Biostage Announces Appointment of New Chief Financial Officer

Biostage, Inc. (OTCQB: BSTG) (“Biostage” or the “Company”), a cell-therapy biotechnology company with successful first-in-human experience in treating esophageal cancer (conducted at the Mayo Clinic and published last August) and FDA approval to commence a clinical trial of the Biostage Esophageal Implant for severe esophageal disease including cancer, today announced the appointment of Joseph Damasio as the company’s new Chief Financial Officer.

Joe provides Biostage with considerable experience in raising capital and running operations for small-cap biotech companies. Recently his experience has included CFO, VP Finance and Controller roles at: Inhibikase Therapeutics, Cue Biopharma and Pressure Biosciences. He has managed multiple capital raises, both private and public, including uplisting to NASDAQ. Joe holds a BS in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts (Dartmouth), an MS in Finance from Boston College and an MBA from Boston College. He is a Massachusetts-licensed CPA, a former auditor with PriceWaterhouseCoopers and formerly served in the U.S. Navy.

David Green, Biostage’s founder, Chair of the Board and interim Chief Executive Officer said, “Joe’s skills and experience will help Biostage with its intended relisting on NASDAQ, its future capital raises and its operational management as we prepare for our clinical trial in patients with severe esophageal disease.”

“I very much look forward to joining the highly motivated team at Biostage and contributing to future progress,” said Mr. Damasio. “Biostage is well positioned to achieve its strategic goals with the first-in-human clinical trial starting soon. The product candidate has a significant commercial potential as the best-in-class therapy to fill the unmet need.”