AstraZeneca unit in deal with Omnis Pharma for oncolytic viruses in immuno-oncology

Anglo-Swedish pharma major AstraZeneca’s (LSE: AZN) biologics R&D subsidiary MedImmune has entered into a licensing agreement with Omnis Pharmaceuticals, a privately-held US biotech firm focused on the development of oncolytic viruses.

This accord, financial terms of which are not disclosed, will allow MedImmune to combine key agents from its investigational immunotherapy portfolio with Omnis’ lead investigational oncolytic virus program, a genetically-engineered strain of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). The program is currently being studied in a Phase I clinical trial as a monotherapy for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma and other cancers that have metastasised to the liver.

Under the terms of the deal, MedImmune has the license to develop and, if successful, to commercialize Omnis’ lead oncolytic virus program. Clinical development of the virus will be accelerated with the objective of rapidly progressing to combination studies with MedImmune’s immunotherapy molecules.