Oncolytics Biotech appoints chief scientific officer

Calgary, AB – Oncolytics Biotech has appointed Dr Matt Coffey as chief scientific officer. Dr Coffey was formerly the company’s vice president of product development.

Oncolytics is developing a formulation of the human reovirus as a potential cancer therapeutic. It says its researchers have demonstrated that the reovirus is able to selectively kill cancer cells and, in vitro, kill human cancer cells that are derived from many types of cancer including breast, prostate, pancreatic and brain tumours, and have also demonstrated successful cancer treatment results in a number of animal models. Phase I clinical trial results have indicated that its formulation, called Reolysin, was well tolerated and that the reovirus demonstrated activity in tumours injected with the formulation.