Cellectis Announces Chief Medical Officer Appointment to Senior Leadership Team

New York, January 7, 2016 – Cellectis (Alternext: ALCLS – Nasdaq: CLLS), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing immunotherapies based on gene edited CAR T-cells (UCART), announced today the appointment of Dr. Loan Hoang-Sayag to the role of Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Hoang-Sayag’s responsibilities will include bringing the Company's product candidates into clinical stage development, as well as strategic and operational management of all therapeutic activities for Cellectis. Dr. Hoang-Sayag joins Cellectis from Quintiles Transnational, where she was most recently Senior Director of Medical Science.

“Dr. Hoang-Sayag’s experience in oncology clinical development – specifically in strategy and delivery in all phases in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and clinical research spaces – enables her to lead Cellectis’ strategy and generate awareness around the breakthrough work that we are doing as a leader and innovator in the field,” said Dr. André Choulika, Ph.D., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cellectis. “Her relationship-building and communication skills, deep understanding of the global environment in oncology clinical research and close relationships with regulatory and business development units add a high caliber of talent and depth to our current leadership team. This will be extremely beneficial as Cellectis continues to build upon its brand and expand our product candidates into clinical stage development.”

“Dr. Hoang-Sayag’s impressive and extensive professional background makes her a perfect fit for the Cellectis team, as her clinical development expertise will play a key role in helping us to achieve our goals and strategic priorities in 2016 and beyond,” added Dr. Mathieu Simon, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Cellectis. “At Cellectis, we have always made it our mission to bring the best and brightest leaders on board, especially at the senior management level, and Dr. Hoang-Sayag fits the bill.”

Dr. Hoang-Sayag is a board-certified physician in hematology and medical oncology with 23 years of experience – eight years in the hospital / university setting and 15 years in oncology clinical development. In her most recent role, she was at Quintiles Transnational for 10 years where she held the positions of Associate Medical Director, Medical Director and Senior Director of Medical Science. Prior to Quintiles, she was at Pierre Fabre Oncology, serving as the oncology project leader in charge of a variety of clinical studies for this France-based pharmaceutical company. Additionally, Dr. Hoang-Sayag was a medical manager at Hoffmann La Roche in France where she was responsible for clinical development and medical affairs activities for several new oncology drugs. Dr. Hoang-Sayag will report to Mathieu Simon, MD, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Cellectis.

“CAR T-cell therapy presents great potential to improve cancer patient treatment in a profound way. I am pleased and proud to join Cellectis, which is, by its unique pioneering approach, one of the most highly science-driven, innovative and dynamic biotech company,” said Dr. Hoang-Sayag, Chief Medical Officer at Cellectis.