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Kyverna Congratulates Scientific Advisory Board Member Georg Schett, M.D., on Receiving Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize

– Dr. Schett recently reported on the transformative nature of CD19 CAR T-cell therapy for severe refractory lupus

– Most prestigious research award in Germany to support up to 2.5 million Euros of research

EMERYVILLE, Calif., December 13, 2022 – Kyverna Therapeutics (“Kyverna”), a cell therapy company with the mission of engineering a new class of therapies for serious autoimmune diseases, congratulates Georg Schett, M.D., a member of Kyverna’s scientific advisory board, on receiving the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize by the German Research Foundation. The prize, one of the most prestigious research awards in Germany, is worth up to 2.5 million Euros, which Dr. Schett can use for his research in the coming years.

“We congratulate Professor Schett on this outstanding achievement and look forward to continuing to work with him as he advances the field of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, translating scientific breakthroughs to patient impact,” said Brian Kotzin, M.D., Kyverna board member and chair of Kyverna’s Science and Technology Committee.

“This well-deserved award recognizes Professor Schett’s impact as an internationally respected expert in rheumatic and autoimmune diseases,” said James Chung, M.D. Ph.D., Kyverna’s chief medical officer. “He continues to make important contributions to Kyverna’s scientific advisory board in support of the Phase 1 clinical trial of KYV-101, a novel therapy for the treatment of lupus nephritis.”

Dr. Schett is a professor and head of the department of internal medicine at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in Erlangen, Germany. His interests include basic, translational and clinical research on molecular and cellular pathogenesis of rheumatic and autoimmune diseases. He recently reported on the transformative nature of CD19 CAR T-cell therapy for severe refractory lupus.1,2

Dr. Schett’s scientific work has been honored with several other awards, including the Carol-Nachman Prize from Wiesbaden. He has published more than 820 peer-reviewed papers.

The Leibniz Programme, established in 1985, aims to improve the working conditions of outstanding researchers, expand their research opportunities, relieve them of administrative tasks, and help them employ qualified early-career researchers.

About KYV-101

KYV-101 is an autologous version of a novel fully human clinical-stage anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) construct with properties well suited for use in B cell-driven autoimmune diseases such as lupus nephritis, systemic sclerosis, and inflammatory myopathies. Kyverna holds exclusive, worldwide licenses from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to use this CD19 construct in both autologous and allogeneic CAR T-cell therapies.

About Kyverna Therapeutics

Kyverna Therapeutics is a cell therapy company with the mission of engineering a new class of therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The Kyverna therapeutic platform combines advanced T-cell engineering and synthetic biology technologies to suppress and eliminate the autoreactive immune cells at the origin of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. In addition to aiming to develop next-generation chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR T) therapies in both autologous and allogeneic settings, Kyverna is creating synReg T cells, a synthetic version of Regulatory T cells (Tregs), powerful natural immune cells that control immune homeostasis through multiple immunosuppressive mechanisms. By offering more than one mechanism for taming autoimmunity, Kyverna is positioned to act on its mission of transforming how autoimmune diseases are treated. For more information, please visit https://kyvernatx.com.

Media Contact:

Kathy Vincent
Greig Communications
kathy@greigcommunications.com
  1. Mougiakakos D, Kronke G, Volkl S, Kretschmann S, Aigner M, Kharboutli S, et al. CD19 Targeted CAR T Cells in Refractory Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. N Engl J Med. 2021;385(6):567-569.
  2. Schett G, Boeltz S, Müller F, Kleyer A, Völkl S, Aigner M, et al. OP0279 CAR-T Cell Treatment of Refractory Systemic Lupus Erythematosus- Safety and Preliminary Efficacy Data From the First Four Patients. Ann Rheum Dis. 2022;81(Suppl 1):185.