Is this Ziopharm turnaround legit?

After cratering in late October, shares of the biotech company Ziopharm Oncology are seeing a resurgence — to the tune of a 75 percent gain — thanks to a turnaround strategy pitched by its execs. Is this investor optimism warranted, or overblown? STAT’s Adam Feuerstein peels apart what’s under the hood of what’s now, according to CEO Laurence Cooper, “a different company.”

One noteworthy personnel add: Ziopharm has attracted anti-cancer cell therapy pioneer Dr. Steve Rosenberg to its board — forging a research agreement with his lab at the National Cancer Institute to accelerate its pipeline of T cell receptor therapies.