BOSTON, June 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (“Ziopharm” or “the Company”) (Nasdaq: ZIOP), today announced the appointment of renowned oncology and immunotherapy pioneer, Carl June, M.D., as Chairman of its newly formed Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Dr. June is recognized in the oncology field for his groundbreaking work in the development and commercialization of gene therapy and T-cell therapies. The SAB will provide strategic counsel to guide the efficient development of Ziopharm’s innovative technologies and pipeline of immunotherapies to treat the many patients with solid tumors.
“We are pleased to welcome Dr. June as the leader of our SAB,” said Laurence Cooper, M.D., Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of Ziopharm. “His unmatched experience and immense knowledge of immuno-oncology and cell therapies is a key addition for Ziopharm. We look forward to Carl’s guidance helping to develop our T-cell receptor program in our fight against solid tumors.”
Dr. June added, “Ziopharm has built a robust, scientifically-validated T-cell therapy program based on the Sleeping Beauty platform that offers the potential to transform the state of cancer care. I am excited to lead Ziopharm’s SAB and look forward to working with other experts, and the Company’s strong internal team, to help advance Ziopharm’s portfolio of cell and gene therapies toward commercialization.”
Dr. June has published more than 500 manuscripts on immunotherapy. He currently serves as the Richard W. Vague Professor in immunotherapy in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and as the Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies at the Perelman School of Medicine, as well as the Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the University of Pennsylvania. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including his election into the National Academies of Medicine and Science and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2018, Dr. June was named one of Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People for his work in the oncology field. Dr. June graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and earned his medical degree from the Baylor College of Medicine. He also completed training in immunology and malaria at the World Health Organization and completed his postdoctoral training in transplantation biology with the late Nobel Prize winner Dr. E. Donnall Thomas at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
About Ziopharm Oncology, Inc.
Ziopharm is developing non-viral and cytokine-driven cell and gene therapies that weaponize the body’s immune system to treat the millions of people globally diagnosed with a solid tumor each year. With its multiplatform approach, Ziopharm is at the forefront of immuno-oncology with a goal to treat any type of solid tumor. Ziopharm’s pipeline is built for commercially scalable, cost effective T-cell receptor T-cell therapies based on its non-viral Sleeping Beauty gene transfer platform, a precisely controlled IL-12 gene therapy, and rapidly manufactured Sleeping Beauty-enabled CD19-specific CAR-T program. The Company has clinical and strategic partnerships with the National Cancer Institute, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and others. For more information, please visit www.ziopharm.com
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This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, and in some cases can be identified by terms such as "may," "will," "could," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," and "believes." These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's business, strategic and commercialization plans. Although Ziopharm’s management team believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Ziopharm, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements. These risks and uncertainties include among other things, changes in our operating plans that may impact our cash expenditures, the uncertainties inherent in research and development, future clinical data and analysis, including whether any of Ziopharm’s product candidates will advance further in the preclinical research or clinical trial process, including receiving clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies to conduct clinical trials and whether and when, if at all, they will receive final approval from the U.S. FDA or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies and for which indication; the strength and enforceability of Ziopharm’s intellectual property rights; competition from other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies as well as risk factors discussed or identified in the public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission made by Ziopharm, including those risks and uncertainties listed in Ziopharm’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed by Ziopharm with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We are providing this information as of the date of this press release, and Ziopharm does not undertake any obligation to update or revise the information contained in this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or any other reason.
Investor Relations Contacts:
Ziopharm Oncology:
Chris Taylor
VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
T: 617.502.1881
E: ctaylor@ziopharm.com
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Mike Moyer
Managing Director
T: 617.308.4306
E : mmoyer@lifescicomms.com
Media Relations Contact:
LifeSci Communications:
Patrick Bursey
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