Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp. and CERo Therapeutics, Inc. Announce Close of Business Combination

Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ:PBAX) (“PBAX”) and CERo Therapeutics, Inc., an innovative immunotherapy company seeking to advance the next generation of engineered T cell therapeutics that employ phagocytic mechanisms (“CERo”) today announced that their previously announced business combination has closed, resulting in CERo becoming a publicly-traded company. In connection with the consummation of the business combination, the combined public company was renamed “CERo Therapeutics Holdings, Inc.” The shares of common stock of the combined public company have been approved for listing on the Nasdaq Global Market and are expected to commence trading under the ticker symbol “CERO” tomorrow.

Additional information about the transaction with be provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About CERo Therapeutics, Inc.

CERo is an innovative immunotherapy company advancing the development of next generation engineered T cell therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Its proprietary approach to T cell engineering, which enables it to integrate certain desirable characteristics of both innate and adaptive immunity into a single therapeutic construct, is designed to engage the body’s full immune repertoire to achieve optimized cancer therapy. This novel cellular immunotherapy platform is expected to redirect patient-derived T cells to eliminate tumors by building in engulfment pathways that employ phagocytic mechanisms to destroy cancer cells, creating what CERo refers to as Chimeric Engulfment Receptor T cells (“CER-T”). CERo believes the differentiated activity of CER-T cells will afford them greater therapeutic application than currently approved chimeric antigen receptor (“CAR-T”) cell therapy, as the use of CER-T may potentially span both hematological malignancies and solid tumors. CERo anticipates initiating clinical trials for its lead product candidate, CER-1236, in 2024 for hematological malignancies.

About Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp.

Phoenix Biotech Acquisition Corp. was a blank-check company formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with one or more businesses.

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Chris Ehrlich Vice Chairman [e-mail]