Athersys adds Katherine Kalin, Jane Wasman and Baiju Shah to its Board of Directors

– USA, OH –  Athersys, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATHX), a clinical-stage regenerative medicine company, today announced the appointment of Katherine Kalin, Jane Wasman, and Baiju Shah to its board of directors.

“We are very excited about the addition of these outstanding individuals to our board of directors,” said Chairman and CEO, Dr. Gil Van Bokkelen. “They bring substantial experience in key areas that are relevant to our continued growth and evolution as we move ahead with our ongoing preparations for becoming a successful commercial company.”

Each of these senior executives possesses significant healthcare experience and is a strategic leader in the industry. This prestigious group of professionals will help lead the Company as it prepares for the potential commercialization of its investigational cell therapy, MultiStem.

Also, Dr. Lee Babiss, a committed director since 2010, has announced his retirement and has stepped down from the board. We thank Dr. Babiss for all his contributions and support over the past 10 years.

Dr. Van Bokkelen continued, “On behalf of the full board and the entire organization, I would like to thank Dr. Lee Babiss for his many years of dedicated service to Athersys. His significant contributions have helped Athersys to achieve key milestones in the Company’s history. We wish him the best in his retirement.”

About Katherine Kalin

Ms. Kalin brings more than 25 years of experience as a senior executive in healthcare and professional services to Athersys. She earned a BA from Durham University, U.K., and an MBA from Harvard Business School. Most recently, she was a senior executive at Celgene Corporation, where she led corporate strategy from 2012 to 2017. Before Celgene, she held leadership roles in marketing, sales, and new business development from 2002 to 2011 at Johnson & Johnson. Before that, Ms. Kalin was a partner in the global healthcare practice of McKinsey & Company, from 1990-2002. Her healthcare experience spans diagnostics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and digital health. She began her career as an investment banker at Nomura International Limited, from 1984-88, in Tokyo and London.

Ms. Kalin serves on several boards where she contributes her healthcare industry expertise. She currently serves as a non-executive director on the board of Genfit, S.A., a publicly-traded French biopharmaceutical company, where she serves on the alliances’ committee, and as a member of the boards of directors for several private companies, including Brown Advisory LLC, an independent investment and strategic advisory firm, where she serves on the audit and finance committees and Clinical Genomics Technologies Holdings Limited, a biotech dedicated to improving patient outcomes through early detection of colorectal cancer, where she serves on the audit & financial risk committee. She is also a member of the Advisory Board of Stardog, an enterprise data platform company, and PRIMARI Analytics Corporation, an artificial intelligence start-up. Ms. Kalin also serves on the board of two community-based, non-profit organizations.

About Jane Wasman

Ms. Wasman is a strategic leader with almost 25 years in the biopharma industry and extensive U.S. and international experience. She earned a JD from Harvard Law School and her undergraduate degree from Princeton University. She began her career as an attorney at two global law firms and was Associate Counsel for the U.S. Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. Her early career provided broad industry experience, including industrial, financial, real estate, and communications. Ms. Wasman served as President, International & General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Acorda Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly-traded biopharmaceutical company, from 2012 to December 2019, managing its international, legal, quality, intellectual property, and compliance functions, after serving in other executive roles at Acorda starting in 2004. Before joining Acorda, Ms. Wasman was with Schering-Plough Corporation, a global pharmaceutical company, for over eight years, holding various U.S. and international leadership positions, including Staff Vice President and Associate General Counsel.

She chairs the board of directors of Sellas Life Sciences, a publicly-traded biotechnology company, chairs its nominations & governance committee, and is a member of its audit, compensation, and finance committees. She also is a member of the board of directors of Rigel Pharmaceuticals, a publicly-traded biotechnology company, where she is a member of its nominations, governance & compliance committee and its scientific committee, and of the board of Cytovia Therapeutics, a private biotechnology company, where she is a member of its finance committee. She has been a member of the board of directors and a member of the executive committee of the New York Biotechnology Association since 2007. Additionally, she is co-founder of the NY Hub of BioDirector, an organization supporting board effectiveness and diversity.

About Baiju Shah

Mr. Shah is a seasoned executive, entrepreneur, and investor with more than 20 years of experience in building life science technology companies. He received a JD from Harvard Law School and a BA from Yale University. He began his business career as a consultant with McKinsey & Company, serving clients principally in growth and business-building engagements. Mr. Shah now serves as a Senior Fellow for Innovation at the Cleveland Foundation and a Senior Advisor to FasterCures, a Center of the Milken Institute. In those roles, he is focused on catalyzing, structuring, and advancing innovation partnerships. Mr. Shah previously served as CEO and a member of the board of directors of BioMotiv, an accelerator company aligned with the Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, a U.S. and U.K. drug development initiative from 2012 to February 2019. Before BioMotiv, Mr. Shah was CEO, a member of the board of directors, and a co-founder of BioEnterprise, a business that assists companies in securing resources and funding to support their growth.

Mr. Shah has been a member of the board of directors of Invacare Corporation and served on the Advisory Board for Citizens Financial Group. Mr. Shah also serves on the boards of several civic organizations and initiatives.

About Athersys

Athersys is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of therapeutic product candidates designed to extend and enhance the quality of human life. The Company is developing its MultiStem cell therapy product, a patented, adult-derived “off-the-shelf” stem cell product, initially for disease indications in the neurological, inflammatory and immune, cardiovascular, and other critical care indications and has several ongoing clinical trials evaluating this potential regenerative medicine product. Athersys has forged strategic partnerships and a broad network of collaborations to further advance the MultiStem cell therapy toward commercialization.

For more information: https://www.athersys.com/

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