CytoMed Therapeutics Limited has obtained board approval to launch, subject to certain terms and conditions, a pilot program (?Program?) to isolate and cryo-store peripheral blood mononuclear cells (?PBMCs?) for and as a reward to loyal shareholders of CytoMed on a complimentary basis. This Program is in line with the Company?s strategy to build up a private bank of PBMC donors to develop allogeneic off-the-shelf cellular therapies using pre-qualified healthy donor blood. This Program will commence on June 1, 2024, or at such other date as CytoMed shall provide.

Interested shareholders are advised to refer to CytoMed?s website for any future updates regarding the Program. At CytoMed, encourage individuals to bank their PBMCs while they are still healthy, since inadvertent medical conditions in later stages of life such as infectious diseases and cancer may disqualify one from cell banking services. In addition, the earlier an individual?s PBMCs are banked, the less likely background mutations will occur and the higher the quality and usability of the banked PBMCs for future applications.

Recent advances in cell science and technology have enabled researchers to produce specialized cellular therapies from PBMCs. In most cell therapies, using matched donor cells (allogeneic) is required to minimize transplant rejection and maximize therapeutic efficacy. However, using one?s own cells (autologous) will overcome the transplant rejection issue, and can potentially prolong the persistence of the cell and therapeutic window of the therapy.

Hence, banking one?s own PBMCs provides a valuable matched cell source for the individual?s own future medical needs. Stored PBMCs can also be used to produce induced pluripotent stem cells (?iPSCs?) which can be multiplied, serving as a source of an individual?s stem cells which in turn can be transformed into different types of functional cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Such cells can then be stored for future use in regenerative medicine and disease treatments.

CytoMed possesses the infrastructure, licensed patented rights, technology and expertise to manufacture certain customized cellular therapies including CAR-T cells (Chimeric Antigen Receptor-T cells therapy) from PBMCs in Good Manufacturing Practice facility.