Ziopharm Oncology Appoints Mary Thistle to Board of Directors
November 16 2020 - 8:30AM
Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (“Ziopharm” or “the Company”) (Nasdaq:ZIOP)
today announced the appointment of Mary Thistle, Special Advisor
for the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute, to the
Company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).
Ms. Thistle brings more than 25 years of
experience in business development, strategy and operational
leadership in the biotechnology sector. At the Bill & Melinda
Gates Medical Research Institute, she previously held the role of
Chief of Staff before recently being appointed Special Advisor.
Prior to joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research
Institute, Ms. Thistle was Chief Operating Officer of Dimension
Therapeutics, where she directed multiple financing rounds
(including the company’s IPO), expanded the pipeline through
strategic business development transactions, and led the sale of
the company for a significant premium. Previously, Ms. Thistle was
Senior Vice President, Business Development at Cubist
Pharmaceuticals, where she was responsible for multiple
acquisitions and assisted in the sale of the company. She has also
held leadership positions at ViaCell and PerkinElmer.
“We are delighted to welcome Mary to the Board,”
said Scott Tarriff, Chairman of the Board. “Mary is recognized as a
strong collaborator and strategic leader, both as an executive and
a director. Her extensive industry experience and business acumen
will help ensure the Board effectively supports the Company’s
long-term strategy. Today’s announcement results from a national
search, which demonstrates the Board’s ongoing commitment to
refreshment with a diverse set of highly qualified individuals who
can help take the Company through clinical and commercial
success.”
Ms. Thistle added, “We have an exciting
opportunity with Ziopharm, as the Company has established a broad
portfolio of innovative, clinical programs to treat a range of
cancers and assembled a talented team to advance company-sponsored
trials in each of its core programs. I am delighted to begin
working with the Board, as well as with Laurence Cooper and the
management team.”
Ms. Thistle began her career in finance as a
Certified Public Accountant, after graduating summa cum laude with
a bachelor’s degree in business and accounting from the University
of Massachusetts. Ms. Thistle serves on the Boards of Directors of
Homology Medicines and Enterome SA.
The Company also announced today that Scott
Braunstein, M.D., has resigned from the Board. “On behalf of the
Board and entire Ziopharm organization, I’d like to thank Scott for
his many contributions and wish him the best in the future,” said
Scott Tarriff.
The Board consists of eight directors, including
seven non-employee directors. Five directors have joined the Board
in the last two years. The Board continues to actively review its
composition, including addressing feedback from the 2020 annual
shareholder meeting, to ensure that the skills and experience of
its directors can effectively support the progress of the Company
and the delivery of shareholder value.
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 collaborations with the National Cancer
Institute, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. For more information, please visit
www.ziopharm.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Disclaimer 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 growth of Ziopharm from a
development-stage entity to a commercial-stage company, development
of its clinical portfolio and research and development programs.
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: Adam D. Levy, PhD,
MBA EVP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications T:
508.552.9255E: alevy@ziopharm.com
Chris Taylor VP, IR and Corporate Communications T: 617.502.1881
E: ctaylor@ziopharm.com
Media Relations Contact:LifeSci
Communications:Patrick BurseyT: 646.876.4932E:
pbursey@lifescicomms.com
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