Cytora Ltd. Appoints Dr. Thomas Serena, MD, World‑Renowned Wound Care Expert to Scientific Advisory Board to Lead Patient Treatment Access and Data Collection for CytoraStem™ human Oral Mucosa Stem Cell (hOMSC) Therapy
PR Newswire
TEL AVIV, Israel, May 6, 2026
TEL AVIV, Israel, May 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Cytora Ltd. ("Cytora"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing allogeneic stem cell therapies, today announced the appointment of Dr. Thomas E. Serena, MD, FACS, FACHM, MAPWCA, to its Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Serena will lead Cytora's patient-access and data collection strategy for its investigational CytoraStem™ human Oral Mucosa Stem Cells (hOMSC) therapy for chronic wounds.
Dr. Serena is Founder and Medical Director of The SerenaGroup®, a physician-owned clinical research organization focused on wound care trials, and a global authority in wound healing with more than 350 peer-reviewed publications and over 2,500 invited lectures worldwide. He has held multiple leadership roles in the wound care field, including service on the Board of Directors of the Wound Healing Society, past presidency of the Association for the Advancement of Wound Care (AAWC), American Professional Wound Care Association, and Vice-President of the International Surgical Wound Complication Advisory Board (ISWCAP), and founder of the International Post-Acute Wound Society (IPAWS) and served as faculty at the 2026 Driving Innovation in Wound Care Summit in Charlotte, NC.
"We are honored to welcome Dr. Thomas Serena to Cytora's Scientific Advisory Board at this inflection point for the company," said Dr. Yona Geffen, CEO of Cytora. "His deep expertise in wound healing, unparalleled experience in clinical research, real-world data collection, and patient-centered clinical trials in the U.S. – particularly in Florida, will be invaluable as we advance our investigational CytoraStem™ hOMSC platform with chronic, hard-to-heal diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) as our initial therapeutic focus and additional chronic wounds, orthopedic, and pain-related areas under ongoing evaluation."
Dr. Serena's appointment comes as Cytora, together with its U.S. partners Made Scientific, Inc. and ZEO ScientifiX, Inc., advances its investigational novel allogeneic hOMSC therapy CytoraStem™ toward availability to patients under Florida's Senate Bill 1768, a stem cell access law enabling physician-delivered investigational stem cell therapies under defined conditions. Cytora's initial area of clinical focus is chronic, hard-to-heal diabetic foot ulcers, a condition that affects an estimated 125,000 new patients annually in Florida, and is also evaluating additional areas of potential future development in chronic wound care, orthopedics, and pain management.
In his advisory role, Dr. Serena will guide Cytora's real-world data collection strategy for patients treated with investigational CytoraStem™ hOMSC injections in Florida, supporting high-quality evidence generation from physician-administered use under the SB 1768 framework. He will also support the expansion across Florida's health-care ecosystem by leveraging his extensive network of clinical research sites, wound care centers, and advanced wound clinics.
"I am honored to join Cytora's Scientific Advisory Board at such a transformative time," said Dr. Thomas E. Serena. "This strategic Florida initiative offers a unique opportunity to bring the innovative, well-characterized, investigational stem cell therapy platform, CytoraStem™, to patients with DFU and other chronic wound conditions, while at the same time generating high-quality real-world data that can help advance wound care for patients worldwide."
About Cytora
Cytora is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company at the forefront of regenerative medicine, having developed CytoraStem™ its proprietary, allogeneic, human oral mucosal stem cell (hOMSC) off-the-shelf technology platform. Cytora's therapies are designed to address significant unmet medical needs, including chronic, hard-to-heal, diabetic foot ulcers (DFUs) and neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, Multiple System Atrophy (MSA), and Alzheimer's disease. The company has successfully completed a Phase 1/2a study in DFUs (NCT06003530) and is conducting a Phase 1 study in MSA (NCT05698017). Cytora's platform is based on the discoveries of Prof. Sandu Pitaru of Tel Aviv University's School of Dentistry, the company's scientific founder. For more information, please visit cytorastem.com.
About SerenaGroup®
SerenaGroup® is the leader in wound healing research worldwide. Under the leadership of Dr. Serena, the organization has conducted over 100 clinical trials in collaboration with the nation's first wound healing cooperative group. SerenaGroup® continues to expand its offerings to include interrelated technology solutions. SerenaGroup® is a global health care management company with the mission to develop the world's leading centers of excellence in wound and hyperbaric medicine. SerenaGroup® has placed a special emphasis on clinical performance, outcomes and clinical research in the wound care space. For more information, visit serenagroups.com.
About Made Scientific
Made Scientific is a U.S.-based cell therapy contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in the development and manufacture of autologous and allogeneic cell therapy products for clinical and commercial supply. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, Made Scientific combines the agility and entrepreneurial spirit of a specialist CDMO with deep technical expertise to deliver reliable and scalable manufacturing solutions. For more information, visit madescientific.com.
About ZEO ScientifiX, Inc.
ZEO ScientifiX, Inc. (OTCQB: ZEOX) is an SEC-reporting, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the research, development, and manufacturing of regenerative biologics. Operating out of Nova Southeastern University's Center of Collaborative Research, the Company translates emerging science into scalable clinical solutions. For more information, visit zeoscientifix.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding Cytora's development plans, regulatory pathways, activities under Florida Senate Bill 1768, and anticipated clinical and real-world data initiatives. These forward-looking statements are often identified by terminology such as "will," "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans," "potential," "anticipates," or similar expressions, and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. Factors that could cause such differences include, but are not limited to, regulatory developments, clinical trial outcomes, the ability to secure adequate funding, competition, market acceptance, the protection of intellectual property, manufacturing and supply considerations, and the evolving legal and regulatory framework governing investigational stem cell therapies in the United States, including under Florida Senate Bill 1768. Cytora undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by law.
Media Contact:
Netta Lamdan
Programs Management; Global Media Liaison
Netta.Lamdan@Cytorastem.com
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