Dr. Alan Lewis has an established reputation for leadership in life sciences. Prior to joining Novocell, he served as CEO and director of Signal Pharmaceuticals before its acquisition in 2000 by Celgene, a biopharmaceutical company focused on small-molecule drugs for cancer and immunological diseases. He then served as president of the Signal Research Division at Celgene. Dr. Lewis previously held the position of vice president of research at Wyeth-Ayerst, where he spent 15 years leading research efforts in diabetes, CNS, cardiovascular, inflammatory, allergy and bone metabolism diseases. “Alan brings more than 25 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience to Novocell,” commented Fred Middleton, managing director of Sanderling and chairman of Novocell’s Board of Directors. “He has a track record for developing and executing effective corporate strategies for cutting-edge science and technology. We are confident that Alan’s extensive experience will enable him to effectively capitalize on Novocell’s stem cell technologies and product opportunities for new therapeutic solutions.” Through its technology, Novocell is the first company to engineer human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into endoderm, the gatekeeper cells that differentiate into pancreas, liver, lung and many other cells, tissues and organs. The company published a paper on this technology in Nature Biotechnology in late 2005, and the research was reviewed in the New England Journal of Medicine earlier this year. “Novocell’s ability to engineer stem cells into definitive endoderm is a ground-breaking advancement for medicine,” said Dr. Lewis, president and CEO of Novocell. “This discovery provides the foundation for engineering unlimited insulin-producing islet cells for implants, eliminating patient dependence on self-administered glucose monitoring and insulin injections. I am also excited about the opportunities to further develop our stem cell platform for uses in drug discovery, including our identification of targets recently linked to cancer stem cells.” Novocell is utilizing its proprietary stem cell-directed lineage technology to create an unlimited source of stem cell-derived islet cells for the treatment of type 1 and type 2 insulin-dependent diabetics. The stem cell-derived islet cells will be used in combination with the company’s proprietary cell encapsulation technology, currently in a Phase I/II proof of principle clinical trial. The cell encapsulation technology uses a polyethylene glycol (PEG) conformal coating that enables transplanted cells to survive and function and is designed to eliminate the need for continuous immunosuppressant drugs.

 Dr. Lewis served for 15 years at the yeth-Ayerst Research division of Wyeth Laboratories Inc., a subsidiary of American Home Products, where he served a variety of positions, including Vice President of Research from 1990 to 1994. Dr. Lewis served as a Research Associate at Yale University from 1972 to 1973. At Wyeth-Ayerst, Dr. Lewis was responsible for research efforts in CNS, Cardiovascular, Inflammatory, Allergy and Bone Metabolism Diseases. He is a seasoned pharmaceutical industry researcher. He has been the Chairman of the Board at Batu Biologics, Inc., since January 2015. He serves as the Chairman of the Board at NeuraMetrix, Inc. He served as the Executive Chairman of Targazyme, Inc and serves as its Director. He served as the Chairman of the Board of Cytochroma, Inc. He was Executive Chairman of the Board of Ambit Biosciences Corporation since March 2010. He served as the Chairman of Novation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He served as the Chairman of the Inflammation Research Societies. He has been an Independent Director of BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. since June 8, 2005 and Allergan Specialty Therapeutics Inc. since 1998. He serves as Member of Scientific Advisory Board at Sensulin, LLC. He serves as Director of DiaVacs, Inc. He has been a Non-Executive Director at Scancell Holdings PLC since August 22, 2016. He has been a Director of Assembly Biosciences, Inc. since December 21, 2015. He serves as a Director of BIOCOM, Inc, Batu Biologics, Inc. and Rincon Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He serves as a Member of Sciencetific Advisory Board at BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. He has been a Director at Medistem, Inc. since October 09, 2012. He served as a Member of Sciencetific Advisory Board of Medistem, Inc. from January 2012 to October 09, 2012. He served as Director of Novation Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Lewis served as a Director of Ambit Biosciences Corporation. He served as a Director of ViaCyte, Inc. from February 2006 to January 1, 2009. He was Member of Advisory Board of Targazyme, Inc. Dr. Lewis served as a Director of Novocell, Inc. from February 2006 to January 1, 2009, Signal Pharmaceuticals Inc. from 1996 to 2000, Discovery Partners International Inc., since April 2000 and Infinity Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until September 2006. He served as a Director of Quorex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Lewis served as Member of Advisory Board of American Stem Cell, Inc. For the 15 years prior to Signal and Celgene, Dr. Lewis held positions of increasing responsibility at Wyeth-Ayerst Research, culminating in his serving as Vice President of Research with responsibility for 550 scientists and staff. Dr. Lewis has contributed to advancing more than 20 molecules into clinical development and overseeing five investigational drugs that have reached the market; he has co-authored over 100 peer reviewed publications and is an inventor on several patents. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship from the University of Wales in Swansea. Dr. Lewis received a B.S. in Physiology and Biochemistry from Southampton University and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Wales in Cardiff and completed his Ppostdoctoral fellowship at Yale University.