PR85486

SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 10, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

DiscGenics, Inc. (https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2911079-1&h=2639665383&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.discgenics.com%2FHome.html&a=DiscGenics%2C+Inc. ),

a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company developing regenerative

cell-based therapies that alleviate pain and restore function in patients with

degenerative diseases of the spine, today announced it has appointed former

Medtronic Spine and Biologics finance executive, Jeff Poole, as its first Chief

Financial Officer (CFO).

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1250475/Jeff_Poole.jpg 

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/561675/DiscGenics_Logo.jpg    

Mr. Poole has over 13 years of progressive finance leadership experience in

medical devices, and significant experience within the spine market, most

recently serving as Vice President of Finance for Medtronic Spine and

Biologics, a major division of Medtronic, PLC. In this role, he served as CFO

for the global business unit with over $2.5 billion in annual revenue

responsibility. Mr. Poole also has extensive international experience,

particularly in Asia Pacific, where he held various leadership positions with

increasing levels of functional and strategic responsibilities and commercial

exposure to developed and emerging markets. He is also fluent in Japanese and

has lived and worked extensively in Japan, where DiscGenics has a significant

financial and commercial interest.

Mr. Poole's appointment closely follows DiscGenics's announcement

(https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=2911079-1&h=238604253&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.discgenics.com%2Fnews-posts%2F2020%2F8%2F21%2Fdiscgenics-raises-50-million-in-series-c-funding&a=announcement )

last month that it raised $50 million in its Series C round of funding,

bringing total investment in the Company to just over $71 million to-date.

"The addition of Jeff to the DiscGenics executive team represents a huge

opportunity for us as we move through our final clinical stages and evaluate

various financing and commercial opportunities going forward in the U.S. and

Japan," said Flagg Flanagan, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board

of Directors for DiscGenics.

Mr. Poole added, "I am thrilled to be joining DiscGenics because I truly

believe its innovative regenerative therapy addresses an unmet clinical need

and could significantly alter the definition of Standard of Care for patients

suffering from spinal disc degeneration. I look forward to working with Flagg

and the entire DiscGenics team to help realize the full clinical and commercial

potential of IDCT for the millions of patients suffering from chronic low back

pain worldwide."

As CFO, Mr. Poole will report directly to Mr. Flanagan.

About DiscGenics

DiscGenics is a privately held, clinical stage biopharmaceutical company

developing regenerative cell-based therapies that alleviate pain and restore

function in patients with degenerative diseases of the spine. As the only

company in the world to develop an allogeneic cell therapy derived from

intervertebral disc cells to treat diseases of the disc, DiscGenics believes it

has a unique opportunity to harness the restorative potential of the human body

to heal millions of patients suffering from the debilitating effects of back

pain. DiscGenics' first product candidate, IDCT, is a homologous, allogeneic,

injectable cell therapy that utilizes biomedically engineered progenitor cells

derived from intervertebral disc tissue, known as Discogenic Cells, to offer a

non-surgical, potentially regenerative solution for the treatment of patients

with mild to moderate degenerative disc disease. For more information, visit

www.discgenics.com .

SOURCE: DiscGenics, Inc.

CONTACT: Lindsey Saxon, lindsey@discgenics.com; or Colin Lee Novick (Japan),

colin.lee.novick@cj-partners.com