Genelux Corporation Announces Ground-Breaking Clinical Study Evaluating Oncolytic Vaccinia Virus in Canine Cancer Patients

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - Jun 28, 2012) - Genelux Corporation, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing vaccinia virus-based oncolytic (cancer-killing) therapies and companion diagnostics for cancer, today announced the start of a ground-breaking clinical study involving the oncolytic vaccinia virus V-VET1 in canine cancer patients with various measurable malignancies. Although oncolytic viruses are being more extensively evaluated in humans, this study is the first of its kind ever-reported in dogs, and will evaluate the safety, dosing and efficacy of V-VET1, a veterinary-use, intravenously delivered oncolytic vaccinia virus.

"V-VET1 is a specially designed veterinary product candidate that has shown encouraging safety and efficacy results in preclinical studies against a number of cancers afflicting dogs, including canine soft tissue sarcoma," said Aladar Szalay, PhD, founder and CEO of Genelux Corporation. "It is based on Genelux Corporation's proprietary product platform that can potentially deliver both therapeutic and diagnostic constructs directly to tumors without harming healthy tissues or cells. We are very pleased to be working with a world-renowned veterinary oncologist and internal medicine specialist like Dr. Gregory Ogilvie to assess V-VET1 in dogs."

"This is a tremendously exciting time in veterinary oncology as novel therapies like V-VET1 have the potential to fundamentally change the way veterinarians treat companion animals with advanced cancer," said Dr. Ogilvie, principal investigator, director of the Angel Care Cancer Center at California Veterinary Specialists, president of the Special Care Foundation for Companion Animals and division director of Veterinary Oncology, University of California San Diego, Moores Cancer Center. "This novel therapy has the potential to selectively kill tumors and metastases, while sparing our beloved canine patients the many negative side effects of conventional therapies like chemo and radiation."

Canine clinical studies also have potentially broader applications. Dr. Ogilvie, who has spent many years in translational medicine added: "Companion animal clinical study results often translate in important ways to pediatric clinical trials. The similarities in the way certain canine cancers like osteosarcoma, for example, develop and behave, are nearly identical to those in pediatric patients. It is our hope that, in addition to helping our companion animals, this study can eventually serve also as the basis for additional important studies in pediatric cancer patients." 

The open-label, dose-escalation study will be conducted on site at CVS Angel Care Cancer Center in Carlsbad, California. For additional information, please visit http://www.cvsangelcare.com.

About V-VET1

V-VET1 is a genetically characterized, veterinary-grade, replication-competent oncolytic vaccinia virus-based therapy. It is systemically administered to deliver a multi-pronged attack on cancer by: selectively entering and lysing (killing) cancer cells, destroying tumor vasculature, and stimulating innate and adaptive immune responses resulting in tumor rejection (similar to immune-mediated tissue-specific destruction). Future derivatives of V-VET 1 may also have the ability to carry and over-express therapeutic, deep tissue imaging, or immuno-modulatory genes for production within the tumor.

About CVS Angel Care Cancer Center

The CVS Angel Care Cancer Center, based in Carlsbad, California is a comprehensive group within the CVS specialty/critical care hospitals that provides direct care for companion animal patients with cancer and their families. CVS offers the most innovative clinical research, diagnostics and treatments available to fight against cancer. The Angel Care Cancer Center specializes in medical oncology, radiation oncology/diagnostic imaging, surgical oncology and emergency and critical care. The Center offers some of the most experienced and highly trained board certified veterinary medical professionals and state of the art facilities in the world.

About Genelux Corporation

Genelux Corporation was founded in 2001 with a mission to develop safe and effective diagnostic and therapeutic solutions for cancer and inflammatory diseases for which there are no effective treatments today. Genelux Corporation is headquartered in San Diego, California. For additional information, please visit www.genelux.com.

Genelux Forward Looking Statement

Statements made about Genelux Corporation, other than statements of historical fact, reflect Management's current beliefs and assumptions founded on the data and information currently available to us. Statements of the company's progress, results, timing of pre-clinical and clinical trials and projections for product pipelines are examples of forward-looking statements. By definition, such undertakings involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and are subject to a number of such factors that could cause actual results to differ substantially from statements made, including but not limited to: risks associated with the success of clinical trials, research and development programs, regulatory approval processes for clinical trials, competitive technologies and products, patents, inception and/or continuation of corporate and other strategic partnerships and the need for additional funding or financing.