Innovative Multimillion-Dollar Grant Was
Created in 2022 to Drive Biopharma Industry to Speed Development of
Pancreatic Cancer Therapies
BOSTON and SAN
DIEGO and CALGARY,
AB, Sept. 26, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In an
effort to continue accelerating new treatment options for people
with pancreatic cancer, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
(PanCAN) today announced Oncolytics Biotech, Inc. (NASDAQ:
ONCY) (TSX: ONC) as the recipient of its second annual PanCAN
Therapeutic Accelerator Award. Oncolytics received this award
in recognition of its promising work on pelareorep, an
investigational immunotherapy treatment that introduces
double-stranded RNA into cancer cells, which stimulates anticancer
inflammatory effects, including innate and adaptive immune
responses and the activation and recruitment of T cells into the
tumor. This $5 million grant will
enable Oncolytics to continue the next stage of its research
focused on a clinical trial with Oncolytics' proprietary reovirus
pelareorep in combination with modified FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy
with or without an immune checkpoint inhibitor. If results are
encouraging, the treatment combination may be advanced to
late-stage clinical development through the PanCAN Precision
PromiseSM adaptive clinical trial platform.
The combination of pelareorep, gemcitabine, nab-paclitaxel, and
atezolizumab was granted Fast Track designation by the FDA last
year and has already been selected for inclusion in the Precision
Promise clinical trial platform, which is anticipated to open in
early 2024. Testing pelareorep in combination with FOLFIRINOX
expands the approach so all patients with advanced pancreatic
cancer could have the opportunity to benefit from this innovative
immunotherapeutic approach.
The announcement of the Therapeutic Accelerator Award is being
made in advance of PanCAN's annual Scientific Summit in
Boston, which brings together
PanCAN's Community for Progress, including research grant
recipients, Scientific and Medical Advisors, industry partners and
special guests to share ideas and build
collaboration. Oncolytics was selected to receive the 2023
PanCAN Therapeutic Accelerator Award for $5
million through a rigorous, competitive process involving
scientific, business and programmatic review from leading experts
in the field.
Pancreatic cancer is notoriously aggressive and hard to treat.
Current estimates suggest that the disease will be the second
leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States before 2030. Most people
with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed at a late stage when their
tumor is inoperable, leaving these patients with few treatment
options. And because the disease is significantly more resistant to
chemotherapy than other cancers, it can even be difficult to treat
in its earliest stages. Despite the fact that there is an urgent
need for better outcomes for pancreatic cancer, research is often
not prioritized because pancreatic cancer affects a relatively
small population compared to other cancers, and clinical research
can be risky and expensive.
"Today's five-year survival rate of 12% is too low and we need
new treatment options now," said PanCAN Chief Science
Officer Lynn Matrisian, PhD, MBA. "PanCAN launched our own
clinical program to de-risk companies' investment through both the
Therapeutic Accelerator Award and the Precision Promise platform to
facilitate rapid advances in this disease."
PanCAN continues to take bold actions to improve the lives of
everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer, including the investment of
more than $208 million since 2003 to
advance scientific research. PanCAN created the multimillion-dollar
Therapeutic Accelerator Award in 2022 as a research investment
focused on supporting companies working on new pancreatic cancer
therapies that plan to conduct early-stage (Phase 1 and 2) clinical
trials for these therapies.
"Oncolytics is so pleased to receive this innovative award and
have the opportunity to work with PanCAN," said Dr. Matt Coffey, President and Chief Executive
Officer of Oncolytics Biotech Inc. "This generous grant will enable
early and late-stage patients with pancreatic cancer to potentially
benefit from another commonly employed chemotherapy backbone, as
FOLFIRINOX and gemcitabine + nab-paclitaxel are the most frequently
used chemotherapy standards of care in both the first and
second-line setting. By teaming up with PanCAN, we believe we may
be able to expedite development and provide pancreatic cancer
patients with a bespoke immunotherapeutic treatment option."
Oncolytics plans to utilize the grant funding to study
pelareorep in combination with modified FOLFIRINOX chemotherapy in
patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who have not received
prior cancer treatment. In addition, a separate group of patients
will receive this combination along with a checkpoint inhibitor to
verify synergies previously observed in this patient population.
The goal of this research is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of
these combination therapies. Efficacy will be assessed by measuring
the effect of the treatments on tumor size, progression-free
survival, and overall survival. In addition, immune responses to
treatment will be assessed.
The funding offered through the PanCAN Therapeutic Accelerator
Award represents an innovative and groundbreaking way for a
non-profit to accelerate drug development. If the result of the
clinical trial is positive, the hope is that the selected
investigational treatment combination will be incorporated into the
PanCAN Precision Promise adaptive clinical trial. While Precision
Promise provides an effective approach for late-stage research on
new pancreatic cancer therapies, many companies are not investing
in the early-stage research necessary for late-stage studies and
potential drug approval in this disease.
To learn more about PanCAN's research investments,
visit pancan.org.
About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
The
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) leads the way in
accelerating critical progress for pancreatic cancer patients.
PanCAN takes bold action by funding life-saving research, providing
personalized patient services and creating a community of
supporters and volunteers who will stop at nothing to create a
world in which all pancreatic cancer patients will thrive. For 18
years in a row, PanCAN has earned a Four-Star Rating from Charity
Navigator – the highest rating an organization can receive. This
rating designates PanCAN as an official "Give with Confidence"
charity, indicating strong financial health, ongoing accountability
and transparency.
About Oncolytics Biotech Inc.
Oncolytics is a
clinical-stage biotechnology company developing pelareorep, an
intravenously delivered immunotherapeutic agent. Pelareorep has
demonstrated promising results in phase 2 studies in breast and
pancreatic cancers. It acts by inducing anti-cancer immune
responses and promotes an inflamed tumor phenotype -- turning
"cold" tumors "hot" -- through innate and adaptive immune responses
to treat a variety of cancers.
Pelareorep has demonstrated synergies with multiple approved
oncology treatments. Oncolytics is currently conducting and
planning combination clinical trials with pelareorep in solid and
hematological malignancies as it advances towards registrational
studies in metastatic breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. For
further information, please
visit: www.oncolyticsbiotech.com.
Media Contacts:
Charaighn Sesock
Public Relations
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Direct: 559-972-4877
charaighn@gmail.com
Jillian Scholten
Senior Manager, Public Relations
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Direct: 310-706-3360
Email: jscholten@pancan.org
Jon Patton
Director of IR & Communication
Oncolytics Biotech, Inc.
858-886-7813
jpatton@oncolytics.ca
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SOURCE Pancreatic Cancer Action Network