Calidi Biotherapeutics Confirms Featured Speaker Presentation Tomorrow at the ASGCT Conference in Boston

SAN DIEGO, May 13, 2026 — Antonio F. Santidrian, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Technical Operations for Calidi Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: CLDI) (“Calidi” or “the Company”), a biotechnology company pioneering the development of targeted genetic medicines, will speak tomorrow at the annual conference of the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Santidrian was invited to speak at the conference and detail the exciting promise of Calidi’s RedTail platform and pipeline. The Company’s proprietary RedTail platform is a systemically delivered virotherapy platform engineered to selectively target tumors, remodel the tumor microenvironment (“TME”), and enable high-level expression of therapeutic genetic payloads directly within tumors.

Dr. Santidrian will discuss the engineering of the RedTail platform and present new data on CLD-401, the first lead from the RedTail platform. CLD-401 is a systemically delivered virotherapy designed to selectively target tumors and enable high-level expression of IL-15 superagonist (“IL-15 SA”), a known T- and NK-cell activator, driving profound immune changes in the TME, including the recruitment and activation of NK, NK-T, and gamma delta (γδ) T-cells that lead to a robust therapeutic response in immunocompetent animal models. The Company expects to file an IND for CLD-401 by the end of 2026. In addition to IL-15 SA delivery with CLD-401, the RedTail platform has also been shown to enable in situ expression of tumor-targeted T cell engagers, as demonstrated in a separate American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) presentation focused on the CLD-501 program.

“The data I will discuss tomorrow demonstrates the potential of the RedTail platform as systemic virotherapy that can deliver genetic medicine to metastatic sites after systemic administration,” said Dr. Santidrian. “The ability of CLD-401 to induce high levels of IL15-SA expression in the TME while maintaining low circulating levels may dramatically expand the therapeutic window of IL-15-mediated treatment.”

The Company continues to expand the functionality of the RedTail platform, with data presented at AACR across multiple programs including CLD-401 and CLD-501, and is also actively pursuing strategic partnerships to accelerate clinical development and broaden the impact of its RedTail platform.

About Calidi

Calidi Biotherapeutics (NYSE American: CLDI) is a biotechnology company pioneering the development of targeted therapies with the potential to deliver genetic medicines to distal sites of disease. The company’s proprietary RedTail platform features an engineered enveloped oncolytic virus designed for systemic delivery and targeting of metastatic sites. This advanced enveloped technology is intended to shield the virus from immune clearance, allowing virotherapy to effectively reach tumor sites, induce tumor lysis, and deliver potent genetic medicine(s) to metastatic locations.

CLD-401, the lead candidate from the RedTail platform, currently in IND-enabling studies, targets non-small cell lung cancer, head and neck cancer, and other tumor types with high unmet medical need. Calidi continues to advance its pipeline utilizing the RedTail platform including its novel approach to incorporate in situ T-cell engagers in solid tumors.

Calidi Biotherapeutics is headquartered in San Diego, California. For more information, please visit www.calidibio.com or view Calidi’s Corporate Presentation here.