Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (“Ziopharm” or the “Company”)
(Nasdaq: ZIOP), today held its annual shareholders meeting and
reinforced its plan and vision for the Company developed and
endorsed by the Board and management team. In addition,
shareholders approved all of the Company’s proposals presented at
the meeting.
Results of Proxy Voting
- The proposal to elect Christopher Bowden, Heidi Hagen, James
Huang, Robert W. Postma, Mary Thistle, Jaime Vieser, and Holger
Weis as Company directors was carried.
- The selection of RSM US LLP as the Company’s independent
registered public accounting firm for the 2021 fiscal year was
ratified.
- The resolution concerning the advisory vote on the executive
compensation of the Company’s named executive officers was
approved.
- The amendment to the Company’s amended and restated certificate
of incorporation to increase the authorized number of shares of
common stock was approved.
Remarks by Interim Chief Executive
Officer Heidi Hagen
Heidi Hagen, Interim Chief Executive Offer,
provided a set of remarks laying out the progress the Company has
made in the past six months, a bold vision for delivering
shareholder value, and broader perspectives on the commercial
prospects of the Company’s two key investigational cellular
therapies.
Ms. Hagen commented during the meeting, “This is
a different company than it was when we met a year ago and more
importantly, this is a different company than it was six months
ago. We are convinced of that. We are building off a strong legacy
of scientific innovation that we continue to grow, and pivoting to
a more commercially-focused, clinical stage, operational Company,
with clear objectives and priorities.”
Ms. Hagen also remarked on the belief in the
market and commercial opportunity of the Company’s two key
investigational programs, its CD19 RPM CAR-T therapy, currently in
a Phase I trial being conducted by the Company’s Joint Venture
partner, Eden BioCell, and its TCR-T Library therapy, currently in
a Phase I/II trial being conducted at MD Anderson.
Regarding the Company’s CD19 RPM CAR-T therapy,
Ms. Hagen commented, “It is well documented that the existing CD19
companies and therapies are ‘curative’ and scientifically
groundbreaking, which is why KITE and JUNO sold for a combined
price of more than $20 billion. However, the cost and complexity of
these current products is way too high and the commercial
introduction and performance of these first generation CD19 CAR-T
therapies have not been able to overcome these challenges.
The real need in the market is to have the
therapy available at a fraction of the cost to patients, while
lowering the complexity to eventually allow for better patient
access through treatment in any city hospital or even an
oncologist’s office. Our Sleeping Beauty / membrane bound IL15
platform, we believe, addresses these challenges. This combination
has the potential to be administered to patients without
lymphodepletion, in a matter of days, in a local setting and at a
more accessible cost.”
Regarding the Company’s Library TCR-T therapy
and Phase I/II trial, Ms. Hagen commented, “Our current TCR hotspot
library could potentially cover about 100,000 new cases of solid
tumor cancer a year in the US alone. And as our library grows, that
growth becomes a force multiplier of the value of our technology.
This is truly a foundational trial with building momentum in the
development and ultimately the commercialization of a potentially
transformational therapy.”
Ms. Hagen also commented on the capital planning
strategy of the Company, saying, “It is encouraging that
shareholders gave overwhelming support to the Company’s request to
authorize additional shares. On behalf of the Board, the management
team and the Company, thank you for your trust and rest assured
these shares will be used judiciously.”
After the meeting, Executive Chairman of the
Board, James Huang, said, “We were pleased to see the results of
the voting and to have Heidi share comments on behalf of the
management team and Board. I said earlier this year that we have
the opportunity to build the oncology company of the future, and I
am encouraged by the tremendous progress made in the past six
months. Based on my experience in the sector, I believe this
Company is on a clear path to delivering significant value to
shareholders.”
Shareholders and other interested parties will
be able to view the webcast replay beginning May 20, 2021 by
visiting www.virtualshareholdermeeting.com/ZIOP2021.
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 cancer each
year. With its multiplatform approach, Ziopharm is at the forefront
of immuno-oncology. 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
rapidly manufactured Sleeping Beauty-enabled CD19-specific
CAR-T program and a precisely controlled IL-12 gene therapy. 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
DisclaimerThis 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 and
strategic plans, the potential commercial opportunity and treatment
benefits of our cell therapy programs, the expected growth of our
TCR-T library, the use of our authorized shares and our ability to
deliver future value to shareholders. 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 the Company’s operating plans that
may impact its 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, Ph.D., MBAEVP, Investor Relations
and Corporate CommunicationsT:
508.552.9255E: alevy@ziopharm.com
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