Mr. Michael Moore reports

ONCOLYTICS BIOTECH ANNOUNCES INCREASED PD-L1 EXPRESSION WHEN COMBINING PELAREOREP WITH A PROTEASOME INHIBITOR IN POSTER PRESENTATION AT THE 60TH AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY ANNUAL MEETING & EXPOSITION

A poster presentation was made at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting and exposition taking place Dec. 1 to Dec. 4 in San Diego, Calif. The poster highlights Oncolytics Biotech Inc.'s pelareorep's ability to increase PD-L1 expression on tumour cells in patients with relapsed myeloma.

The poster, authored by Dr. Craig C. Hofmeister, acting associate professor, department of hematology and medical oncology at Emory University School of Medicine, et al., is titled "Oncolytics Virus Replication Using Pelareorep and Carfilzomib in Relapsed Myeloma Patients Increases PD-L1 Expression with Clinical Responses," was presented yesterday. This phase 1 study enrolled 15 patients with relapsed myeloma.

"There is a growing effort to identify agents that can upregulate PD-L1 to increase the potential number of patients that can be treated with immune checkpoint blockade," said Dr. Hofmeister. "The data in this poster clearly demonstrate an increase in viral infection and viral replication, as well as pelareorep-dependent PD-L1 increased expression on the surface of myeloma cells, among patients undergoing treatment with pelareorep in combination with carfilzomib."

Highlights from the poster

Responses include:

• Three very good partial responses (at least 90-per-cent reduction in monoclonal protein);
• Three partial remissions (at least 50-per-cent reduction in monoclonal protein);
• Three minimal responses (between 25-per-cent and 50-per-cent response to a drug or regimen in a clinical trial;
• Three stable disease;
• In patients receiving pelareorep with a clinical response, there was simultaneous CD8, PD-L1 and NK cell response, as well as activated caspase-3 expression;
• In patients treated with pelareorep, PD-L1 expression increased significantly more in patients with clinical response.

"This presentation adds to the growing body of clinical evidence that pelareorep can boost PD-L1 expression and has the potential to be a backbone for immune checkpoint inhibition," said Dr. Matt Coffey, president and chief executive officer of Oncolytics Biotech. "We appreciate the continued support of Dr. Hofmeister and look forward to collecting additional data from his subsequent study combining pelareorep with Bristol Myers Squibb's immune checkpoint inhibitor, Opdivo, which should begin enrolment before the end of the year."

The poster can be found at the company's website.

About pelareorep

Pelareorep is a non-pathogenic, proprietary isolate of the unmodified reovirus: a first-in-class intravenously delivered immuno-oncolytic virus for the treatment of solid tumours and hematological malignancies. The compound induces selective tumour lysis and promotes an inflamed tumour phenotype through innate and adaptive immune responses to treat a variety of cancers and has been demonstrated to be able to escape neutralizing antibodies found in patients.

We seek Safe Harbor.