Gradalis Announces the Appointment of Dr. Brian Daniels to the Newly Formed Scientific Advisory Board

DALLAS, Oct. 24, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gradalis, Inc. today announced that Brian Daniels, MD has joined the Gradalis Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) under the chairmanship of Professor Sir Marc Feldmann, AC, FRS. 

"We are pleased to have Dr. Daniels, a seasoned drug development expert, join the SAB to help guide Gradalis' translational and clinical effort," said Sunil Joshi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gradalis.  "Brian brings tremendous experience in running clinical trials across diverse therapeutic areas, which will be invaluable in guiding our proprietary Vigil^® Engineered Autologous Tumor Cells (EATCs) immunotherapy platform."

Dr. Daniels has twenty years of experience in clinical development, medical affairs, and commercialization. Among Brian's accomplishments are directing the drug development efforts that led to the registration of numerous innovative medicines for the treatment of cancer, HIV, viral hepatitis, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, and rare genetic disorders.

Dr. Daniels served as Senior Vice President, Global Development and Medical Affairs, and a member of the Senior Management Team, at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.  Prior to that, Brian honed his clinical development skills at Merck and Genentech.  Brian currently serves as a Senior Advisor with BCG, and as a Venture Partner at 5AM Ventures in Menlo Park, California. He is a member of the Board for Novo Nordisk A/S and volunteers his time at The Gladstone Institutes at the University of California in San Francisco as a translational partner.

"Because Gradalis is a very unusual small company in already having years of clinical research experience, I am pleased that Brian has decided to join the SAB," said Sir Marc Feldmann, Chairman of the Gradalis SAB.  "The science of immuno-oncology is very complex, and it is very helpful to have a clinical development expert on the team to provide his valuable perspective."

"It is a pleasure to join the Gradalis SAB," said Dr. Daniels.  "Being an immunologist by training, and having worked on Opdivo^® and Yervoy^® through development and registration, I am looking forward to helping the Gradalis team and the SAB on Vigil cellular immunotherapy that has the potential of advancing Oncology care."

About Vigil EATC: Vigil is an investigational cellular immunotherapy technology that combines the concepts of genetic engineering with the science of immuno-oncology, to enable an immune response to cancer cells. A patient's tumor cells are engineered with a plasmid carrying the gene vector for shRNA Furin and GMCSF to elicit a systemic T-cell directed immune response when administered to the patient through intradermal injections.  By utilizing the patient's own tumor as the antigen source, Vigil EATC is designed to elicit an immune response that is specifically targeted and broadly relevant to each patient's unique tumor antigens.  Vigil EATC is being studied in Ewing's sarcoma and ovarian cancer as a single agent, and in breast cancer, non-small cell lung cancer and melanoma in combination with PD-L1 inhibitors.  More information about these studies can be found on www.vigilclinicaltrials.com.

About Gradalis: Gradalis is a fully integrated biotechnology company based in Dallas, Texas that focuses on the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of novel proprietary personalized cellular immunotherapies to treat cancer. Gradalis operates a cGMP manufacturing facility in Carrolton, Texas. For more information about Gradalis, Inc. please visit www.gradalisinc.com.

Gradalis^® and Vigil^® are registered trademarks of Gradalis, Inc.
Opdivo^® and Yervoy^® are registered trademarks of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

Gradalis Contact:
Beth Kriegel
Chief Financial Officer
(214) 307-8203

SOURCE Gradalis, Inc.

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