New York, NY (Press Release) – Mustang Bio, Inc. (“Mustang”) (NASDAQ: MBIO), a clin­i­cal-stage bio­pharma­ceu­tical com­pany focused on translating today’s medical breakthroughs in cell and gene ther­a­pies into poten­tial cures for hema­to­logic cancers, solid tumors and rare genetic diseases, today announced that City of Hope, a world-renowned independent cancer research and treat­ment center, has begun enrolling patients with re­lapsed or treat­ment-resistant multiple myeloma in an inno­va­tive CS1 chi­meric an­ti­gen re­cep­tor (CAR) T cell ther­apy (MB-104) trial.

The Phase 1 clin­i­cal trial is the first au­tol­o­gous CAR T trial to target the CS1 protein, which is ex­pressed by cancer cells in nearly all multiple myeloma patients. CS1 also has a low ex­pres­sion on normal tissues, preventing those cells from being severely damaged during treat­ment.

“Multiple myeloma accounts for 10% of all blood and bone marrow cancers. CS1 is a very promising target for multiple myeloma patients who cur­rently have few viable treat­ment options,” said Xiuli Wang, Ph.D., City of Hope research pro­fessor in the Department of Hematology & Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation. Dr. Wang’s team devel­oped the CS1 CAR T and tested it suc­cess­fully in pre­clin­i­cal and translational research.

To qualify for the trial, multiple myeloma patients will need to have tried three other treat­ment options and ex­peri­enced a relapse or found that the disease is treat­ment-resistant, and they must test pos­i­tive for the CS1 an­ti­gen. During the trial, the patients’ T cells will be collected in­tra­venously and re­en­gi­neered in a City of Hope good manu­fac­tur­ing practice (GMP) facility to express CS1 CARs. The CAR T cells will then be multiplied in a lab and infused back into the patient, where they are ex­pec­ted to proliferate inside a patient’s body and better recog­nize and kill cancer cells.

Manuel Litchman, M.D., Pres­i­dent and Chief Executive Officer of Mustang, said, “This groundbreaking CS1 CAR T trial rep­re­sents an exciting devel­op­ment for multiple myeloma patients. We look forward to learning more about its poten­tial to address this dif­fi­cult-to-treat disease.”

About Mustang Bio

Mustang Bio, Inc. (“Mustang”) is a clin­i­cal-stage bio­pharma­ceu­tical com­pany focused on translating today’s medical breakthroughs in cell and gene ther­a­pies into poten­tial cures for hema­to­logic cancers, solid tumors and rare genetic diseases. Mustang aims to acquire rights to these tech­nolo­gies by licensing or other­wise acquiring an ownership interest, to fund research and devel­op­ment, and to outlicense or bring the tech­nolo­gies to mar­ket. Mustang has partnered with top medical institutions to ad­vance the devel­op­ment of CAR T and CRISPR/Cas9-enhanced CAR T ther­a­pies across multiple cancers, as well as a lentiviral gene ther­apy for XSCID. Mustang is registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and files periodic reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Com­mis­sion. Mustang was founded by Fortress Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ: FBIO). For more in­for­ma­tion, visit www.mustangbio.com.

Forward‐Looking Statements

This press release may con­tain “forward-looking state­ments” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, each as amended. Such state­ments in­clude, but are not limited to, any state­ments relating to our growth strategy and prod­uct devel­op­ment pro­grams and any other state­ments that are not historical facts. Forward-looking state­ments are based on man­agement’s current ex­pec­ta­tions and are subject to risks and un­cer­tain­ties that could neg­a­tively affect our business, operating results, financial con­di­tion and stock value. Factors that could cause actual results to differ ma­teri­ally from those cur­rently antic­i­pated in­clude: risks relating to our growth strategy; our ability to obtain, per­form under and main­tain financing and strategic agree­ments and rela­tion­ships; risks relating to the results of research and devel­op­ment activities; risks relating to the timing of starting and com­plet­ing clin­i­cal trials; un­cer­tain­ties relating to pre­clin­i­cal and clin­i­cal testing; our dependence on third-party suppliers; our ability to attract, integrate and retain key per­son­nel; the early stage of prod­ucts under devel­op­ment; our need for sub­stan­tial addi­tional funds; gov­ern­ment reg­u­la­tion; patent and intellectual property matters; com­pe­ti­tion; as well as other risks described in our SEC filings. We expressly disclaim any obli­ga­tion or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking state­ments con­tained herein to reflect any change in our ex­pec­ta­tions or any changes in events, con­di­tions or cir­cum­stances on which any such state­ment is based, except as required by law.

Source: Mustang Bio.