forward and incentivizing high-risk, high-reward projects that can be translated from the lab into the clinic and make a real impact on quality of life. Success necessitates more collaboration among industry and academia, informed by those with lived experience. We’re excited to again bring together all those who are impacted by SCI and paralysis to explore and learn from promising science in progress.”

The 2^nd Annual Spinal Cord Injury Investor Symposium will be held in-person, on June 26 and 27, 2024, in the Duane Roth Auditorium at the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine in La Jolla, CA. This event will bring together both public and private companies developing new treatment options for people with spinal cord injury, alongside leaders in the spinal cord injury medical and advocacy communities. A number of important topics will be discussed, including but not limited to preclinical and clinical SCI treatment approaches and the drug development process; racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, geographic vulnerabilities within SCI care and outcomes; hearing the person’s with lived experience voice and ensuring patients’ perspectives, needs and priorities are captured in the drug development process; and discussions of SCI clinical endpoints and the need for new and more precise assessment tools.

About Spinal Cord Injuries

A spinal cord injury occurs when the spinal cord is subjected to a severe crush or contusion and frequently results in severe functional impairment, including limb paralysis, aberrant pain signaling, and loss of bladder control and other body functions. There are approximately 18,000 new spinal cord injuries annually in the U.S. The cost of a lifetime of care for a severe spinal cord injury can be as high as $5 million.

About the Sanford Consortium for Regenerative Medicine

The Sanford Consortium is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative community of scientists who share the goal to harness the potential of stem cells for the treatment and cure of human diseases. The Sanford Consortium marshals the intellectual resources of five world leaders in life sciences research: La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, Scripps Research, and the University of California, San Diego. Each of the Collaborating Organizations has substantive complementary research strengths that combined create a synergistic research enterprise, the whole of which is substantially greater than the sum of its parts. The Collaboratory has served as a focal point for stem cell science and has catalyzed increased collaboration among the stem cell research community. For more information, please visit www. https://www.sanfordconsortium.com/.

About the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research and improving the quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis. Additionally, through a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living, the Reeve Foundation’s National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC) promotes the health, well-being, and independence of people living with paralysis, providing comprehensive information, resources, and referral services assisting over 125,000 individuals and families since its launch in 2002. The Reeve Foundation is committed to elevating our community’s voices and needs to achieve greater representation and independence. We meet all 20 of the Better Business Bureau’s standards for charity accountability and hold the BBB’s Charity Seal. For more information, please visit ChristopherReeve.org or call 800-225-0292.

About Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel or “off-the-shelf,” cell therapies to address unmet medical needs. Lineage’s programs are based on its proprietary cell-based technology platform and associated development and manufacturing capabilities. From this platform, Lineage designs, develops, manufactures, and tests specialized human cells with anatomical and physiological functions similar or identical to cells found naturally in the human body. These cells are created by applying directed differentiation protocols to established, well-characterized, and self-renewing pluripotent cell lines. These protocols generate cells with characteristics associated with specific and desired developmental lineages. Cells derived from such lineages are transplanted into patients in an effort to replace or support cells that are absent or dysfunctional due to degenerative disease, aging, or traumatic injury, and to restore or augment the patient’s functional activity. Lineage’s neuroscience focused pipeline currently includes: (i) OpRegen, a retinal pigment epithelial cell therapy in Phase 2a development under a worldwide collaboration with Roche and Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, for the treatment of geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration; (ii) OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of spinal cord injuries; (iii) ANP1, an auditory neuronal progenitor cell therapy for the potential treatment of auditory neuropathy; (iv) PNC1, a photoreceptor neural cell therapy for the potential treatment of vision loss due to photoreceptor dysfunction or damage; and (v) RND1, a novel hypoimmune induced pluripotent stem cell line being developed in collaboration with Eterna Therapeutics Inc. For more information, please visit www.lineagecell.com or follow the company on X/Twitter @LineageCell.

Forward-Looking Statements

Lineage cautions you that all statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, in some cases, can be identified by terms such as “believe,” “aim,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “design,” “intend,” “expect,” “could,” “can,” “plan,” “potential,” “predict,” “seek,” “should,” “would,” “contemplate,” “project,” “target,” “tend to,” or the negative version of these words and similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to: the potential effect of the 2^nd SCIIS, including accelerating development in SCI, broadening SCI disease awareness, or increasing clinical trial participation; and the ability of cell transplant therapy approaches, including OPC1, to improve recovery or allow a patient to regain more mobility than what could otherwise be expected. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Lineage’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release, including, but not limited to, the following risks: that positive findings in early clinical and/or nonclinical studies of a product candidate may not be predictive of success in subsequent clinical and/or nonclinical studies of that candidate; that engagement with patients and the advocacy community may not lead to improvements in patient outcomes; and that raising investor awareness may not lead to greater investment, nor accelerate new treatments; and those risks and uncertainties inherent in Lineage’s business and other risks discussed in Lineage’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Lineage’s forward-looking statements are based upon its current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included under the heading “Risk Factors” in Lineage’s periodic reports with the SEC, including Lineage’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC and its other reports, which are available from the SEC’s website. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Lineage undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

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