"The continuing strength of the HEAT Study data reinforces our confidence in ThermoDox® as the first and only front line therapy for newly diagnosed HCC patients and further improves the risk profile of our Phase III OPTIMA Study, currently enrolling patients in 12 countries globally," said Michael H. Tardugno, Celsion's chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Equally important is the maturing data and the remarkable clinical benefit seen in the Chinese patient cohort. This large 221 patient subgroup represents a country with over 50% of the world's incidence (over 400,000 new cases) of HCC every year. These specific findings, along with the 25.4 months improvement in time to death seen in the global population, strengthen our options for discussions with the CFDA to identify a faster path to commercialization."

The Phase III OPTIMA Study is expected to enroll up to 550 patients in up to 75 clinical sites in the United States, Europe, China and Asia Pacific, and will evaluate ThermoDox® in combination with optimized RFA, which will be standardized to a minimum of 45 minutes across all investigators and clinical sites for treating lesions three to seven centimeters, versus standardized RFA alone. The primary endpoint for the trial is Overall Survival, which is supported by post-hoc analysis of data from the Company's 701 patient HEAT Study, where optimized RFA has demonstrated the potential to significantly improve survival when combined with ThermoDox®. The statistical plan calls for two interim efficacy analyses by an independent Data Monitoring Committee (iDMC).


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 Phase II development for the treatment of recurrent chest wall breast cancer. The pipeline also includes GEN-1, a DNA-based immunotherapy for the localized treatment of ovarian and brain cancers. Celsion has three platform technologies for the development of novel nucleic acid-based immunotherapies and other anti-cancer DNA or RNA therapies, including TheraPlas™ and TheraSilence™. For more information on Celsion, visit our website: http://www.celsion.com.

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