ONCY

Oncolytics Biotech Inc.

A clinical-stage biotechnology company developing pelareorep (formerly called REOLYSIN), an intravenous therapy built from a human reovirus that homes in on and kills cancer cells while helping the immune system attack tumors. Founded in Calgary, Canada in 1998 out of discoveries made at the University of Calgary, the company's name blends "oncolytic" (cancer-killing) with "biotech." The virus it uses is a "reovirus"—short for "respiratory enteric orphan"—so named because the virus was once considered an "orphan" with no known disease, until researchers found it had an appetite for cancer.