In the fight against cancer, a political stumbling block was recently put in place by the US Congress after it voted against the renewal of funding for President Biden’s „Cancer Moon Shot“ designed to advance cancer research towards a cure. The need for solutions is mounting, as health authorities, on behalf of the United Nations, are predicting global cancer cases to rise around 77% by 2050, with richer countries expected to have the greatest absolute increase in cancer. As analysts from Custom Market Insights forecast the global cancer immunotherapy market to soar to US$314.4 billion by 2032, expanding at a 7.2% CAGR, the biotech sector continues to advance cancer treatment and diagnostics, with recent updates coming from Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) (TSX: ONC), Candel Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: CADL), AstraZeneca PLC (NASDAQ: AZN), Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: HALO), and Janux Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: JANX).
In the case of pelareorep, an intravenously delivered immunotherapy agent developed by Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (NASDAQ: ONCY) (TSX: ONC), the case is getting stronger for it to one day become a treatment for multiple cancers, including most prominently pancreatic cancer. Near the end of 2022, the FDA granted pelareorep a Fast Track Designation for the treatment of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) after it demonstrated some optimistic results. Now Oncolytics is continuing to move its flagship asset forward, having recently received regulatory clearance to evaluate pelareorep in combination with modified FOLFIRONOX +/- Tecentriq® (from Roche) in pancreatic cancer in a new cohort for its ongoing GOBLET study, following German regulatory and ethics approvals.
The new cohort is also being supported by a US$5 million Therapeutic Accelerator Award from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN)—an innovative program established to accelerate the development of new treatments for pancreatic cancer.
