Kyverna Therapeutics (KYTX) Appoints Mert Aktar to its Board

Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KYTX), a patient-centered, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing cell therapies for patients suffering from autoimmune diseases, today announced the appointment of biotechnology executive and cell therapy veteran Mert Aktar as an independent director to its Board of Directors. Mr. Aktar has over two decades of biopharmaceutical experience, melding more than a decade of technical leadership in cell and gene therapy with a proven track record in corporate development.

"We are delighted to welcome Mert to Kyverna's Board of Directors as we continue to advance KYV-101 into later stages of development and build on Kyverna's CAR T leadership in autoimmune diseases," said Warner Biddle, Chief Executive Officer of Kyverna Therapeutics. "Mert brings an impressive track record of building businesses and creating value through visionary operational leadership, strategic transactions and his understanding of drug development and manufacturing. Mert's strategic experience and deep technical expertise in cell therapy will be invaluable as we chart a course to bring the transformative power of CAR T treatments to as many patients as possible."

Mr. Aktar currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Receptive Bio, a privately held biotech company, and holds Board positions with UCLA Technology Development Group and ReAlta Life Sciences. Prior to joining Receptive Bio, Mr. Aktar was the Senior Vice President and Global Head of Corporate Development & Strategy at Kite Pharma. In this position, Mr. Aktar played a key role in establishing Kite's global leadership in cell therapy, architecting strategy and executing numerous deals, which strengthened Kite's R&D portfolio and drove its global expansion. Previously, Mr. Aktar held senior leadership positions at various biotech and large pharma organizations, across diverse modalities and therapeutic areas. Most notably, he helped shape Shire's transformation into a global rare disease leader, facilitating numerous multi-billion-dollar transactions as Global Head of Hematology and Immunology Business Development and earlier leading large-scale manufacturing operations as Global Head of Engineering. Mr. Aktar holds an M.B.A. from MIT Sloan School of Management, a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an M.S. in Engineering Management from Tufts University.

"I am thrilled to join the Board of Directors at this critical time in Kyverna's maturation and growth. CAR T is a powerful modality with the potential to revolutionize patient care. Kyverna stands at the forefront in bringing this innovation to patients with autoimmune disease, having already demonstrated encouraging efficacy and safety across initial datasets with KYV-101," said Mr. Aktar. "I look forward to working with the Kyverna Board and leadership to successfully advance the KYV-101 development program forward and scale the organization for future growth."

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