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Leadership

Our Executive Team

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Dr. Ruby Yanru Chen-Tsai

Ph.D., CEO, Founder, and President

Dr. Chen-Tsai received her Ph.D. from Cornell University and subsequently worked at Stanford University for 16 years as the Director of the Transgenic Research Center and the Associate Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute. Her research focused on Parkinson patient-specific iPS cell lines and their differentiation to dopaminergic neurons as a disease model-in-a-dish. Prior to becoming the CEO of Applied StemCell, Dr. Chen-Tsai led the ASC Therapeutics' gene/cell therapeutic pipeline. She is a co-inventor of the TARGATT™ integrase technology for site-specific gene insertion.

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Tammy Cameron

Chief Financial Officer

Tammy Cameron has over 20 years of experience developing and directing accounting and finance organizations in commercial, high-growth life science companies. Before joining ASC, Tammy worked as CFO and VP Finance for companies such as Ceek Women’s Health, Intuity Medical Inc, and Labcyte Inc. During her tenure at these organizations, she supported both private equity and debt financings and played a key role in building the internal infrastructure for commercial organization. Tammy holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from California State University, East Bay.

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Dr. Simon Wu

Ph.D, Director, Project
Management and Technical Operation

Dr. Wu received his Ph.D. from Duke University in biology and has over 20 years of graduate level scientific research experience. He worked as a research scientist at Stanford University’s School of Medicine and has experience with genome editing technologies such as TALEN and CRISPR. Before joining ASC, Dr. Wu was a Senior Research Scientist at the pharmaceutical research firm Abbvie. At ASC he has embarked on a new journey to support management and lead projects to completion, and lead the technical operation team.

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Dr. George Hong

Ph.D., Chief Commercial Officer

Dr. Hong earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at Duke University School of Medicine, and his MBA in Corporate Entrepreneurship from the Questrom School of Business at Boston University. He has nearly 25 years of leadership experience spanning his work in the life-science, biotech, biopharmaceutical, and healthcare industries. He has held leadership roles for small businesses and large S&P 500 companies alike. Dr. Hong is dedicated to ensuring that ASC remains on the cutting edge of innovation.

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Dr. Alfonso Farruggio

Ph.D, Head of Research and Development

Dr. Farruggio received his Ph.D. in genetics from Stanford University. He is the co-inventor of TARGATT™ and has over 15 years of TARGATT™ gene editing experience. Dr. Farruggio not only led the creation and refinement of several TARGATT™ products, he also greatly contributed to the establishment of ASC’s first GMP room. He now spearheads ASC’s research pipeline by leading several innovative projects, including the construction of a unique TARGATT™-iPSC line that could potentially be used to engineer CAR-iNK and CAR-iT products for cancer immunotherapy.

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Timothy J. Largen

Chief Operating Officer

Timothy J. Largen steps in as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at ASC. With a 25-year career marked by significant contributions to Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs), Tim’s experience spans GMP manufacturing, quality management, process engineering, business operations, and CMC regulatory affairs. Prior to joining Applied StemCell, Tim held key positions, including VP of Commercial Manufacturing at Aurion Biotech, VP of Manufacturing Science and Technology (MSAT) at RoslinCT (formerly Lykan), VP of Corporate Quality at Caladrius Biosciences (now Lisata), and over 8 years in commercial manufacturing and quality positions at Dendreon. Tim has held key management positions through many successful FDA pre-approval and routine inspections. Tim holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and an MBA in Operations Management Sciences.

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Dr. Cassandra Myers

Ph.D, Director, Sales
and Business Development

Dr. Myers received her PhD from the University of Georgia in genetics and has over 5 years of experience in the realm of scientific sales relating to gene editing services. She specializes in ASC’s iPSC technologies, CRISPR gene editing, and our new TARGATT™ integrase technology for site-specific gene insertion, as well as custom genetically modified animal models. She currently leads Applied StemCell’s global sales team. Her skilled and knowledgeable sales team shares her focus on building strong international client relationships and providing optimal custom solutions.

Board Members

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Dr. Ruby Yanru Chen-Tsai

Ph.D., CEO, Founder, and President

Dr. Chen-Tsai received her Ph.D. from Cornell University and subsequently worked at Stanford University for 16 years as the Director of the Transgenic Research Center and the Associate Director of the Stanford Cancer Institute. Her research focused on Parkinson patient-specific iPS cell lines and their differentiation to dopaminergic neurons as a disease model-in-a-dish. Prior to becoming the CEO of Applied StemCell, Dr. Chen-Tsai led the ASC Therapeutics' gene/cell therapeutic pipeline. She is a co-inventor of the TARGATT™ integrase technology for site-specific gene insertion.

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Matt Jenkins

Board Member

Matt Jenkins is a Partner at QHP Capital. Prior to joining QHP Capital, Mr. Jenkins established and led the private equity investment portfolio at RTI International where he focused on precision medicine, clinical research, real world evidence, genomics, population healthcare, and consumer-oriented diagnostics. Prior to that, he held various Corporate Development leadership roles in companies such as M*Modal and AllScripts. He also was a co-founder of Cellective Therapeutics, a venture investor, and a consultant at Ernst & Young.

