Theriva Biologics announced that the first patient has been dosed in the Phase 1 investigator sponsored clinical trial of VCN-01, an intravenous oncolytic adenovirus, for patients with high-grade brain tumors who are scheduled for surgical resection. Trial Design: The Phase 1, open-label, non-randomized trial is designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability and intratumoral presence of VCN-01 administered intravenously at a single dose of 1 x 1013 vp (virus particles) in up to 12 patients with recurrent high-grade glioma or brain metastases, prior to planned surgery. All patients will undergo surgical resection of their tumors between eight and 15 days following VCN-01 infusion, allowing for assessment of any toxicities and their resolution.

The clinical trial is being led by Dr. Adel Samson, an expert in clinical immunotherapy and Head of the Translational Cancer Immunotherapy Group at the University of Leeds, as well as Professor Susan Short of Clinical Oncology and Neuro-oncology and Head of the Brain Cancer Research Section at Leeds Institute of Cancer and Pathology. The trial is funded by The Brain Tumour Charity and Cancer Research UK.