Oncolytics Biotech Inc. (ONCY)

[surf1944]

6:33AM Oncolytics Biotech announces positive top line REOLYSIN data for first endpoint in randomized Phase III study in head and neck cancers (ONCY) 2.37 : Co announced initial positive top line data from the first endpoint in its double-blinded randomized Phase III clinical study examining REOLYSIN in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel in second-line patients with platinum-refractory, taxane-naive head and neck cancers (REO 018). The first analysis compared the relative percentages of patients in the test and control arms with tumours that had either stabilized or exhibited shrinkage. For the purposes of this endpoint, the definition of tumour stabilization was restricted to zero percent growth only. Of the 105 total patients with evaluable metastatic tumours, 86 percent (n=50) of those in the test arm of the study exhibited tumour stabilization or shrinkage, compared with 67 percent of patients (n=55) in the control arm. This was statistically significant, with a p-value of 0.025.

The second analysis examined the magnitude of tumour response on a per patient basis using a comparison of percentage tumour shrinkage at six weeks in each patient with evaluable metastatic tumours. This analysis showed that REOLYSIN in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel was statistically significantly better than carboplatin and paclitaxel alone at stabilizing or shrinking metastatic tumours, yielding a p-value of 0.03. In an intragroup analysis of the test arm, an improvement in the percentage of patients' metastatic tumours over loco-regional tumours was noted (p=0.083) and an improvement of magnitude of response in metastatic tumours over loco-regional tumours was also noted (p=0.13). By contrast, in an intragroup analysis of the control arm, no statistical differences were noted between the responses of patients with evaluable metastatic tumours and patients with evaluable loco-regional tumours.