Gamida Cell Nominates Two Healthcare Industry Veterans to Its Board of Directors

BOSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Gamida Cell Ltd. (Nasdaq: GMDA), a leading cellular and immune
therapeutics company, today announced the nominations of Shawn Cline
Tomasello and Stephen T. Wills to its board of directors. These
nominations require approval at the Annual Shareholders Meeting, which
will take place in May 2019. If elected, Ms. Tomasello will join the
compensation committee, and Mr. Wills will join the company’s audit
committee, bringing commercial, operational and financial experience to
Gamida Cell’s board of directors as the company advances its clinical
development candidates: NiCord^®, an investigational advanced
cell therapy in Phase 3 clinical development designed to enhance and
expand the life-saving benefits of hematopoietic stem cell (bone marrow)
transplant, and NAM-NK, an investigational, cell-based cancer
immunotherapy in Phase 1 development in patients with non-Hodgkin
lymphoma and multiple myeloma.

“We are delighted to nominate Shawn and Stephen to our Board of
Directors. Stephen brings a depth of financial and operational
experience in public accounting and healthcare, and Shawn’s experience
in leading the commercialization of multiple first-in-class medicines
for the treatment of cancer is a potentially tremendous asset as we
begin executing commercial readiness activities for NiCord,” said Julian
Adams, Ph.D., chief executive officer at Gamida Cell. “We look forward
to their contributions to as we continue to advance our pipeline.”

“Shawn and Stephen will replace two current board members, Roger
Kornberg and Boaz Lifschitz, who will complete their tenure on Gamida
Cell’s board of directors in May. We are grateful for Roger and Boaz’s
service and commitment to the company. They brought a wealth of
expertise as we advanced Gamida Cell toward late-stage development and
potential commercialization, and we are pleased that Roger will continue
to work with the company as a member of our scientific advisory board,”
Dr. Adams continued.

Ms. Tomasello has over 30 years of strategic experience in building
world-class organizations encompassing all aspects of commercial and
medical affairs functions. From 2015 to 2018, Ms. Tomasello served as
chief commercial officer of Kite Pharma, now part of Gilead Sciences,
where she oversaw the global commercialization of Yescarta^®,
the first approved CAR-T therapy for non-Hodgkin lymphoma. From 2014 to
2015, Ms. Tomasello served as the chief commercial officer of commercial
and medical affairs at Pharmacyclics, now part of AbbVie, where she led
commercial and medical affairs activities for Imbruvica^®, a
first-in-class treatment for hematologic malignancies. From 2005 to
2014, Ms. Tomasello served in leading commercial roles with multiple
major pharmaceutical companies, including Celgene as president of the
Americas hematology and oncology, where she led the company through five
successful product launches encompassing 11 indications and played a
critical role in acquisitions. Ms. Tomasello received her B.S. in
marketing from the University of Cincinnati and her M.B.A. from Murray
State University in Kentucky.

Mr. Wills brings extensive operational, financial and transactional
experience over nearly three decades in the life sciences and accounting
industries. He has served as chief financial officer of Palatin
Technologies, a publicly-traded biotechnology company developing peptide
therapeutics, since 1997 and also serves as Palatin’s chief operating
officer and executive vice president. Mr. Wills serves as active
chairman of MediWound Ltd., a publicly-traded biotechnology company
developing treatments for burns and wound management. Previously, Mr.
Wills was executive chairman and interim principal executive officer of
Derma Sciences, a provider of advanced wound care products now part of
Integra LifeSciences. Mr. Wills, a certified public accountant, earned
his B.S. in accounting from West Chester University, and an M.S. in
taxation from Temple University.

“I am pleased to be nominated to the Gamida Cell Board at such a pivotal
time in the company’s growth,” stated Ms. Tomasello. “With patient
enrollment in the Phase 3 study of NiCord expected to be completed in
the second half of 2019 and activities underway to enable potential
regulatory submissions and launch, I look forward to supporting Gamida
Cell in its efforts to deliver a new standard of care to patients in
need of bone marrow transplant.”

Commented Mr. Wills, “This is an exciting time to be joining Gamida
Cell’s board of directors. The company has demonstrated substantial
progress since completing its initial public offering late last year and
continues to leverage the transformative potential of its proprietary
nicotinamide-, or NAM-based, cell expansion technology, to deliver a
multi-product pipeline. I look forward to contributing to Gamida Cell’s
progress as a leader in advanced cell therapy.”