Coverage Initiated: June 2005

Oncolytics Biotech (ONCY) is a Canadian company pursuing approval for Reolysin, an oncolytic virus for the treatment of a broad variety of cancers. The first treatment for cancer appearing in the literature was an oncolytic virus. The theory here is to introduce a virus into the patient. Hopefully, the virus will infect cancer cells. Then, hopefully again, the body will generate an immune response to these infected cells the body has ignored to this point.

Oncolytics' only product is Reolysin, a replication-competent and unaltered reovirus. This virus is present in the environment and infectious of humans, but it doesn't cause clinical symptoms in most healthy adults. Reolysin is not gene therapy. It is the raw virus unaltered by the company.

When we initiated coverage on Oncolytics in June 2005, we said investors would need to be patient because it would be a company for the "next decade." It's now the next decade and Oncolytics launched their first pivotal Reolysin clinical trial in 2010.

A complete listing of our research on Oncolytics Biotech is available by clicking here.