Oncorus Announces Clinical Collaboration with Merck to Evaluate ONCR-177 in Combination with KEYTRUDA® for Advanced Solid Tumors

Today, Oncorus, Inc. announced a clinical trial collaboration agreement with Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) to evaluate the efficacy of combining ONCR-177, an oncolytic immunotherapy developed by Oncorus, with the anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda in adult patients with advanced and/or refractory cutaneous, subcutaneous, or metastatic nodal solid tumors. ONCR-177 is an intratumorally administered oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV) immunotherapy that expresses up to five transgenes modulating immune responses. It not only lyses cancer cells but also remodels the tumor microenvironment to further stimulate antitumor immune responses.

Oncorus, Inc. leverages its proprietary oHSV platform to develop next-generation intratumoral viral immunotherapies that enhance the potency of oncolytic virus therapy without compromising safety. ONCR-177 is designed to launch a powerful, multi-dimensional attack against cancer: it not only induces cancer cell death but also triggers innate and adaptive immune responses, driving durable and systemic anti-tumor effects. In addition to its oncolytic activity, ONCR-177 carries five immunomodulatory transgenes encoding proteins including IL-12, CCL4, FLT3 ligand, and antagonists of the clinically validated immune checkpoints PD-1 and CTLA-4.

ONCR-177 retains viral replicative capacity, enabling effective tumor cell killing. It also incorporates two innovative strategies to ensure virus replication is specific to tumors, thereby restricting viral activity to tumor cells and sparing normal tissues.

▲The multiple transgenes carried by ONCR-177 can act at multiple stages of the anti-tumor immune response (Image source: Oncorus official website)

Oncorus’s ongoing Phase 1 clinical study is an open-label, multicenter, dose-escalation and expansion trial designed to evaluate the safety and tolerability of ONCR-177 as a monotherapy or in combination with Keytruda, and to determine the recommended Phase 2 dose as well as preliminary antitumor activity. The expansion phase of this trial will enroll patients with solid tumors across multiple cancer types, including breast cancer, squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN), and melanoma.

“We are pleased to enter into this clinical collaboration with Merck Sharp & Dohme, as we believe that ONCR-177 and Keytruda have highly complementary mechanisms of action,” said Dr. Theodore A. Ashburn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oncorus. “Combining these two approaches has the potential to enhance antitumor immunity and establish antitumor immune memory. It may also help more patients become responders to immunotherapy.”

References:

[1] Oncorus Announces Clinical Trial Collaboration with Merck to Evaluate the Combination of Oncorus’ ONCR-177 with Merck’s KEYTRUDA® (pembrolizumab)... Retrieved July 16, 2020, from https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200716005463/en

[2] Oncorus Initiates First-in-Human Phase 1 Study of ONCR-177 for the Treatment of Adult Subjects with Advanced and/or Refractory Cutaneous, Subcutaneous or Metastatic Nodal Solid Tumors. Retrieved July 16, 2020, from https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200716005396/en

[3] Oncorus. Retrieved July 16, 2020, from https://oncorus.com/

▽Follow [WuXi AppTecDe】WeChat Official Account