Ms. Cynthia Pussinen reports

SERNOVA PROVIDES ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATE

Sernova Corp.'s chief technology officer, Dr. Philip Toleikis, has retired, and the company has made progress on its strategic transformation efforts, including a restructuring of operations and a work force reduction of approximately 35 per cent.

Commenting on his retirement, Dr. Toleikis said: "It has been a tremendous honour and privilege to serve Sernova since 2009, initially as the president, [chief executive officer] and director, and more recently as its CTO. Significant progress has been made, and there is exciting work ahead that I am confident will be realized by the team, under the guidance of our CEO, [Cynthia] Pussinen."

Dr. Toleikis further stated: "I am pleased to provide continued support to Sernova as a consultant. I am proud of the company's advancements towards redefining the way chronic diseases will be treated using a cell therapy-based approach while importantly contributing to improving the lives of those living with chronic diseases."

"Philip's contributions to Sernova's research and development and fundraising efforts have been foundational to the company's evolution into a next-generation regenerative medicine company," said Brett Whalen, chairman of the Sernova board. "He will leave a company which is well positioned to foster the next wave of innovations in stem cell therapies. On behalf of the board of directors and the entire company, I would like to thank Dr. Philip Toleikis for his contributions and unwavering dedication to the company. We wish him all the best for his future."

As communicated in early April, following a review of the company's therapeutic pipeline and emerging opportunities for its cell pouch system platform technologies, Sernova confirmed key priorities, including its lighthouse program in insulin-dependent Type 1 diabetes, plus its intention to advance an investigational new drug filing for its postoperative hypothyroidism program.

"The pipeline and platform review and associated strategy refresh highlighted several ways by which to optimize financial resources, extending the company's cash runway. We continue to seek ways to raise additional capital to strengthen our financial foundation," said Ms. Pussinen. "In connection with the strategic transformation, we will pause on any new investments into the conformal coating program to reallocate funds. In parallel, we continue to evaluate alternative approaches to obviate the need for immunosuppressive regimens for our allogeneic therapies."

Sernova has implemented a plan to fortify the balance sheet and cash position, including a work force restructuring, representing a key step toward streamlining the organization while ensuring the ability to secure core competencies needed to drive further progress in key clinical and preclinical assets. "Decisions to scale back or to rebalance head count are extremely difficult. I want to express my heartfelt appreciation and gratitude to those impacted for their invaluable contributions, dedication to helping patients and impact to furthering the company's vision of a future where chronic conditions are no longer insurmountable obstacles," said Ms. Pussinen.

The company confirms the completion and closure of all internal investigation efforts, previously announced with respect to its former chief financial officer and potentially a second employee of the company. No new findings were revealed, and there will be no further action on the matter. The investigation confirmed that there have been no securities violations and that findings bore no material impact to financial statements and operations.

Lastly, Sernova director Bertram von Plettenberg has retired from the company's board, effective April 23. "The board and management sincerely thank Mr. von Plettenberg for his past year of service to the company and wish him well in future endeavours," said Ms. Pussinen. "The evolution and composition of the board will continue as we look to enhance our life sciences industry specific strength to better serve our patients and shareholders."

About Sernova's annual general meeting

Sernova's annual general meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, starting at 1 p.m. ET. The meeting will be conducted virtually by live webcast and accessible on-line.

Please note that this site may not be fully accessible on all Internet browsers, and it is advisable to use a browser other than Internet Explorer for optimal experience. If you are unable to join the meeting through your usual web browser, the company suggests trying an alternative browser.

For investors who wish to submit questions through the Toronto Stock Exchange trust portal, voting control numbers will be needed. For attendees who would simply like to listen to the meeting conduct, you can register as a guest.

About Sernova Corp. and its cell pouch system platform for cell therapy

Sernova is a clinical-stage biotechnology company that is developing therapeutic cell technologies for chronic diseases, including insulin-dependent diabetes, thyroid disease and blood disorders that include hemophilia A. Sernova is currently focused on developing a functional cure for insulin-dependent diabetes with its lead technology, the cell pouch system, a novel implantable and scalable medical device with immune protected therapeutic cells.

On implantation, the cell pouch forms a natural, vascularized tissue environment in the body, allowing long-term survival and function of therapeutic cells that release essential factors that are absent or deficient in the bodies of patients with certain chronic diseases. Sernova's cell pouch system has demonstrated its potential to be a functional cure for people with T1D in a continuing phase 1/2 clinical study at the University of Chicago.

Sernova partnered with Evotec to develop an implantable off-the-shelf iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cells) based islet replacement therapy. This partnership provides Sernova a potentially unlimited supply of insulin-producing cells to treat millions of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes (Type 1 and Type 2). Sernova's development pipeline that uses its cell pouch system also includes: a cell therapy for hypothyroid disease resulting from thyroid gland removal and an ex vivo lentiviral Factor 8 gene therapy for hemophilia A.

We seek Safe Harbor.