Checkpoint inhibitors are bringing oncolytic viruses back into the spotlight

Early clinical readouts for next-generation oncolytic viruses are hinting at high efficacy when combined with checkpoint inhibitors, and pharmas are off to the races to find the best pairings.

After more than two decades of development, oncolytic viruses have yielded little clinical efficacy, partly because companies haven’t fully understood or exploited modality, and partly because safety concerns led them to start cautiously with attenuated viruses...