Oncorus, a biotechnology start-up based in Cambridge, MA, is engineering a novel way of fighting cancer using virus-based immunotherapies. The company’s oHSV platform makes use of the micro-RNAs found in healthy cells that are typically missing from the tumor microenvironment. These micro-RNAs play a key role in the regulation of protein synthesis and messenger-RNA degradation. Oncorus engineered micro-RNA binding sites into the viral genes of oHSV to make replication impossible in healthy cells. However, because these micro-RNAs are absent in tumor cells, oHSV can replicate and cause cell destruction.
The oncolytic immunotherapy is injected into the tumor, where it triggers cell death and releases tumor antigens that trigger the natural immune response. As the virus continues to replicate, it disrupts the tumor microenvironment and spreads throughout the tumor while the immune system mounts an anti-tumor immune response.
Oncorus oHSV is an ideal vector for oncolytic immunotherapy because it contains a high capacity for genes that can be engineered to carry a therapeutic payload. Oncorus has an active research program to engineer such a payload in its second-generation oHSV platform. These payloads have the ability to target specific immune modulators and proteases in the extracellular matrix to further bolster the immune response.
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