CALGARY, April 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – Oncolytics Biotech Inc.
(“Oncolytics”) (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ:ONCY) announced today that subsequent to the
regulatory review period for this submission, it is proceeding with a Phase II
trial to evaluate the intravenous administration of REOLYSIN(R) in patients
with various sarcomas that have metastasized to the lung. The Principal
Investigators are Dr. Glenn S. Kroog of the Montefiore Medical Center/Albert
Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx, New York, Dr. Laurence H. Baker of
the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center in Ann Arbor, and Dr.
Monica Mita of the Cancer Therapy and Research Center, Institute for Drug
Development in San Antonio, Texas.
“This multi-centre, Phase II trial follows the successful completion of
systemic administration trials with REOLYSIN(R) in the U.K. and the U.S.,”
said Dr. Karl Mettinger, Chief Medical Officer of Oncolytics. “This trial is
the second in a series of Phase II trials the Company has planned for this
year, and represents yet another step forward in the Company’s clinical
development strategy for REOLYSIN(R). We are excited to expand our clinical
program to specifically include patients with sarcomas.”
The trial (REO 014) is a Phase II, open-label, single agent study whose
primary objective is to measure tumour responses and duration of response, and
to describe any evidence of antitumour activity of intravenous, multiple dose
REOLYSIN(R) in patients with bone and soft tissue sarcomas metastatic to the
lung. REOLYSIN(R) will be given intravenously to patients at a dose of
3×10(10) TCID(50) for five consecutive days. Patients may receive additional
five-day cycles of therapy every four weeks for a maximum of eight cycles. Up
to 52 patients will be enrolled in the study.
Eligible patients must have a bone or soft tissue sarcoma metastatic to
the lung deemed by their physician to be unresponsive to, or untreatable by
standard therapies. These include patients with osteosarcoma, Ewing sarcoma
family tumours, malignant fibrous histiocytoma, synovial sarcoma, fibrosarcoma
and leiomyosarcoma.
About Oncolytics Biotech Inc.
Oncolytics is a Calgary-based biotechnology company focused on the
development of oncolytic viruses as potential cancer therapeutics. Oncolytics’
clinical program includes a variety of Phase I and Phase II human trials using
REOLYSIN(R), its proprietary formulation of the human reovirus, alone and in
combination with radiation or chemotherapy. For further information about
Oncolytics, please visit www.oncolyticsbiotech.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning
of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Forward-looking statements, including the Company’s expectations related to
the U.S. Phase II sarcoma clinical trial and the Company’s belief as to the
potential of REOLYSIN(R) as a cancer therapeutic, involve known and unknown
risks and uncertainties, which could cause the Company’s actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such risks and
uncertainties include, among others, the availability of funds and resources
to pursue research and development projects, the efficacy of REOLYSIN(R) as a
cancer treatment, the tolerability of REOLYSIN(R) outside a controlled test,
the success and timely completion of clinical studies and trials, the
Company’s ability to successfully commercialize REOLYSIN(R), uncertainties
related to the research and development of pharmaceuticals and uncertainties
related to the regulatory process. Investors should consult the Company’s
quarterly and annual filings with the Canadian and U.S. securities commissions
for additional information on risks and uncertainties relating to the
forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned against placing undue
reliance on forward-looking statements. The Company does not undertake to
update these forward-looking statements.
SOURCE Oncolytics Biotech Inc.
Released April 11, 2007