Oncorus, Inc. announced its presentation of preclinical data for both ONCR-021 and ONCR-788 in two e-posters at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2022, taking place April 8, 2022 to April 13, 2022 in New Orleans, Louisiana, supporting the company's selectively self-amplifying viral RNA (vRNA) Immunotherapy Platform. Oncorus' vRNA Immunotherapy Platform encapsulates the genomes of RNA viruses known to kill cancer cells within an LNP, producing a living oncolytic and immunostimulatory viral infection in the tumor to destroy cancer cells and stimulate the immune system. In preclinical studies, Oncorus' IV-administered vRNA immunotherapies demonstrated efficacy in multiple tumor models, avoiding the challenges seen in previous studies incorporating IV administration of RNA-based oncology therapeutics.

In a poster titled, ONCR-021 as a systemic intravenous synthetic RNA virus immunotherapy for the repeat treatment of cancer, Oncorus highlighted: ONCR-021, Oncorus' lead vRNA immunotherapy product candidate, is an LNP formulation of Coxsackievirus A21 (CVA21) vRNA, which encodes an optimized strain of CVA21. ONCR-021 demonstrated greater in vitro and in vivo oncolysis compared to previously described CVA21 Kuykendall strain. IV administration of ONCR-021 vRNA resulted in rapid initiation of viral replication, oncolysis and potent anti-tumor efficacy driven by CVA21 amplification in situ after delivery to tumor cells.

Preclinical data support the potential clinical development of ONCR-021 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and melanoma based on viral tropism. Oncorus plans to submit an investigational new drug (IND) application for ONCR-021 with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in mid-2023. In a poster titled, Development of ONCR-788, a synthetic oncolytic virus based on Seneca Valley Virus for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors, Oncorus highlighted: ONCR-788, Oncorus' second vRNA immunotherapy product candidate, encodes an optimized version of the Seneca Valley Virus (SVV).

Systemic IV administration of ONCR-788 led to potent anti-tumor efficacy, even in the presence of oncolytic virus neutralizing antibodies within the bloodstream. vRNA delivery, viral replication, spread and lysis of tumor cells were observed after administration of ONCR-788. Robust anti-tumor efficacy was observed across a diverse set of neuroendocrine tumor models, including tumor CDX and PDX xenografts, lung orthotopic and GEMM-derived models.

Enhanced T cell recruitment and activation, increased expression of PD-L1 on tumor cells and myeloid cells and M2 to M1 macrophage conversion were observed. ONCR-788 in combination with an anti-PD1 resulted in improved anti-tumor activity as compared to ONCR-788 monotherapy. Oncorus plans to submit an IND for ONCR-788 with the FDA following the IND submission for ONCR-021.