Oncolytics Biotech Inc. Collaborators Present Reovirus and Melanoma Research at EORTC-NCI-AACR...( CALGARY Oct. 23 / Oncolytics Biot...)

CALGARY, Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (TSX: ONC, NASDAQ: ONCY) announced today that Dr. Shizuko Sei of SAIC-Frederick, Inc., delivered a poster presentation entitled "In Vivo Efficacy and Replication Dynamics of Intravenously Administered Oncolytic Reovirus in Nude Mice Bearing Human Melanoma Xenografts" at the 20th EORTC-NCI-AACR Symposium on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. SAIC-Frederick is the prime contractor to the National Cancer Institute at Frederick (NCI-F) in the United States. The conference is being held in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 21-24, 2008.

Mice bearing human melanoma tumours each received a single injection of reovirus at various dose levels, administered intravenously. Dose-dependent tumor growth delay was observed in the treated animals, with the effect most pronounced for the first seven days. Reovirus was demonstrated to be in all biopsied tumors and the level consistently increased from day 2 through day 7 in all dose groups.

The investigators concluded that a single IV administration of reovirus led to substantial tumor growth delay in melanoma-bearing nude mice, and the extent of acute phase reovirus replication in tumor tissues appeared to predict the subsequent tumor response. This proof-of-principle study demonstrates that systemically administered reovirus can reach and replicate in distant tumor tissues, resulting in virus-induced oncolysis.

The research supports the ongoing U.S. NCI-sponsored Phase 2 clinical trial that is examining REOLYSIN(R) given as a single agent in patients with metastatic melanoma under a Clinical Trials Agreement between Oncolytics and the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis, NCI.

The poster will be accessible on the Oncolytics website at http://www.oncolyticsbiotech.com as soon as it is available.

The EORTC-NCI-AACR symposium is held on an annual basis and
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