On April 8, 2022 Oncorus, Inc. (Nasdaq: ONCR), a viral immunotherapy company focused on driving innovation to transform outcomes for cancer patients, reported its presentation of preclinical data for both ONCR-021 and ONCR-788 in two e-posters at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) (Free AACR Whitepaper) Annual Meeting 2022, taking place April 8-13 in New Orleans, Louisiana, supporting the company’s selectively self-amplifying viral RNA (vRNA) Immunotherapy Platform (Press release, Oncorus, APR 8, 2022, View Source [SID1234611670]).

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"The preclinical data presented on ONCR-021 and ONCR-788 at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) are an important step forward for Oncorus’ novel approach of selectively self-amplifying vRNA immunotherapies formulated in lipid nanoparticles. We are incredibly pleased to see these vRNA drug candidates’ potent efficacy in preclinical tumor models, after intravenous administration of the nanoparticle formulation even in the presence of neutralizing antibodies," said Ted Ashburn, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Oncorus. "These data further bolster our confidence in our vRNA platform’s ability to deliver the RNA genome of oncolytic viruses to tumors intravenously and to circumvent the common limitation of existing IV-administered oncolytic viral cancer therapies. We look forward to advancing this next-generation approach of selectively self-amplifying vRNA, furthering our goal of realizing the full potential of systemically active viral immunotherapies to transform outcomes for cancer patients."

Oncorus’ vRNA Immunotherapy Platform encapsulates the genomes of RNA viruses known to kill cancer cells within an LNP, producing a living oncolytic and immunostimulatory viral infection in the tumor to destroy cancer cells and stimulate the immune system. In preclinical studies, Oncorus’ IV-administered vRNA immunotherapies demonstrated efficacy in multiple tumor models, avoiding the challenges seen in previous studies incorporating IV administration of RNA-based oncology therapeutics.

In a poster titled, "ONCR-021 as a systemic intravenous synthetic RNA virus immunotherapy for the repeat treatment of cancer," Oncorus highlighted:

ONCR-021, Oncorus’ lead vRNA immunotherapy product candidate, is an LNP formulation of Coxsackievirus A21 (CVA21) vRNA, which encodes an optimized strain of CVA21.
ONCR-021 demonstrated greater in vitro and in vivo oncolysis compared to previously described CVA21 Kuykendall strain.
IV administration of ONCR-021 vRNA resulted in rapid initiation of viral replication, oncolysis and potent anti-tumor efficacy driven by CVA21 amplification in situ after delivery to tumor cells.
Preclinical data support the potential clinical development of ONCR-021 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and melanoma based on viral tropism.
Oncorus plans to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application for ONCR-021 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in mid-2023.

In a poster titled, "Development of ONCR-788, a synthetic oncolytic virus based on Seneca Valley Virus for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors," Oncorus highlighted:

ONCR-788, Oncorus’ second vRNA immunotherapy product candidate, encodes an optimized version of the Seneca Valley Virus (SVV).
Systemic IV administration of ONCR-788 led to potent anti-tumor efficacy, even in the presence of oncolytic virus neutralizing antibodies within the bloodstream.
vRNA delivery, viral replication, spread and lysis of tumor cells were observed after administration of ONCR-788.
Robust anti-tumor efficacy was observed across a diverse set of neuroendocrine tumor models, including tumor CDX and PDX xenografts, lung orthotopic and GEMM-derived models.
Enhanced T cell recruitment and activation, increased expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells and myeloid cells and M2 to M1 macrophage conversion were observed.
ONCR-788 in combination with an anti-PD1 resulted in improved anti-tumor activity as compared to ONCR-788 monotherapy.
Oncorus plans to submit an IND for ONCR-788 with the FDA following the IND submission for ONCR-021.

The posters presented at AACR (Free AACR Whitepaper) are available on the "Publications & Presentations" section of the Oncorus website at www.oncorus.com.