Oncorus’ synthetic RNA viruses for immunotherapy; plus Sisu’s small molecule for AML and more

Oncorus Inc. (NASDAQ:ONCR) revealed in Nature Communications a system that enables repeat intravenous administration of viral immunotherapies without eliciting neutralizing antibodies against the virus. The approach uses nanoparticles to deliver a synthetic RNA encoding the viral genome, thereby expressing the virus inside of cells, leading to local release of the virus and avoidance of systemic neutralizing antibody production.

In a xenograft mouse model of small cell lung cancer, intravenous delivery of nanoparticles expressing a Seneca Valley virus RNA genome resulted in intratumoral viral replication and inhibited tumor growth compared with a replication-incompetent viral RNA genome. The therapy prolonged survival in an orthotopic SCLC mouse model. ...