Oncolytic viruses

Oncolytic viruses are viruses that can selectively lyse tumor cells. In cancer virus therapy (or cancer virotherapy), oncolytic viruses are used to selectively destroy the tumor cell (mainly due to disruption of the type 1 interferon secretion system in the tumor cell) and without harming healthy cells. Oncolytic viruses are capable of destroying tumor cells with two different mechanisms, i.e. direct lysis and stimulation of the host’s immune system.

The history of using oncolytic viruses dates back to the mid-1950s. At that time, doctors noticed that cancer patients suffering from an unrelated viral infection, or who had recently been vaccinated, showed signs of cancer improvement. After years of research in this field, recently the engineered herpes virus under the brand name Imlygic^TM has entered the market with the license of the American Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of melanoma.

A variety of wild-type or recombinant viruses have been used to develop cancer virus therapy. including herpes virus, adenovirus, vaccinia, measles, Newcastle, etc. The viruses used in this method have been delivered to the tumor in various ways, such as intratumoral injection, intravenous injection, and intraperitoneal injection. Oncolytic viruses have been evaluated for the treatment of a wide range of tumors, with melanoma, glioblastoma, lymphoma, kidney cancer, head and neck cancer, and ovarian cancer as the most common cancer. Viral therapy could be prescribed both alone and in combination with other treatment methods such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery and immunotherapy.

The scope of viral vector technology extends to the development of oncolytic viruses. Therefore, in order to produce recombinant viruses, as well as viral vectors, the following steps are considered:

Figure 1. The production process of recombinant viruses in Hum-Immune Biotech

Hum-Immune Biotech is the first and only cutting-edge company that has devoted its research team and resources to going deeper in the field of genetic engineering and oncolytic virus production in Iran. At Hum-Immune Biotech Research Team, we are proud to provide services for the production and purification of recombinant virus seeds (especially adenoviruses, measles, herpes and lentiviruses with the use of viral vectors and oncolytic viruses), as well as related quality control tests on a laboratory scale and Provide semi-industrial services.