Gradalis Announces the Appointment of Dr. Steven Burakoff to the Newly Formed Scientific Advisory Board

DALLAS, Oct. 19, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gradalis, Inc. today announced that Steven J. Burakoff, MD has joined the Gradalis Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) under the chairmanship of Professor Sir Marc Feldmann, AC, FRS. 

"I am extremely pleased that Dr. Burakoff, world renowned expert in cellular immunology and T-cell activation, especially in relevance to cancer, has joined the Gradalis SAB," said Sunil Joshi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gradalis.  "We are looking forward to close collaboration with Dr. Burakoff, to better understand the mechanism of action of Vigil^® technology."

Dr. Burakoff is currently the Lillian and Henry Stratton Professor of Medicine and the Director of The Tisch Cancer Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS).  Prior to his appointment in 2007 to the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, Dr. Burakoff was the Laura and Isaac Perlmutter Professor at New York University School of Medicine, the Director of the New York University Cancer Institute, and the Director of the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine. 

Prior to 2000, Dr. Burakoff was Chair of Pediatric Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Margaret M. Dyson Professor of Pediatrics at the Harvard Medical School.  Dr. Burakoff serves as a member of the External Advisory Committee of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation and he is on the Joint Scientific Advisory Board for Stand Up to Cancer. He has been an Editor and Associate Editor for numerous journals and author of more than 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals.  In 2009, Dr. Burakoff received the American Association of Immunologists Lifetime Achievement Award.

"I am very pleased to have Steven join the Gradalis Scientific Advisory Board," said Sir Marc Feldmann, Chairman of the Gradalis SAB.  "His insights and experience in both cancer therapy and cellular immunology will be invaluable in asking critical questions about the immune effects of Vigil engineered tumor cells and guiding the work of this SAB." 

"It is a pleasure to join the Gradalis SAB," said Dr. Burakoff.  "The Gradalis Vigil platform provides a unique opportunity for correlative studies to elucidate the nature of the immune response in cancer, and to ultimately translate this knowledge into therapeutic benefit for cancer patients."

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.

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

SOURCE Gradalis, Inc.

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