Vedanta Adds Biotech Finance and IR Expert as CFO

8 February 2021

 PureTech Health plc

PureTech Founded Entity Vedanta Biosciences Appoints Mark Mullikin as Chief Financial Officer

Extensive biotech finance and investor relations expertise includes leadership roles at Editas Medicine and Novartis

PureTech Health plc (LSE: PRTC, NASDAQ: PRTC) ("PureTech" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, is pleased to note that its Founded Entity, Vedanta Biosciences, today announced the appointment of Mark Mullikin as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Mullikin brings 25 years of experience raising and deploying capital for life sciences companies, and most recently held leadership roles in finance and investor relations at publicly-traded Editas Medicine and Novartis.

Mr. Mullikin joins Vedanta from Editas Medicine, where he served as Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations and was involved in raising $700 million of equity capital. Prior to this role, Mr. Mullikin worked for Novartis in roles focused on financial and strategic planning in addition to health economics and pricing. Before joining Novartis, he was a healthcare equity analyst at Adage Capital Management and Piper Sandler and began his career in the finance and strategy practice at Deloitte Consulting.

The full text of the announcement from Vedanta is as follows:

Vedanta Biosciences Appoints Mark Mullikin as Chief Financial Officer

Extensive biotech finance and investor relations expertise includes leadership roles at Editas Medicine and Novartis

CAMBRIDGE, February 8, 2021 - Vedanta Biosciences, a leading clinical-stage company developing a new category of therapies for immune-mediated diseases based on rationally defined consortia of human microbiome-derived bacteria, today announced the appointment of Mark Mullikin as Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Mullikin brings 25 years of experience raising and deploying capital for life sciences companies, and most recently held leadership roles in finance and investor relations at publicly-traded Editas Medicine and Novartis.

"Mark's experience overseeing the finances of a public biotech and previously as a healthcare equity analyst, provide him a unique and broad perspective of the biotech field," said Bernat Olle, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Vedanta Biosciences. "We are excited to welcome Mark to the Vedanta team and look forward to his contributions."

Mr. Mullikin joins Vedanta from Editas Medicine, where he served as Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations and was involved in raising $700 million of equity capital. Prior to this role, Mr. Mullikin worked for Novartis in roles focused on financial and strategic planning in addition to health economics and pricing. Before joining Novartis, he was a healthcare equity analyst at Adage Capital Management and Piper Sandler and began his career in the finance and strategy practice at Deloitte Consulting. Mr. Mullikin earned his M.B.A. in finance from the MIT Sloan School of Management and his B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago.

"Vedanta has established a leadership position in the microbiome field pioneering defined bacterial consortia as a new class of therapeutics," said Mr. Mullikin. "I am thrilled to join at this pivotal moment of growth with key clinical trial readouts anticipated this year."

About Vedanta Biosciences

Vedanta Biosciences is leading the development of a potential new category of oral therapies based on rationally defined consortia of bacteria derived from the human microbiome. The company's clinical-stage pipeline includes product candidates being evaluated for the treatment of high-risk C. difficile infection, inflammatory bowel diseases, advanced or metastatic cancers, and food allergy. These investigational therapies are grounded in pioneering research - published in leading journals including Science, Nature, and Cell - to identify beneficial bacteria that live symbiotically within the healthy human gut, fight pathogens and induce a range of potent immune responses. Vedanta Biosciences controls a foundational portfolio of more than 40 patents and has built what is believed to be the world's biggest library of bacteria derived from the human microbiome. Proprietary capabilities include deep expertise in consortium design, vast datasets from human interventional studies and cGMP-compliant manufacturing of oral live biotherapeutics containing pure, clonally derived bacterial consortia in powdered form. Vedanta Biosciences was founded by PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC, Nasdaq: PRTC) and a global team of scientific co-founders who pioneered Vedanta's modern understanding of the cross-talk between the microbiome and the immune system.

About PureTech Health

PureTech is a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases, including intractable cancers, lymphatic and gastrointestinal diseases, central nervous system disorders and inflammatory and immunological diseases, among others. The Company has created a broad and deep pipeline through the expertise of its experienced research and development team and its extensive network of scientists, clinicians and industry leaders. This pipeline, which is being advanced both internally and through PureTech's Founded Entities, as of the date of PureTech's most recently filed Registration Statement on Form 20-F, was comprised of 24 products and product candidates, including two that have received FDA clearance and European marketing authorization. All of the underlying programs and platforms that resulted in this pipeline of product candidates were initially identified or discovered and then advanced by the PureTech team through key validation points based on the Company's unique insights into the biology of the brain, immune and gut, or BIG, systems and the interface between those systems, referred to as the BIG Axis.

For more information, visit www.puretechhealth.com or connect with us on Twitter @puretechh.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains statements that are or may be forward-looking statements, including statements that relate to the company's future prospects, developments, and strategies. The forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance and achievements to differ materially from current expectations, including, but not limited to, our expectations regarding the potential therapeutic benefits of our product candidates, our expectations regarding the appointment of Mark Mullikin as Chief Financial Officer and those risks and uncertainties described in the risk factors included in the regulatory filings for PureTech Health plc. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions regarding the present and future business strategies of the company and the environment in which it will operate in the future. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as at the date of this press release. Except as required by law and regulatory requirements, neither the company nor any other party intends to update or revise these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.