Gradalis Announces the Appointment of Sir Marc Feldmann as Chairman of the Newly Formed Scientific Advisory Board

DALLAS, Sept. 7, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Gradalis, Inc. today announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) under the leadership of Prof. Sir Marc Feldmann, AC, FRS, who will serve as Chairman of the SAB. 

"We are thrilled to have Sir Marc, a leading expert in translational immunology to guide Gradalis' scientific effort.  The background and experience of our SAB members will be invaluable as we advance our proprietary Vigil^® Engineered Autologous Tumor Cells (EATCs) immunotherapy platform," said Sunil Joshi, Chief Executive Officer of Gradalis. "Importantly, the formation of our SAB serves as an endorsement for scientific and clinical enthusiasm for VIGIL."

Sir Marc Feldmann is a pre-eminent immunologist at the University of Oxford where he was Head of the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology until 2014. He trained in medicine at Melbourne University and then earned a Ph.D. in Immunology at the Walter & Eliza Hall Institute with Sir Gus Nossal, before working in London at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund. Sir Feldmann's main research interests are immunoregulation, mechanisms of autoimmunity and the role of cytokines in disease.

Sir Marc Feldmann made a major discovery by uncovering the importance of TNF in rheumatoid arthritis and consequently developing anti-TNF therapy. Anti-TNF therapeutics are the current leading drug class, sales 2015 exceeded $30 Billion. This work has led to his election to the Royal Society, the National Academy of Sciences USA, and the Australian Academy of Science, and to major prizes: Crafoord Prize of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Award, the Albert Lasker Clinical Research Award, and the Canada Gairdner Award among others.

"I am pleased to chair Gradalis' Scientific Advisory Board and work with the team to advance the science behind immune activation with Vigil engineered autologous tumor cells," stated Sir Marc Feldmann. "The science of immuno-oncology is very complex and the approach of Gradalis is complementary to the breakthrough check point inhibitors, and importantly appears to be safe in the small patient numbers treated so far. More work is needed to understand how to optimally use Vigil engineered cells to effectively address the remaining unmet medical needs in oncology."

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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