Creative Medical Technology Holdings, Inc. Advances Project PHOENIX into Nationwide AI Driven Virtual Data Collection Phase for U.S. Veterans Exposed to Burn Pits and Toxic Hazards

The regulatory approved CELZ-Biodefense platform is designed to scale to at least 1,000 veterans through AI-enabled mobile-app data collection and field-capable logistics

Proprietary CELZ-Biodefense Toxic Exposure Atlas™ intended to support AI-driven drug, biologic, biotherapeutic and regenerative therapy discovery

PHOENIX, June 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Creative Medical Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CELZ) ("Creative Medical," "CELZ," or the "Company"), a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing regenerative medicine, immune modulation and induced pluripotent stem cell ("iPSC") technologies, today announced the next operational milestone in Project PHOENIX, the Company's regulatory-approved, proprietary AI-driven registry and CELZ-Biodefense Regenerative BioDefense Initiative designed to support U.S. veterans exposed to burn pits, toxic environmental hazards and related service-connected exposure risks.

Following CELZ's previously announced BioDefense Veterans Initiative and subsequent regulatory approval to proceed with its BioDefense Burn Pit Initiative, this milestone advances the program from clearance and formation into nationwide virtual participant onboarding, longitudinal data collection and AI-enabled interpretation. The platform is designed to support an initial cohort of at least 1,000 veterans across the United States and to create a scalable foundation for future exposed military and civilian populations.

The decentralized model is designed to enable eligible veterans to participate from anywhere in the United States through a virtual mobile-app data collection system that captures exposure history, symptom patterns, patient-reported outcomes, longitudinal health information and other relevant data. When biospecimen collection or additional in-person data capture is required, CELZ's field-capable workflow is designed so trained collection teams can coordinate locally with participating veterans, reducing or eliminating the need for veterans to travel to centralized research sites.

"Regulatory approval allowed us to move forward; nationwide virtual execution is what allows us to scale," said Timothy Warbington, President and CEO of Creative Medical Technology Holdings. "Project PHOENIX is designed to meet veterans where they are - through mobile-app engagement, field-capable logistics and AI-driven collection and interpretation - while building a proprietary data engine that may help define the molecular consequences of toxic exposure and guide future therapeutic development in a cost-effective manner."

The announcement is intended to mark a distinct next step beyond CELZ's prior public milestones. The Company previously announced the launch of its BioDefense Veterans Initiative and later announced regulatory approval to proceed with the BioDefense Burn Pit Initiative. The milestone announced today focuses on operational execution: decentralized access, virtual data capture, field-capable collection logistics, multi-omics integration and AI-ready data architecture.

Consistent with prior Company disclosures, CELZ expects the current initiative to be executed through existing infrastructure, previously developed intellectual property, internal capabilities and established vendor relationships, and does not currently expect the initiative to require additional fundraising. Management believes this capital-efficient structure supports disciplined execution while preserving optionality for future value-enhancing collaborations.

"Capital discipline matters in biotechnology," continued Warbington. "By leveraging infrastructure and technologies already in place, we believe CELZ can advance a national Regenerative BioDefense program while maintaining focus on shareholder value, operational efficiency and the needs of veterans."

Project PHOENIX is designed to integrate real-world exposure histories and longitudinal participant data with multi-omics profiling, including, where appropriate and subject to applicable consent, privacy, research and regulatory requirements, genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, metabolomic, inflammatory, immunologic, clinical and cellular-response data.

The platform is designed to compare multi-omics signatures from exposed veterans against non-exposed reference populations. By applying AI-driven interpretation algorithms to these exposed-versus-non-exposed datasets, CELZ aims to identify biomarkers, exposure-associated disease pathways, risk signatures and potential therapeutic targets that may support the development of targeted drugs, biologics, biotherapeutics, regenerative cell therapies and other precision interventions for veterans and future exposed patients.

The Company believes this model can create multiple strategic outputs:

• A scalable, AI-ready dataset linking exposure history, clinical status and molecular biology.

• Biomarker and pathway insights that may help stratify toxic exposure-related disease risk and progression.

• iPSC-based disease and cellular injury models to support mechanistic research and therapeutic screening.

• Potential drug, biologic, biotherapeutic and regenerative therapy targets for future internal development or collaboration.

• A flexible Regenerative BioDefense framework that may be extended to environmental, industrial, chemical, biological and other emerging exposure threats.

As participation grows and data accrues, CELZ is developing the CELZ-Biodefense Toxic Exposure Atlas™, a proprietary AI-enabled discovery asset intended to organize exposure history, clinical outcomes, longitudinal participant data, multi-omics signatures, cellular-response data and disease biology into an interpretable framework.

The Atlas is intended to enable CELZ research teams and potential future partners to accelerate drug, biologic, biotherapeutic and regenerative therapeutic discovery by identifying patterns that may otherwise remain hidden in fragmented or siloed datasets. CELZ believes the Atlas can become a foundational, partner-ready asset for Regenerative BioDefense by connecting exposure characterization directly to target discovery, candidate prioritization and iPSC-based disease modeling.

