On July 31, 2021, CARsgen Therapeutics Group (CARsgen) and Shanghai Cancer Institute of Renji Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine (Shanghai Cancer Institute) reached a strategic collaboration to enhance the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements and signed the framework agreement. Professor Liu Yingbin, Director of the Shanghai Cancer Institute, and Dr. Li Zonghai, Chairman and CEO of CARsgen, jointly signed the agreement.

This collaboration is an expansion to the previous collaboration reached between Shanghai Cancer Institute and CARsgen in August 2015. Two parties will strengthen the collaboration to better integrate scientific research and industry to maximize the mutual value. Through this cooperation, CARsgen will continue to innovate and utilize advanced knowledge and cutting-edge technologies to better utilize the research resources and form the Group's competitive advantage in scientific and technological capabilities and product pipeline.

Founded in 1958, Shanghai Cancer Institute is committed to basic science and applied scientific research on tumors, including the epidemiology and etiology of malignant tumors, the exploration of tumor pathogenesis, and the development of genetic diagnosis and gene therapy, cell and immunological diagnosis and treatment, and other basic and applied research for innovative cancer prevention and treatment approaches. Since inception in 2014, CARsgen is a biopharmaceutical company with operations in China and the U.S. focused on innovative CAR-T cell therapies for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. We have built an integrated cell therapy platform with in-house capabilities that span from target discovery, lead antibody development, clinical trials to commercial-scale manufacturing. We have internally developed novel technologies and a product pipeline with global rights to address major challenges of CAR-T cell therapies, such as improving the safety profile, enhancing the efficacy in treating solid tumors and reducing treatment costs. We have 11 product candidates fully developed in house with global rights, covering the conventional CAR-T, next-generation CAR-T and allogeneic CAR-T cells. Among our product pipeline, CT041 is a globally potential first-in-class, autologous CAR-T product candidate against CLDN18.2 being developed for the treatment of CLDN18.2 positive solid tumors with a primary focus on gastric/gastroesophageal junction cancer and pancreatic cancer. CT041 is the only CLDN18.2-targeted CAR-T product candidate globally that is being studied in clinical trials with IND approvals from the FDA and the NMPA and has received Orphan Drug designation from the U.S. FDA and the Orphan Medicinal Product designation from the EMA.