Celsion Corporation Announces Formation of Vaccine Advisory Board

Board to provide guidance in developing the PLACCINE platform for the prevention and treatment of infectious agents, including SARS-CoV-2

LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J., Feb. 12, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Celsion Corporation (NASDAQ: CLSN), an oncology drug development company, today announced the formation of a Vaccine Advisory Board and the appointment of its first two members:

• Britt A. Glaunsinger, Ph.D., Professor, Virology & Molecular Biology, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, and
   
• Dr. Xinzhen Yang, M.D., Ph.D., Independent Professional Consultant for the Gerson Lehman Group and former Director of Viral Vaccines / Program Lead of the HCMV Vaccine Program at Pfizer Inc.

“We are delighted to launch our Vaccine Advisory Board with these impressive scientists as charter members,” said Michael H. Tardugno, Celsion’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “We view Drs. Glaunsinger’s and Yang’s agreement to advise us on the development of our TheraPlas technology-based PLACCINE DNA vaccine platform for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and other dangerous viruses as a vote of confidence in our technology. We look forward to adding more talented individuals to this advisory board, as well as to making key internal hires as we advance this promising platform.”

With more than 20 years of academic experience in microbiology and virology, Dr. Glaunsinger has held research positions and professorships at the University of California, San Francisco, Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the University of California, Berkeley (with tenure), where she holds the UC Berkeley Class of 1963 Endowed Chair. In recent years, she served as Vice Chair, Gordon Conference on Viruses and Cells; Member of the 2020 COVID-19 Rapid Research Response Scientific Advisory Board, Innovative Genomics Institute; Member of the advisory board of the 2020 COVID-19 Catalyst Fund; Chair of the 2020 Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases; and, Chair of the 2021 Gordon Conference on Viruses and Cells. A prolific researcher, Dr. Glaunsinger has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles on viruses.

Dr. Glaunsinger earned a B.S. in molecular and cell biology from the University of Arizona, a Ph.D. in molecular virology from the Baylor College of Medicine and was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of California, San Francisco. She is a lifetime member of the American Society for Virology, and is a member of the American Society for Microbiology and the RNA Society.