The Company expects the CELZ-Biodefense Toxic Exposure Atlas™ to support:

• Identification of molecular signatures associated with burn pit and toxic exposure.

• Comparison of exposed veteran cohorts with non-exposed reference populations.

• Stratification of participants by molecular risk profiles and disease progression patterns.

• Discovery of biomarkers linked to respiratory, cardiovascular, neurological, inflammatory, immune-mediated and systemic effects.

• AI-driven target discovery for drugs, biologics, biotherapeutics and regenerative therapies.

• Creation of iPSC-based models to study exposure-related injury pathways and screen therapeutic approaches.

• Expansion into future military, civilian, environmental, industrial, chemical and biological exposure applications.

Burn pit and toxic exposure concerns remain a national priority, with federal initiatives such as the PACT Act expanding health care and benefits for veterans exposed to burn pits, Agent Orange and other toxic substances. The Department of Veterans Affairs has also described open-air burn pit use as a common practice in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of the Southwest Asia theater of military operations, with health effects potentially influenced by waste type, proximity, duration and frequency of exposure, wind direction and other airborne or environmental hazards.

CELZ believes the complexity of these exposures creates a need for next-generation tools that can connect real-world exposure history to molecular biology, disease progression and therapeutic discovery. The Company's approach is designed to complement, not replace, existing veteran health care, VA benefits processes, toxic exposure screenings or the VA Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry.

The broader national biodefense landscape is also evolving as policymakers and defense health leaders focus on naturally occurring, accidental and deliberate biological incidents, including emerging biological threats and rapidly evolving biotechnology. CELZ believes its integrated model - virtual access, field-capable collection, AI-enabled multi-omics interpretation and proprietary regenerative medicine technologies - positions the Company as a next-generation Regenerative BioDefense company.

"Our strong foundation in regenerative medicine is supporting our growth and evolution into a Regenerative BioDefense platform company," said Warbington. "We are building infrastructure that may support veterans today, strengthen national medical readiness and create a proprietary discovery engine for targeted drugs, biologics, biotherapeutics and regenerative therapeutics for future exposed populations while still accelerating our existing programs and platforms."

The Company believes the nationwide virtual AI-driven and mobile-app data collection model offers important strategic advantages:

• Expanded access: Eligible veterans may participate from anywhere in the United States, with field-capable support designed to reduce travel burden.

• Scalable data generation: The platform is designed to support at least 1,000 veterans initially and expand as program needs evolve.

• Longitudinal insight: Mobile-app engagement may enable ongoing data collection rather than one-time site-based assessments.

• AI-ready architecture: Standardized data capture is intended to support cleaner, more interpretable datasets for algorithmic analysis.

• Therapeutic discovery leverage: Multi-omics comparisons between exposed and non-exposed populations may help identify biomarkers, targets and disease pathways.

• Partner-ready infrastructure: As the CELZ-Biodefense Toxic Exposure Atlas™ develops, CELZ believes it may enable internal teams and potential future partners to accelerate drug, biologic and regenerative therapy development.

• Capital-efficient execution: The program is structured to leverage existing Company infrastructure, intellectual property and relationships while maintaining disciplined resource allocation.

Creative Medical Technology Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CELZ) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company advancing regenerative medicine, immune modulation and induced pluripotent stem cell technologies. The Company's platform supports therapeutic programs across multiple areas of unmet medical need and integrates cellular regeneration with AI-driven analytics to support next-generation therapeutic development and Regenerative BioDefense applications.

For more information, visitwww.creativemedicaltechnology.comorwww.biodefenseinc.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Project PHOENIX, the Company's CELZ-Biodefense Regenerative BioDefense Initiative, virtual mobile-app data collection, field-capable collection logistics, anticipated scalability to at least 1,000 veterans, capital-efficient execution, expected use of existing infrastructure and relationships, multi-omics analysis, AI-driven interpretation algorithms, comparisons between exposed and non-exposed populations, development of the CELZ-Biodefense Toxic Exposure Atlas™, potential biomarkers, risk signatures, therapeutic targets, drug candidates, biologics, biotherapeutics, regenerative therapies, iPSC-based models, future partnerships or collaborations, biodefense applications, future exposed military or civilian populations and the Company's positioning as a Regenerative BioDefense platform company.

Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described. These risks include, but are not limited to, clinical, regulatory, operational, technical, privacy, data-security, enrollment, financing, market, manufacturing, intellectual property, commercialization, competitive and other risks described in the Company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company's technologies and programs remain subject to further development, validation, regulatory review and applicable approvals. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements except as required by law.

Creative Medical Technology Holdings, Inc.

Investor Relations: IR@CreativeMedicalTechnology.com

Devin Sullivan, Managing Director - The Equity Group Inc.

Conor Rodriguez, Associate - The Equity Group Inc.