Early Study Evaluating Multiple Myeloma Drug

Reolysin plus bortezomib and dexamethasone treats patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

A study to evaluate a new combination for the treatment of multiple myeloma recently began enrollment.

Oncolytics Biotech Inc plans to evaluate the drug Reolysin combined with standard doses of bortezomib (Velcade) and dexamethasone in patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

"We recently announced promising early results from another multiple myeloma study examining Reolysin in combination with carfilzomib," said Dr. Brad Thompson, president and CEO of Oncolytics. "Our goal is to determine how Reolysin performs with the standard of care options in this difficult to treat indication and then take the best combination forward into later-stage testing."

The two-stage open-label Phase Ib trial will analyze adult patients with relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma following at least 1 line of therapy. The primary study objectives include determining the maximum tolerated dose and safety profile of Reolysin plus bortezomib and dexamethasone.

Researchers also seek to evaluate the toxicities and pharmacodynamics of the combination, while determining preliminary response rate in the treatment of relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma.

Patients enrolled in the trial will receive Reolysin on days 1, 2, 8, 9, 15 and 16 of each 28-day cycle. Meanwhile, patients will receive bortezomib and dexamethasone on days 1, 8 and 15.

The initial stage of the study will enroll 3 to 6 patients in each of 2 cohorts, with each specific cohort at a different dose level. Subsequently, the second stage will enroll up to 12 patients at the maximum tolerated dose reached in the first stage.