An clinical trial led by the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (Idibell) has demonstrated the safety of the oncolytic virus VCN-01 and has presented “encouraging” results in its activity antitumor against advanced pancreatic cancer.
In a statement this Wednesday, the ICO explained that the Oncolytic viruses are genetically modified viruses to recognize and attack tumor cells: “A type of innovative immunotherapy with a long way to go”.
The results of the phase 1 trial, published in ‘Journal of Immunotherapy of Cancer‘, have concluded that intravenous administration of the virus does not trigger adverse effects important, since in some cases patients have fever or viral symptoms that end up remitting.
Regarding the treatment activitypreliminary results show that the virus is capable of reaching primary tumors and metastases, that it is active and that it increases the activity of the immune system against tumors.
New stage
The study leader Ramon Salazar, has trusted to be able to start a phase 2 trial in the second half of 2022, since the data obtained in the first trial “show the safety and potential” of VCN-01 immunotherapy.
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The use of oncolytic viruses in advanced cancers, in which metastases have already been generated, forces intravenous administrations that allow the virus to reach all locations. This type of administration has certain limitations, since, on the one hand, filtrate in the liver or spleen reduces the availability of the virus, and on the other, increases the chances of generating unwanted side effects.
The VCN-01 virus, owned by the company VCN Biosciences, a start-up that emerged from Idibell, addresses these limitations through two key genetic modifications. First, it expresses a surface protein that prevents the virus from being retained in the liver and directs it towards the tumor. In addition, it expresses an enzyme that degrades the extracellular matrix of the tumor, facilitating the spread of the virus through the tumor and the action of the immune system.