Celsion to Present Two Posters on its GEN-1 IL-12 Gene-Mediated Immunotherapy at the ASCO-SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J., Jan. 19, 2017 -- Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ:CLSN) today announced that it will present two posters at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) - Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Clinical Immuno-Oncology Symposium being held from February 23 – 25, 2017 in Orlando, FL.  The symposium will focus on the latest clinical and translational research in immuno-oncology and the implications for clinical care.  The first poster will report clinical results from the Phase Ib dose escalating clinical trial (the OVATION Study) combining GEN-1, the Company's IL-12 gene-mediated immunotherapy, with the standard of care for the treatment of newly-diagnosed patients with Stage III and IV ovarian cancer who will undergo neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by interval debulking surgery.  The second poster will report translational data from the OVATION Study and previous GEN-1 clinical trials.  The posters will be presented by Khursheed Anwer, Ph.D., Celsion’s executive vice president and chief science officer.

Poster Presentation details:

Title: Phase I study and activity of formulated IL-12 plasmid administered intraperitoneally in combination with standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed advanced stage ovarian cancer

Date and Time: Poster Session A – February 23, 2017 (11:30 am – 1:00 pm ET; 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm ET)

Poster Number: 155

Title: Immunological changes following intraperitoneal administration of a formulated IL-12 plasmid in combination with standard neoadjuvant chemotherapy in patients with newly diagnosed advanced stage ovarian cancer

Date and Time: Poster Session A – February 23, 2017 (11:30 am – 1:00 pm ET; 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm ET)

Poster Number: 156

“Our hypothesis is that GEN-1 plus neoadjuvant chemotherapy treatment will reprogram the tumor immune microenvironment towards a potent antitumor immune response,” said Dr. Anwer.  “The available data demonstrate highly relevant immunological changes in the tumor immune environment, such as tumor infiltration of cytotoxic T-cell lymphocytes and a reduction of certain immunosuppressive signals, which supports the immune activating role of GEN-1 in this patient population.  Evidence of immune activation following the treatment is also supported by increases in IFN-g, a potent mediator of the anti-tumor immune response associated with IL-12 action.  We are excited to present at the ASCO-SITC symposium, and look forward to sharing the impressive clinical and translational results with the scientific community.”

The OVATION Study is designed to enroll three to six patients per dose cohort with the goal of identifying a safe, tolerable and immunologically active dose of GEN-1 by recruiting and maximizing an immune response. Enrollment in the fourth cohort is ongoing with the goal of enrolling three additional patients in this final dose cohort.  Celsion expects to complete enrollment in the OVATION Study this quarter and report final data, including translational data for all patients, in the second quarter of 2017. Future studies of GEN-1 will include a Phase I/II study combining GEN-1 with Avastin® and Doxil®.

About Celsion Corporation

Celsion is a fully-integrated oncology company focused on developing a portfolio of innovative cancer treatments, including directed chemotherapies, immunotherapies and RNA- or DNA-based therapies. The Company's lead program is ThermoDox®, a proprietary heat-activated liposomal encapsulation of doxorubicin, currently in Phase III development for the treatment of primary liver cancer and in Phase II development for the treatment of recurrent chest wall breast cancer. The pipeline also includes GEN-1, a gene-mediated immunotherapy for the localized treatment of ovarian and brain cancers. Celsion has two platform technologies for the development of novel nucleic acid-based immunotherapies and other anticancer DNA or RNA therapies, including TheraPlas™ and TheraSilence™. For more information on Celsion, visit our website: http://www.celsion.com. (CLSN-G1 CLSN-OV)

Celsion wishes to inform readers that forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Readers are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, unforeseen changes in the course of research and development activities and in clinical trials; the uncertainties of and difficulties in analyzing interim clinical data, particularly in small subgroups that are not statistically significant; FDA and regulatory uncertainties and risks; the significant expense, time, and risk of failure of conducting clinical trials; the need for Celsion to evaluate its future development plans; possible acquisitions or licenses of other technologies, assets or businesses; possible actions by customers, suppliers, competitors, regulatory authorities; and other risks detailed from time to time in the Celsion's periodic reports and prospectuses filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  Celsion assumes no obligation to update or supplement forward-looking statements that become untrue because of subsequent events, new information or otherwise.

Celsion Investor Contact

Jeffrey W. Church
Sr. Vice President and CFO
609-482-2455
[email protected]