Carmell Sharpens Aesthetics Focus with Execution of Definitive Agreement to Sell Axolotl Biologix Subsidiary

PITTSBURGH, March 20, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carmell Corporation (Nasdaq: CTCX), a bio-aesthetics company focused on skin and hair health (“Carmell”, the “Company”, “we”, “our”, or “us”), today announced the execution of a definitive agreement to sell its wholly owned subsidiary, Axolotl Biologix (“AxoBio”) to the initial sellers of AxoBio for 3,845,337 shares of Carmell common stock, 4,243 shares of Carmell preferred stock and notes payable to the initial sellers in the aggregate amount of $8 million.

“The sale of AxoBio enables our exit from the tissue graft space thereby facilitating a sharper organizational focus on the launch of our skincare products beginning in March 2024 and continuing over Summer 2024,” said Rajiv Shukla, Chief Executive Officer of Carmell.

In August 2023, Carmell acquired AxoBio for $65 million, which consisted of unsecured promissory notes in the aggregate amount of $8 million and $57 million in CTCX common and preferred stock (8.09 million fully diluted shares at $7.05 per share) issued by Carmell to the initial sellers. AxoBio’s product portfolio consists of a commercial-stage amnion graft for use in clinics, a pre-commercial stage hospital use product, and pre-clinical and clinical stage products under development.

In September 2023, the Company announced the appointment of Mr. Rajiv Shukla as CEO to lead a drive towards near-term profitability and re-positioning as a bio-aesthetics company, that included the following initiatives:

• Focus on high-margin programs in aesthetics with shorter paths to commercialization.
• Discontinuation of clinical trials with budgeted spend of more than $20 million over 3 years.
• Expected cost savings of nearly $3 million per annum from organizational restructuring.
• Re-alignment of Carmell’s Board of Directors.

In November 2023, Carmell announced the addition of new Independent Directors: Dr. Gilles Spenlehauer, the former Worldwide Head of Advanced Research at L’Oreal, the world’s biggest cosmetics company, and Mr. Scott Frisch, who currently serves as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit organization serving 100+ million people ages 50 and older.