Celsion Corporation Announces Formation of Vaccine Advisory Board
February 12 2021 - 8:30AM
Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ:
CLSN), an oncology drug development company, today
announced the formation of a Vaccine Advisory Board and the
appointment of its first two members:
- Britt A. Glaunsinger, Ph.D., Professor, Virology &
Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of
California, Berkeley, and
- Dr. Xinzhen Yang, M.D., Ph.D.,
Independent Professional Consultant for the Gerson Lehman Group and
former Director of Viral Vaccines / Program Lead of the HCMV
Vaccine Program at Pfizer Inc.
“We are delighted to launch our Vaccine Advisory
Board with these impressive scientists as charter members,” said
Michael H. Tardugno, Celsion’s chairman, president and chief
executive officer. “We view Drs. Glaunsinger’s and Yang’s agreement
to advise us on the development of our TheraPlas technology-based
PLACCINE DNA vaccine platform for the prevention and treatment of
COVID-19 and other dangerous viruses as a vote of confidence in our
technology. We look forward to adding more talented individuals to
this advisory board, as well as to making key internal hires as we
advance this promising platform.”
With more than 20 years of academic experience
in microbiology and virology, Dr. Glaunsinger has held research
positions and professorships at the University of California, San
Francisco, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of
California, Berkeley (with tenure), where she holds the UC Berkeley
Class of 1963 Endowed Chair. In recent years, she served as Vice
Chair, Gordon Conference on Viruses and Cells; Member of the 2020
COVID-19 Rapid Research Response Scientific Advisory Board,
Innovative Genomics Institute; Member of the advisory board of the
2020 COVID-19 Catalyst Fund; Chair of the 2020 Center for Emerging
and Neglected Diseases; and, Chair of the 2021 Gordon Conference on
Viruses and Cells. A prolific researcher, Dr. Glaunsinger has
published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles on viruses.
Dr. Glaunsinger earned a B.S. in molecular and
cell biology from the University of Arizona, a Ph.D. in molecular
virology from the Baylor College of Medicine and was a postdoctoral
research fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. She
is a lifetime member of the American Society for Virology, and is a
member of the American Society for Microbiology and the RNA
Society.
Dr. Yang has global experience leading
cross-functional teams to develop products from scientific
discovery to preclinical to clinical evidence development. He has
advanced expertise in virology, vaccinology and immunology with
extensive research and teaching experience in leading institutions
in academia and in the pharmaceutical industry. He currently serves
as a consultant for the Gerson Lehman Group. Previously, Dr. Yang
joined Pfizer in 2014 and held positions of increasing
responsibility, serving as Director, Viral Vaccines and Program
Lead of The HCMV (human cytomegalovirus) Vaccine program. At Pfizer
he served as a member of the Vaccine Technical Review Committee and
as a member of Vaccine Clinical Review Committee. Previously he
served on the faculty of the Chinese Academy of Preventive
Medicine, where he led pioneering epidemiological studies on
HIV/AIDS in China. Dr. Yang has published many peer-reviewed
articles.
Dr. Yang earned an M.S. in epidemiology and
holds the M.D. degree equivalent from Fudan University (formerly
the Shanghai Medical University) and a Ph.D. in Molecular Virology
from Baylor College of Medicine. He was a postdoctoral research
fellow at Harvard Medical School, where he also was an Instructor
of Pathology and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Virology.
About the PLACCINE platform
PLACCINE is Celsion’s proprietary plasmid and
DNA delivery technology and the subject of a provisional patent
application that covers a broad range of next-generation DNA
vaccines and was announced on January 28, 2021. An adaptation of
the Company’s TheraPlas technology, PLACCINE is a DNA vaccine
technology platform characterized by a single plasmid DNA with
multiple coding regions. The plasmid vector is designed to express
multiple pathogen antigens along with a potent immune modifier. It
is delivered via a synthetic delivery system and has the potential
to be easily modified to create vaccines against a multitude of
infectious diseases, addressing:
- Viral Mutations:
PLACCINE may offer broad-spectrum and mutational resistance
(variants) by targeting multiple antigens on a single plasmid
vector.
- Enhanced Efficacy:
The potent immune modifier IL-12 may improve humoral and cellular
responses to viral antigens and can be incorporated in the
plasmid.
- Durable Efficacy:
PLACCINE delivers a DNA plasmid-based antigen that can result in
durable antigen exposure and a robust vaccine response to viral
antigens.
- Storage &
Distribution: PLACCINE allows for stability that is
compatible with manageable vaccine storage and distribution.
- Dosing &
Administration: PLACCINE is a synthetic delivery system
that should require a simple injection that does not require
viruses or special equipment to deliver its payload.
About Celsion Corporation
Celsion is a fully integrated, clinical stage
biotechnology company focused on advancing a portfolio of
innovative cancer treatments, including immunotherapies, DNA-based
therapies and directed chemotherapies through clinical trials and
eventual commercialization. The company’s product pipeline includes
GEN-1, a DNA-based immunotherapy for the localized treatment of
ovarian cancer. ThermoDox®, a proprietary heat-activated liposomal
encapsulation of doxorubicin, is under investigator-sponsored
development for several cancer indications. Celsion also has two
feasibility stage platform technologies for the development of
novel nucleic acid-based immunotherapies and other anti-cancer DNA
or RNA therapies. Both are novel synthetic, non-viral vectors with
demonstrated capability in nucleic acid cellular transfection. For
more information on Celsion, visit www.celsion.com.
Forward-looking Statements
Forward-looking statements in this news release
are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are
based upon current beliefs, expectation, and assumptions and
include statements regarding the platform having the potential to
provide broad protection against coronavirus disease 2019
(COVID-19), and possible future mutations of SARS-CoV-2 or other
coronaviruses. These statements are subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict,
including the ability of the Company’s platform to provide broad
protection against COVID-19, and possible future mutations of
SARS-CoV-2 or other coronaviruses, the issuance of a patent to the
Company for use of its technology platform for treating or
preventing infection with the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes
COVID-19, unforeseen changes in the course of research and
development activities and in clinical trials; the uncertainties of
and difficulties in analyzing interim clinical data, particularly
in small subgroups that are not statistically significant; FDA and
regulatory uncertainties and risks; the significant expense, time
and risk of failure of conducting clinical trials; the need for
Celsion to evaluate its future development plans; possible
acquisitions or licenses of other technologies, assets or
businesses; possible actions by customers, suppliers, competitors
or regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to
time in the Celsion's periodic filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. Celsion assumes no obligation to update or
supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of
subsequent events, new information or otherwise.
Celsion Investor ContactJeffrey
W. ChurchExecutive Vice President and
CFO609-482-2455jchurch@celsion.com
LHA Investor RelationsKim
Sutton Golodetz212-838-3777kgolodetz@lhai.com
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