PDS Biotechnology Appoints Seasoned Business Development Executive Sanjay Zaveri as Senior Vice President, Business Development

FLORHAM PARK, N.J., May 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PDS Biotechnology Corporation (Nasdaq: PDSB), a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a growing pipeline of molecularly targeted cancer immunotherapies and infectious disease vaccines based on the Company’s proprietary Versamune® and Infectimune™ T-cell activating technologies, today announced that Sanjay Zaveri has joined PDS Biotech as Senior Vice President, Business Development. Mr. Zaveri has extensive partnering experience having completed licenses and acquisitions between leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. As PDS Biotech’s Senior Vice President of Business Development, he is responsible for business strategy, and managing the Company’s potential licensing and partnering opportunities in support of PDS Biotech’s pipeline. Prior to joining PDS Biotech he held the position of Head of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Strongbridge Biopharma, leading their business development, licensing and partnership strategy prior to its acquisition by Xeris Pharmaceuticals. Before Strongbridge, he held biotechnology consulting positions with Guidehouse, formerly Navigant Consulting, and IQVIA. Mr. Zaveri holds a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management.

“We are pleased to have Sanjay join the PDS Biotech management team. He brings a great depth of experience successfully conducting business development in the life science industry,” said PDS Biotech Chief Executive Officer, Frank Bedu-Addo. “As we demonstrate proof-of-concept for PDS0101 and our Versamune® and Infectimune™ platforms, Sanjay’s proven ability to execute a sound business development strategy will be an asset to PDS Biotech.”

Additionally, PDS Biotech granted Mr. Zaveri nonstatutory stock options to purchase 150,000 shares of PDS’s common stock as a material inducement to his employment with PDS Biotech in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4) and PDS Biotech’s 2019 Inducement Plan, as amended. PDS Biotech’s 2019 Inducement Plan, as amended, provides for the granting of equity awards to new employees of PDS Biotech. The stock option award has an exercise price of $5.35, the closing price of PDS Biotech’s common stock on May 17, 2022. The option award vests over a four-year period, with one-quarter of the shares vesting on the first anniversary of the grant date (May 17, 2023) and then monthly over the following 36 months, subject to continued employment with the company through the applicable vesting dates.

About PDS Biotechnology
PDS Biotech is a clinical-stage immunotherapy company developing a growing pipeline of molecularly targeted cancer and infectious disease immunotherapies based on the Company’s proprietary Versamune^® and Infectimune™ T-cell activating technology platforms. Our Versamune^®-based products have demonstrated the potential to overcome the limitations of current immunotherapy by inducing in vivo, large quantities of high-quality, highly potent polyfunctional tumor specific CD4+ helper and CD8+ killer T-cells. PDS Biotech has developed multiple therapies, based on combinations of Versamune^® and disease-specific antigens, designed to train the immune system to better recognize diseased cells and effectively attack and destroy them. The Company’s pipeline products address various cancers including HPV16-associated cancers (anal, cervical, head and neck, penile, vaginal, vulvar) and breast, colon, lung, prostate and ovarian cancers.

Our Infectimune™ -based vaccines have demonstrated the potential to induce not only robust and durable neutralizing antibody responses, but also powerful T-cell responses including long-lasting memory T-cell responses. To learn more, please visit www.pdsbiotech.com or follow us on Twitter at @PDSBiotech.

Forward Looking Statements
This communication contains forward-looking statements (including within the meaning of Section 21E of the United States Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and Section 27A of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended) concerning PDS Biotechnology Corporation (the “Company”) and other matters. These statements may discuss goals, intentions and expectations as to future plans, trends, events, results of operations or financial condition, or otherwise, based on current beliefs of the Company’s management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Forward-looking statements generally include statements that are predictive in nature and depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and include words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “would,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “likely,” “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “intend,” “forecast,” “guidance”, “outlook” and other similar expressions among others. Forward-looking statements are based on current beliefs and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties and are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results could differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement as a result of various factors, including, without limitation: the Company’s ability to protect its intellectual property rights; the Company’s anticipated capital requirements, including the Company’s anticipated cash runway and the Company’s current expectations regarding its plans for future equity financings; the Company’s dependence on additional financing to fund its operations and complete the development and commercialization of its product candidates, and the risks that raising such additional capital may restrict the Company’s operations or require the Company to relinquish rights to the Company’s technologies or product candidates; the Company’s limited operating history in the Company’s current line of business, which makes it difficult to evaluate the Company’s prospects, the Company’s business plan or the likelihood of the Company’s successful implementation of such business plan; the timing for the Company or its partners to initiate the planned clinical trials for PDS0101, PDS0203 and other Versamune® and Infectimune™-based product candidates; the future success of such trials; the successful implementation of the Company’s research and development programs and collaborations, including any collaboration studies concerning PDS0101, PDS0203 and other Versamune® and Infectimune™-based product candidates and the Company’s interpretation of the results and findings of such programs and collaborations and whether such results are sufficient to support the future success of the Company’s product candidates; the success, timing and cost of the Company’s ongoing clinical trials and anticipated clinical trials for the Company’s current product candidates, including statements regarding the timing of initiation, pace of enrollment and completion of the trials (including the Company’s ability to fully fund its disclosed clinical trials, which assumes no material changes to our currently projected expenses), futility analyses, presentations at conferences and data reported in an abstract, and receipt of interim results (including, without limitation, any preclinical results or data), which are not necessarily indicative of the final results of the Company’s ongoing clinical trials; any Company statements about its understanding of product candidates mechanisms of action and interpretation of preclinical and early clinical results from its clinical development programs and any collaboration studies; and other factors, including legislative, regulatory, political and economic developments not within the Company’s control, including unforeseen circumstances or other disruptions to normal business operations arising from or related to COVID-19. The foregoing review of important factors that could cause actual events to differ from expectations should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with statements that are included herein and elsewhere, including the risk factors included in the Company’s annual and periodic reports filed with the SEC. The forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this press release and, except as required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Versamune® is a registered trademark and Infectimune™ is a trademark of PDS Biotechnology.

Investor Contact:
Rich Cockrell
CG Capital
Phone: +1 (404) 736-3838
Email: [email protected]