Sonoma Biotherapeutics Appoints Rajesh Krishnan, Ph.D., as Chief Technical Officer

Sonoma Biotherapeutics, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, today announced the appointment of Rajesh Krishnan, Ph.D., to the company's executive management team as Chief Technical Officer (CTO). Dr. Krishnan joins Sonoma Biotherapeutics with over 25 years of industry experience in process development and manufacturing, most recently having served as CTO and CSO of Oncternal Therapeutics.

“Raj brings to Sonoma Biotherapeutics a wealth of global pharmaceutical product development and manufacturing experience. His proven leadership, particularly in cell therapy, will be instrumental as we continue to advance engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies,” said Jeff Bluestone, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and President of Sonoma Biotherapeutics. “We are pleased to have Raj join us as we continue to advance our pipeline of potentially novel treatments for serious autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.”

Dr. Krishnan has more than two decades of experience driving process development, technology transfer, and manufacturing sciences for global manufacturing sites and has been instrumental in building successful programs and teams across many functional areas. As CTO and CSO at Oncternal Therapeutics, he led all preclinical, drug substance, and drug product development and manufacturing for various clinical programs across cell therapy, biologics and pharmaceuticals. Prior to this, he served as Vice President, Process Development and Manufacturing Sciences at Dynavax Technologies Corporation, where he led manufacturing, drug process development, analytical sciences, and technology transfer efforts for commercial and clinical development programs. Before that role, Dr. Krishnan held several positions at Gilead Sciences, Inc., leading the Biologics Drug Substance Process Development. Dr. Krishnan also served in positions of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc., Amgen Inc., and Pfizer, with a consistent leadership role across process development, technology transfer and CMC for clinical and commercial biologics programs.

Dr. Krishnan earned his Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree in chemical engineering from Princeton University, his Master of Science degree in chemical engineering from the University of California, Davis, and his Ph.D. degree in Biochemical Engineering from the University of California, Davis.

"I'm excited to join Sonoma Biotherapeutics at a crucial time for the company and collaborate with their talented team of pioneers in Treg biology," said Dr. Krishnan. "I look forward to helping strengthen the company's technical operations alongside a dedicated leadership team as we continue to advance their programs."

About Sonoma Biotherapeutics

Sonoma Biotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies to treat serious autoimmune and inflammatory diseases by restoring balance to the immune system. Founded by pioneers in Treg biology and cell therapy, the company is employing proprietary platform technologies and approaches to develop a new generation of targeted and durable Treg cell therapies. Sonoma Biotherapeutics is based in South San Francisco and Seattle. For more information, visit sonomabio.com and follow on X, formerly Twitter, and LinkedIn.

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