Theriva? Biologics and Sant Joan de Déu-Barcelona Children?s Hospital (?SJD?) announced that Theriva has executed an exclusive worldwide option to negotiate an exclusive license certain SJD intellectual property rights related to the use of VCN-01 in combination with topoisomerase I inhibitor chemotherapies for the treatment of cancer. VCN-01 is Theriva?s systemic, selective, stroma-degrading oncolytic adenovirus.

The collaboration builds on growing data that suggests coadministration of VCN-01 with topoisomerase I inhibitors such as topotecan can enhance VCN-01 replication and antitumor activity in preclinical cancer models. Combination of VCN-01 with a topoisomerase I inhibitor is expected to provide a synergistic antitumor effect wherein a chemotherapy-mediated increase in tumor VCN-01 levels may enable greater degradation of the tumor stroma, significantly increasing chemotherapy access and tumor destruction. Theriva will pay SJD an option fee of ?25,000.

Final license terms will be negotiated during a 12-month option period. VCN-01 is a systemically administered oncolytic adenovirus designed to selectively and aggressively replicate within tumor cells, and degrade the tumor stroma that serves as a significant physical and immunosuppressive barrier to cancer treatment. This unique mode-of-action enables VCN-01 to exert multiple antitumor effects by selectively infecting and lysing tumor cells; enhancing the access and perfusion of co-administered chemotherapy products; and increasing tumor immunogenicity and exposing the tumor to the patient?s immune system and co-administered immunotherapy products.

Systemic administration enables VCN-01 to exert its actions on both the primary tumor and metastases. VCN-01 has been administered to over 90 patients to date in clinical trials of different cancers, including PDAC (in combination with chemotherapy), head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (with an immune checkpoint inhibitor), ovarian cancer (with CAR-T cell therapy), colorectal cancer, and retinoblastoma (by intravitreal injection).