19 December 2022 - - US-based clinical messenger RNA medicines company Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCT) has appointed John Markels, Ph.D., a pharmaceutical executive with over 35 years of industry experience, to its board of directors, the company said.

As part of this role, Dr. Markels will provide strategic oversight to the company's vaccine franchise and manufacturing processes.

Dr. Markels has over 35 years of leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry at Merck & Co., Inc., with a deep background in manufacturing, development, and technology transfer as well as global commercial, policy, and organizational development.

Dr. Markels serves on the board of Sangamo Therapeutics and chairs and serves on the advisory boards for the University of California, Berkeley College of Chemistry and University of Delaware Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, respectively.

Dr. Markels retired from Merck in March 2022, most recently as president of Global Vaccines, a large and growing business where he led an integrated team dedicated to discovery and development, supply and access, and global marketing and long-term strategy for the vaccines portfolio.

Earlier roles at Merck included president, Latin America, as well as a long career in senior leadership positions in major regions worldwide in manufacturing technology, operations, supply chain and strategy.

Dr. Markels has worked in every region of the world and lived in the US, Latin America and Europe.

He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Founded in 2013 and based in San Diego, California, Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: ARCT) is a global late-stage clinical mRNA medicines and vaccines company with enabling technologies: LUNAR lipid-mediated delivery, STARR mRNA Technology (samRNA) and mRNA drug substance along with drug product manufacturing expertise.

Arcturus' diverse pipeline of RNA therapeutic and vaccine candidates includes mRNA vaccine programs for SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) and Influenza, and other programs to potentially treat ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency, and cystic fibrosis, along with partnered programs including glycogen storage disease type III, and hepatitis B virus.

Arcturus' versatile RNA therapeutics platforms can be applied toward multiple types of nucleic acid medicines including messenger RNA, small interfering RNA, circular RNA, antisense RNA, self-amplifying RNA, DNA, and gene editing therapeutics.

Arcturus' technologies are covered by its extensive patent portfolio (patents and patent applications issued in the US, Europe, Japan, China and other countries).

The Arcturus logo and other trademarks of Arcturus appearing in this announcement, including LUNAR and STARR, are the property of Arcturus. All other trademarks, services marks, and trade names in this announcement are the property of their respective owners.