Combination of reovirus and carboplatin/paclitaxel shows promising anticancer activity in SCCHN

May 21 2010

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. ("Oncolytics") (TSX:ONC, NASDAQ:ONCY) announced today that abstracts covering clinical research with reovirus (REOLYSIN(R)) are available on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) website at www.asco.org, and on the Oncolytics website at www.oncolyticsbiotech.com. The research is scheduled to be presented at the ASCO 2010 Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL, June 4-8, 2010.

The first abstract entitled "A phase I/II study of oncolytic reovirus plus carboplatin/paclitaxel in patients with advanced solid cancers with emphasis on squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN)," covers a poster presentation of updated results from the REO 011 study. The researchers reported that thirty-one patients (24 males; median age 59 years) with head and neck cancer>

The researchers concluded that intravenous administration of reovirus in combination with carboplatin/paclitaxel is a safe and well-tolerated combination with promising anticancer activity in SCCHN. Further evaluation of this combination in a randomized Phase III trial in SCCHN is underway. The poster is expected to be presented in a session on Monday June 7, 2010 from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm CDT.

The second abstract entitled "Phase II study of reovirus with paclitaxel (P) and carboplatin (C) in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have Kras or EGFR-activated tumors," covers a poster presentation relating to the structure of the Company's REO 016 trial. The poster is expected to be presented in a session on Monday June 7, 2010 from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm CDT.

The third abstract entitled "Phase I/II trial of reovirus serotype 3-Dearing strain in patients with recurrent ovarian cancer," covers a poster presentation relating to the structure of a National Cancer Institute (NCI) sponsored study for patients with metastatic ovarian, peritoneal and fallopian tube cancers using concurrent intravenous and intraperitoneal administration of REOLYSIN. The poster is expected to be presented in a session on Monday June 7, 2010 from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm CDT.