ZIOPHARM Issues Statement Clarifying Speculation on Financing Activity BOSTON, MA

ZIOPHARM Issues Statement Clarifying Speculation on Financing Activity

BOSTON, MA July 20, 2016 ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZIOP), due to recent developments, today issued the following statement

clarifying market speculation regarding the Company s financing activity:

The Company currently has no plans to access the capital markets in

a securities offering. As it builds upon its broad and diverse set of cancer immunotherapy programs and platforms under development, ZIOPHARM will continue to manage its financial strategy in a way that is consistent with the best interests of its

shareholders and the long-term value of the Company.

About ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.:

ZIOPHARM Oncology is a Boston, Massachusetts-based biotechnology company employing novel gene expression, control and cell technologies to deliver safe,

effective and scalable cell- and viral-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. The Company s immuno-oncology programs, in collaboration with Intrexon Corporation (NYSE:XON) and the MD Anderson Cancer Center, include chimeric antigen

receptor T cell (CAR-T) and other adoptive cell-based approaches that use non-viral gene transfer methods for broad scalability. The Company is advancing programs in multiple stages of development together with Intrexon Corporation s RheoSwitch

Therapeutic System technology, a switch to turn on and off, and precisely modulate, gene expression in order to improve therapeutic index. The Company s pipeline includes a number of

cell-based therapeutics in both clinical and preclinical testing which are focused on hematologic and solid tumor malignancies.

Safe-Harbor Statement:

This press release contains certain forward-looking information about ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc. that is intended to be covered by

the safe harbor for forward-looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts, and in some cases can be identified by

terms such as may, will, could, expects, plans, anticipates, and believes. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company s

plans and expectations regarding its securities offerings, fundraising activities and financial strategy, the progress, timing and results of preclinical and clinical trials involving the Company s drug candidates, and the progress of the

Company s research and development programs. All of such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of the Company, that could cause actual results to

differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: our ability to finance our operations and business initiatives and obtain funding for such

activities, whether chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) approaches, Ad-RTS-hIL-12, TCR and NK cell-based therapies, or any of our other therapeutic candidates will advance further in the pre-clinical or clinical trials process and

whether and when, if at all, they will receive final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or equivalent foreign regulatory agencies and for which indications; whether chimeric

antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) approaches, Ad-RTS-hIL-12, TCR and NK cell-based therapies, and our other therapeutic products will be successfully marketed if approved; the strength and enforceability of our intellectual property rights;

competition from other pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies; and the other risk factors contained in our periodic and interim SEC reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to, our

Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015, and our Quarterly Report for the quarter ended March 31, 2016. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements that speak only as of the

date hereof, and we do not undertake any obligation to revise and disseminate forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of or non-occurrence of any events.

RheoSwitch Therapeutic System (RTS ) technology is a registered trademark of Intrexon Corporation.

Lori Ann Occhiogrosso

ZIOPHARM Oncology, Inc.