GlobeNewswire Inc | May 4, 2021 08:00AM EDT

May 04, 2021

BOSTON, May 04, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ziopharm Oncology, Inc. (Ziopharm or the Company) (Nasdaq: ZIOP), announced today that Laurence J.N. Cooper, PhD, MD, Scientific Advisor to the Company, will present and participate in an upcoming panel discussion at the University of Pennsylvanias upcoming Cellicon Valley symposium, May 6-7, 2021.

I am excited to participate in this important event on behalf of Ziopharm, said Dr. Cooper. This meeting will bring together a wide variety of leading thinkers and researchers, and I am looking forward to sharing my perspectives on Ziopharms unique technologies.

The panel session, entitled Gene Delivery and Editing for Better CARs, will be moderated by Fyodor D. Urnov, PhD, Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California at Berkley.

Dr. Coopers remarks will focus on the advantages of Ziopharms cellular therapy technologies targeting solid tumors, including its proprietary non-viral gene transfer system, Sleeping Beauty.

Interested parties may register for the event using this link. Registrants will be able to view the event beginning at 9am ET on Thursday May 6, 2021, under Conference Track 3: Pre-Clinical / Manufacturing. The live Q&A will take place at 3:30pm ET also on May 6, 2021. Dr. Coopers slides will also be posted on the Ziopharm website in the Investors section.

AboutZiopharm Oncology, Inc.Ziopharm is developing non-viral and cytokine-driven cell and gene therapies that weaponize the bodys 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. Ziopharms pipeline is built for commercially scalable, cost effective T-cell receptor T-cell therapies based on its non-viralSleeping Beautygene transfer platform, a precisely controlled IL-12 gene therapy, and rapidly manufacturedSleeping Beauty-enabled CD19-specific CAR-T program. The Company has clinical and strategic collaborations with theNational Cancer Institute,The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centerand Regeneron Pharmaceuticals. For more information, please visitwww.ziopharm.com.

Investor Relations Contact:Adam D. Levy, Ph.D., MBAEVP, Investor Relations and Corporate CommunicationsT: 508.552.9255E:alevy@ziopharm.com