New cancer immunotherapies that turn patients’ immune systems against their tumors are revolutionizing cancer treatment. However, the remarkable patient responses that are transforming therapeutic approaches are often limited to a minority of cancer patients. As a result, the medical and scientific community is focused on discovering new ways to modulate anti-cancer immune responses as well as possible combination therapies that will increase patient response and overall survival rates.
Oncolytic Viruses: Targeted, Potent, Safe
Oncolytic viruses are genetically modified in various ways to target cancer cells with precision, to maximize their immune enhancing properties and to leave normal cells unharmed. The diversity of suitable virus families and advanced engineering techniques enable the development a wide range of oncolytic viruses to target specific types of cancers.
Oncolytic Virotherapy of Cancer
Cancers have evolved to evade the body’s natural immune defenses, making tumor cells particularly vulnerable to viral attack. When a virus infects a cancer cell, the virus quickly makes copies of itself until the cell dissolves (lysis). Destroyed tumor cells release antigens that enable the immune system to recognize the cancer and join the fight. Addition of new immuno-oncology drugs, such as anti-PD(L)-1 antibodies, with virotherapy has shown to achieve superior therapeutic outcomes in animal models and cancer patients.
Vyriad Approach
Vyriad is developing two oncolytic virus platforms with best-in-class potential in this exciting new field of anti-cancer medicines: Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) and Measles Virus (MV-NIS).