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Jeff Edwards

Board Member

Jeff Edwards is a Partner at QHP Capital. Prior to joining QHP Capital, Mr. Edwards co-managed the Principal Investment Private Equity program at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Mr. Edwards' previous experience also includes M&A advisory work for Raymond James Capital Markets focusing on middle-market companies. Mr. Edwards also worked as a consultant for State Street Global Advisors. Before moving back to the Capital Markets sector, Mr. Edwards worked in finance and administrative roles in the healthcare industry with Carolinas HealthCare Systems and HCA, Inc. He started his career with the middle market investment bank RW Baird.

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Frank Leo

Board Member

Frank Leo is a 40-year veteran of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries having experience with publicly traded, private equity-backed, and start-up companies in the capacity of executive, investor, and advisor. Mr. Leo served as President and Group President of Sterile Technologies and Life Sciences at Cardinal Health. At Cardinal Health he oversaw the growth of the biotechnology and life sciences group, which was later spun out to form Catalent Inc. Mr. Leo is a serial entrepreneur, having been involved in business value creation and start-ups in the medical device, sterile drug, biotechnology, and healthcare technology spaces.

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Vern Davenport

Board Member

Vern Davenport is a Partner at QHP Capital. Before joining QHP Capital, Mr. Davenport was multi-time CEO, with executive and Board positions at Medfusion, CEO of Medquist (rebranded to M*Modal), Allscripts, Misys Healthcare, Kodak Health Group (now Carestream Health), Siemens, and Shared Medical Systems. Mr. Davenport started his career at IBM where he spent 11 years in sales, sales leadership, and executive management positions.

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Heidi Hagen

Chairman of the Board

Ms. Heidi Hagen has extensive experience in operations management and commercializing innovative technologies for the last 30 years. Ms. Hagen's roles have included the Chief Technology Officer of Sonoma Biotherapeutics, Interim CEO of Ziopharm Oncology, Co-Founder & CSO of Vineti, CCO of ZappRx, and numerous Board positions at therapeutics and service companies. Ms. Hagen spent ten years at both Dendreon and Immunex, holding senior operations roles at both companies.

MTA Agreement

Material Transfer Agreement

IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ CAREFULLY BEFORE SUBMITTING AN ORDER. THIS IS A CONTRACT.

This Material Transfer Agreement (“MTA”) is between you (“Purchaser”) and the Applied StemCell, Inc. a California company, having its principal place of business at 521 Cottonwood Drive Suite 111, Milpitas, CA 95035 USA (“ASC”). Purchaser must have an approved, current ASC account to place an order. This MTA is effective for a period of five (5) years as of the last date of execution by the parties and governs the purchase and use of all ASC Materials under the terms and conditions set forth below.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Definitions

“ASC Material(s)” means materials acquired from ASC as documented on an ASC Sales Order, such as iPS Cell lines.

"ASC Sales Order" means an order submitted for ASC Materials in a form and format as determined by ASC from time to time. "Biological Material(s)" means ASC Materials, Progeny, Unmodified Derivatives and Modifications, either individually or jointly. "Commercial Use" means the sale, license, lease, export, transfer or other distribution of the Biological Materials to a person or entity not party to this MTA for financial gain or other commercial purposes and/or the use of the Biological Material: (a) to provide a service to a person or entity not party to this MTA for financial gain; (b) to produce or manufacture products for general sale or products for use in the manufacture of products ultimately intended for general sale (c) in connection with ADME (Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism and Excretion) testing; (d) in connection with drug potency or toxicity testing (e) in connection with proficiency testing service(s), including but not limited to, providing the service of determining laboratory performance by means of comparing and evaluating calibrations or tests on the same or similar items or materials in accordance with predetermined conditions; or (f) for research conducted under an agreement wherein a for-profit entity receives a right whether actual or contingent to the results of the research. Commercial Use specifically does not include Industry Sponsored Academic Research.

“Contributor(s)” means an organization(s) and/or individual(s) providing original material to ASC for deposit.

"Industry Sponsored Academic Research" means research sponsored by a for-profit organization carried out at a non-profit organization and by the non-profit organization’s employees. "Investigator" means the Purchaser’s principal scientist or researcher using the Biological Material(s). "Modification(s)" mean substances created by Purchaser which contain and/or incorporate a significant or substantial portion of ASC Material. "Progeny" means an unmodified descendant from the ASC Materials, such as virus from virus, cell from cell, or organism from organism. "Purchaser(s)" means the organization purchasing and receiving ASC Material pursuant to this MTA. "Unmodified Derivative(s)" mean substances created by Purchaser that constitute an unmodified functional sub-unit or product not changed in form or character and expressed by the ASC Material provided by ASC. Unmodified Derivatives include, but are not limited to, subclones of unmodified cell lines, purified or fractionated subsets of materials provided by ASC, proteins expressed by DNA/RNA supplied by ASC, or monoclonal antibodies secreted by a hybridoma cell line.

