Oncolytic Virotherapy, Long Stalled, Nears Second Approval

Nearly 11 years after T-VEC became the first oncolytic virus approved in a major market, the closest candidate to follow it-Replimune's RP1, now facing an FDA advisory committee-remains a locally injected herpesvirus for melanoma, underscoring how little the field has advanced. Researchers blame a stack of unresolved obstacles-flawed trial designs, mistimed drug combinations, tumor defenses, such as hypoxia, and the inability to deliver most viruses intravenously-even as smarter sequencing, neoadjuvant approaches, and a bladder-cancer virus near approval hint at renewed momentum.