Conference Day 1 | Wednesday December 13
8:00 am Registration Opens & Morning Coffee
8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks
Navigating Uncharted Territory: Exploring the New Landscape of Promising Novel Viral Platforms
9:00 am Addressing the Current State of Novel Viral Platforms in Oncology To Demonstrate Increased Therapeutic Potential
Synopsis
- Overview of traditional and novel oncolytic and non-oncolytic viral platforms
- Understanding their advantages and unique characteristics
- Engineering a non-oncolytic immuno-virotherapy based on Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis Virus with enhanced tumour cell targeting
9:30 am Evaluating the Engineering Challenges & Strategies for Novel Viral Platforms to Overcome These Hurdles & Streamline Your OV Candidates into the Clinics
Synopsis
- Adapting viral genomes for enhanced tumor targeting and replication
- Overcoming limitations in viral tropism and immune evasion
- Assessing potential off-target effects and toxicity of novel viral platforms
- Designing and optimizing viral modifications to minimize non-specific tissue damage
- Predictive toxicology and risk assessment approaches for early safety evaluation
10:00 am Morning Break & Speed Networking
Synopsis
This session is your opportunity to get face-to-face time with many of the brightest minds working in the oncolytic virotherapy field, and to establish meaningful business relationships
Exploring Effective Administration Routes: Intravenous Delivery vs Intratumoral Delivery of Oncolytic Viruses
11:00 am Assessing the Benefits & Challenges of Intravenous Delivery of Oncolytic Viruses
Synopsis
- How can we continue to deliver the virus intravenously?
- How can we overcome the body clearing the virus when delivered intravenously?
- What is the best way to conceal the virus in the bloodstream to avoid clearing and allowing it to cross into the tumor?
- What are the strategies to enhance viral circulation, evasion of neutralizing antibodies, and tumor tropism?
11:30 am Evaluating the Advantages & Hurdles of Intratumoral Delivery of Oncolytic Viruses
Synopsis
- What are the benefits and limitations of direct intratumoral injection?
- How can we achieve localized viral replication and enhanced tumor cell killing?
- What are the techniques for improving intratumoral spread and distribution of oncolytic virus?
12:00 pm Investor Panel Discussion & Q&A: Bridging the Gap Between Pharma, Biotech & Investors
Synopsis
This panel discussion will bring together experts from the investment community, pharma, and biotech sectors to facilitate the growth and development of the field. This panel will provide a platform for these stakeholders to connect, share perspectives, and explore potential partnerships. Take part in this deep-dive panel discussion and hear from the leading minds as they assess investment opportunities, and foster collaborations that ultimately drive the translation of innovative therapies to benefit patients and improve cancer treatment outcomes.
- Addressing the importance of collaboration and investment in advancing pharmaceutical and biotech innovations
- Identifying challenges and risks associated with investing in these industries
- Discussing strategies for mitigating risks and maximizing returns on investments
- Exploring emerging areas of investment interest, such as automation techniques and personalized medicine
1:00 pm Viral Vector Platforms – Accelerating Timelines To Manufacturing & Commercialization
Synopsis
• Besides usual challenges such as specificity of delivery, control of activity, and immunogenicity, gene therapy developers encounter hurdles associated with manufacturing and scale-up, product analysis, and limited skilled workforce
• FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies provides a flexible viral vector development and manufacturing platform
• This presentation will focus on strategic considerations that can help our partners navigate these challenges by streamlining the critical path from pre-clinical and clinical development through commercialization
1:30 pm Networking Lunch
Navigating Selectivity, Therapeutic Functionality & Druggable Properties of Oncolytic Virotherapy Based Strategies
2:30 pm VET3-TGI, a TGF-Beta Targeting Clinical Oncolytic Virus Developed from the VET Platform for Systemic Delivery
Synopsis
• KaliVir has developed the VET platform to develop oncolytic virus backbones capable of achieving systemic delivery to solid tumors
• VET3-TGI represents the lead internal product from this platform and is undergoing clinical translational development
• In addition to unique intravenous delivery capabilities, VET3-TGI targets TGF-beta within the tumor microenvironment
• Pre-clinical data with this OV have demonstrated mechanisms resulting in multiple complete responses after systemic delivery in multiple mouse tumor models, even in the face of pre-existing anti-viral immunity
3:00 pm onCARlytics: A First-in-Class CD19-Expressing OV for Use in Solid Tumors
Synopsis
- Overview of parental OV virus and clinical studies to date
- Rationale for design of onCARlytics
- Planned study design for Phase 1
3:30 pm Development of CARG-2020, a Synthetic Oncolytic & Immunomodulating Virus, for Treatment & Prevention of Solid Tumors
Synopsis
- Providing an overview of CARG-2020, a synthetic oncolytic and immunomodulating virus designed for the treatment and prevention of solid tumors
- Discussing the advantages of developing synthetic viruses, including improved safety profiles, enhanced tumor targeting capabilities, and the ability to incorporate multiple therapeutic functionalities
- Addressing the safety considerations of CARG-2020, including its replication selectivity for tumor cells, absence of viral pathogenicity, and potential mitigation of off-target effects
4:00 pm Production, Purification, & Characterization of Oncolytic Herpes Simplex Virus for Viro-Oncotherapies
Synopsis
• Oncolytic herpes simplex virus (HSV) can be modified to target cancer cells and directly kill them as well as to activate the immune system to recognize and attack the tumor
• Optimized approach for the production and purification of HSV and readiness for scale up manufacturing
• Multilevel characterization of process and product supporting manufacturing
4:15 pm Afternoon Break & The Oncolytic Virotherapy Innovation Showcase
Synopsis
The Oncolytic Virotherapy Summit’s Innovation is back! With an ever increasing number of OV biotech’s and start-ups filing for IPO and looking to form licensing agreements or collaborations with larger institutions, the 8th Oncolytic Virotherapy Summit will once again host an innovation showcase aiming to demonstrate some of the latest innovations from the field, where emerging oncolytic virus start-ups and emerging companies with an active drug-discovery pipeline will pitch and present their company to the entire audience, demonstrating the opportunity they can bring to market
Advancing the Field of Oncolytic Virotherapy Through Synergistic Combination Strategies
5:00 pm Novel Strategy to Improve Immunotherapy & Radiotherapy Response in Gastroesophageal Cancers Utilizing Telomerase-based Oncolytic Virus
Synopsis
- Oncolys has developed a telomerase-based adenovirus OBP-301 (Suratadenoturev) that is conditionally replicating in cancer cells by introducing the human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT)
- OBP-301 (Suratadenoturev) is currently being studied in registrational trials in Esophageal cancer in Japan with a target NDA submission by Q4 2024. It is also being studied in the United States in phase 2 studies in gastric and esophageal cancers
- Encouraging phase 1 and 2 study data using OBP-301 in solid tumors have been published when used as a single agent, as well as in combination with radiation and immunotherapy