Scope of Use

Subject to the terms of this MTA, Purchaser’s Investigator may make and use the Biological Materials provided to Purchaser by ASC for research purposes only in Purchaser’s Investigator’s laboratory only. The Biological Materials are not intended for use in humans. Purchaser agrees that Biological Materials designated as biosafety level 2 or 3 constitute known pathogens and that other Biological Materials not so designated may be pathogenic under certain conditions. Purchaser assumes all risk and responsibility in connection with the receipt, handling, storage, disposal, transfer and Purchaser’s use of the Biological Materials including without limitation taking all appropriate safety and handling precautions to minimize health or environmental risk. Purchaser agrees that any activity undertaken with the Biological Materials will be conducted in compliance with all applicable guidelines, laws and regulations, and that Purchaser will obtain all permits, licenses or other approvals required by any governmental authority in connection with purchaser’s receipt, handling, storage, disposal, transfer and use of the Biological Materials.

Purchaser shall not distribute, sell, lend or otherwise transfer to a person or entity not party to this MTA the Biological Material, as defined above, for any reason, without ASC’s prior written agreement.

Any Commercial Use of the Biological Material is strictly prohibited without ASC’s prior written consent. Purchaser acknowledges and agrees that Purchaser’s use of certain Biological Material may require a license from a person or entity not party to this MTA, or be subject to restrictions that may be imposed by a person or entity not party to this MTA (“Third Party Terms”). To the extent of ASC’s knowledge of the existence of any such applicable rights or restrictions, ASC will take reasonable steps to identify the same, either in ASC’s catalog of ASC Materials and/or through ASC’s customer service representatives, and to the extent they are in the possession of ASC, ASC shall make information regarding such Third Party Terms reasonably available for review by Purchaser upon request. Purchaser expressly acknowledges that if there is a conflict between this MTA and the Third Party Terms, the Third Party Terms shall govern. Use of the Biological Materials may be subject to the intellectual property rights of a person or entity not party to this MTA, the existence of which rights may or may not be identified in the ASC catalog or website, and ASC makes no representation or warranty regarding the existence or the validity of such rights. Purchaser shall have the sole responsibility for obtaining any intellectual property licenses necessitated by its possession and use of the Biological Materials.

The use permitted under this MTA for Industry Sponsored Academic Research extends only to the academic research carried out at the non-profit organization and the non-profit organization’s employees. Any non-profit Purchaser using the Biological Materials in connection with Industry Sponsored Academic Research agrees to notify the industrial sponsor that any use of the Biological Materials by the industry sponsor will require a separate license from ASC and/or its Contributors and that ASC and/or its Contributors are under no obligation hereunder to license any Biological Materials to any such industry sponsor.

Warranty; Warranty Disclaimer

ASC warrants that (a) cells and microorganisms included in the ASC Material shall be viable upon initiation of culture for a period of thirty (30) days after shipment thereof from ASC and (b) any ASC Material other than cells and microorganisms shall meet the specifications on the applicable ASC Material product information sheet, certificate of analysis, and/or catalog description until the expiration date on the applicable ASC Material’s product label (such thirty (30) day period, or period until the expiration date, referred to herein as the “Warranty Period”). Purchaser’s exclusive remedy, and ASC’s sole liability, for breach of the warranties set forth in this paragraph is for ASC to, at ASC’s sole option, either (i) refund the fee paid to ASC for such ASC Material (exclusive of shipping and handling charges), or (ii) replace the ASC Material. The warranties set forth in this paragraph apply only if Purchaser handles and stores the ASC Material as described in the applicable ASC Material product information sheet. To obtain the exclusive remedy, Purchaser must report the lack of viability or non-conformation to specifications to ASC’s Technical Service Department within the applicable Warranty Period. Any expiration date specified on the ASC Material shipment documentation states the expected remaining useful life, but does not constitute a warranty or extend any applicable Warranty Period. Except as expressly provided above, the ASC Material and any technical information and assistance provided by ASC are provided as-is, without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, typicality, safety, accuracy and/or non-infringement.

Purchaser acknowledges that the ASC Material and any technical information and assistance provided by ASC are developed and provided exclusively for research purposes, and Purchaser agrees to use the same at its sole risk. Purchaser agrees that ASC and its Contributors will not be liable for any loss, claim or demand made by Purchaser, or made against Purchaser by any other party, due to or arising from the use of the ASC Material by Purchaser, except to the extent permitted by law when caused by the gross negligence or willful misconduct of ASC.

Limitation of Liability

In no event shall ASC or its Contributors be liable for any use of the Biological Material by Purchaser, for any loss, claim, damage, or liability, of whatever kind or nature, which may arise from or in connection with this MTA or the use, handling, storage, or disposal of the Biological Material. ASC’s liability to Purchaser for any claim related to or arising from this MTA or the Biological Material, whether in contract, warranty, tort, or otherwise, shall be limited to the amount paid by Purchaser for the Biological Material. In no event shall ASC be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages, including without limitation, loss of profits or loss of use, even if ASC has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The limitations of liability set forth in this MTA shall survive termination or expiration of this MTA for any reason.