BOSTON, Dec. 09, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (“Ziopharm” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: ZIOP) today reported that the Company granted a new employee an option to purchase an aggregate of 65,000 shares of Ziopharm’s common stock effective November 21, 2019. The options were granted as an inducement material to such employee’s entering into employment with Ziopharm in accordance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5635(c)(4).

The option has an exercise price of $4.59 per share, the closing price of the Company’s common stock on November 21, 2019. The option has a ten-year term and vests over four years, subject to the new employee’s continued service with the Company on each applicable vesting date. The option is subject to the terms and conditions of the Company’s Amended and Restated 2012 Equity Incentive Plan, and the terms and conditions of a stock option agreement covering the grant.

About Ziopharm Oncology, Inc.
Ziopharm Oncology is an immuno-oncology company focused on developing end-to-end cost-effective solutions using its non-viral Sleeping Beauty platform for T-cell receptor (TCR) and chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapies and immune-stimulating gene therapy with Controlled interleukin 12 (IL-12). The Sleeping Beauty platform genetically modifies T cells with DNA plasmids to express TCRs to target neoantigens inside and outside hotspots for solid tumors and CAR to target CD19 for blood cancers using the Company’s “Rapid Personalized Manufacture” to produce and release CAR-T as soon as the day after gene transfer. The Sleeping Beauty platform is being advanced in collaboration with the National Cancer Institute, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Eden BioCell. The Company is also developing its Controlled IL-12 platform, or Ad-RTS-hIL-12 plus veledimex, as monotherapy and in combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors to treat brain cancer, including in collaboration with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals.

Ziopharm Contact:
Chris Taylor
VP, Investor Relations and Corporate Communications
617.502.1881
ctaylor@ziopharm.com