Oncolytics Biotech(R) Inc. Collaborators Update Combination REOLYSIN(R) and Docetaxel Trial Results at Replicating Oncolytic Vir...( CALGARY March 20 / Oncolytics Biotech...)

CALGARY, March 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (TSX: ONC, NASDAQ: ONCY) today announced updated clinical results from its U.K. combination REOLYSIN(R) and docetaxel clinical trial for patients with advanced cancers. The principal investigator for the trial is Professor Hardev Pandha of the Royal Surrey County Hospital, U.K. The results were presented at the Fifth International Meeting on Replicating Oncolytic Virus Therapeutics. The meeting is being held in Banff, Alberta from March 18th to 22nd, 2009.

Twenty-four patients were treated in the trial, with 17 evaluable for response. Fifteen of the 17 evaluable patients experienced Stable Disease (SD) or better, including five patients who experienced minor and Partial Responses (PR), giving a clinical benefit rate (SD + PR + Complete Response (CR)) of 88%.

"Heavily pretreated patients are the most difficult to treat," said Dr. Karl Mettinger, Chief Medical Officer for Oncolytics. "It is very encouraging to observe such a robust response rate, including a significant objective tumour response in this group.

"In future, we plan to combine docetaxel with REOLYSIN(R) in patients with metastatic sarcoma," added Dr. Mettinger. "Both REOLYSIN(R) and docetaxel have been demonstrated to be active against sarcoma, and there is ample preclinical evidence demonstrating that the combination may be synergistic in this patient group."

The Phase I trial (REO 010) had two components. The first was an open-label, dose-escalating, non-randomized study of REOLYSIN(R) given intravenously to patients with docetaxel every three weeks. In this portion of the trial, standard dosages of docetaxel were delivered to patients with escalating dosages of REOLYSIN(R) intravenously. The second component of the trial included the enrolment of additional patients at the top dose of REOLYSIN(R) in com
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