Key Highlights
- Oncolytics Biotech entered a clinical supply agreement with Coherus Oncology for a planned anal cancer study.
- The study is expected to start in the first quarter of 2027 at a US cancer centre.
- Coherus will supply LOQTORZI (toripalimab) for testing with Oncolytics’ pelareorep in second-line patients.
Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (Nasdaq: ONCY) said it has entered into a clinical supply agreement with Coherus Oncology, Inc. to evaluate Oncolytics’ investigational oncolytic virus immunotherapy, pelareorep, in combination with Coherus’ PD-1 inhibitor LOQTORZI (toripalimab-tpzi) in a clinical study in patients with squamous cell anal carcinoma.
The company expects the study to be conducted at a US “premier cancer center” that will be named once the study begins, with a targeted start in the first quarter of 2027. Oncolytics said the study is expected to enrol patients whose disease has progressed after first-line treatment with chemotherapy and checkpoint inhibition, adding that there is no approved therapy for second-line patients in this indication.
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Supply agreement and planned study setup
Under the agreement, Coherus will provide LOQTORZI to Oncolytics. Oncolytics said it expects to partner with the institution sponsoring the planned clinical study.
Jared Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of Oncolytics, said, “This agreement supports a focused clinical evaluation of pelareorep with a marketed PD-1 inhibitor in a difficult-to-treat patient population.”
Why the companies are testing pelareorep with toripalimab
Oncolytics described pelareorep as an intravenously delivered investigational immunotherapy designed to stimulate antitumor immune responses, including by activating toll-like receptor 3 and promoting the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures within tumours, which the company said have been associated with improved responses to checkpoint inhibitor therapy. The company also cited translational data it presented at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer Annual Meeting indicating that pelareorep combined with a checkpoint inhibitor increased certain human papillomavirus (HPV)-16-specific T cell clones and tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte clones in squamous cell anal carcinoma patients.
Oncolytics said toripalimab blocks the PD-1 pathway, which it described as a mechanism tumours can use to suppress activated T cells. The planned study will evaluate whether pelareorep-mediated immune activation can enhance the antitumor activity of PD-1 blockade in patients who have progressed on chemo-immunotherapy treatment.
Oncolytics said squamous cell anal carcinoma is an HPV-associated cancer with limited treatment options after available therapy, and that results from the study may help inform whether the combination should be evaluated more broadly across HPV-associated cancers.
The original press release is available on stockhouse.com
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