Quick Take

Oncorus (ONCR) has filed to raise $87 million in an IPO of its common stock, according to an S-1 registration statement.

The firm is a clinical stage biopharma developing viral therapies targeting the immune system to increase its ability to kill cancer cells.

ONCR has achieved very early safety results with no dose limiting reactions, but we have no indication of efficacy.

The IPO may be more relevant for institutional investors as the firm is still at a ‘venture investing’ stage, so I’ll watch it from the sidelines.

Company & Technology

Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Oncorus was founded to develop an oncolytic platform leveraging the Herpes Simplex Virus as a delivery system for a greater number of ‘immunostimulatory transgenes’ to increase systemic anti-tumor immunity.

Management is headed by president and Chief Executive Officer Mr. Ted Ashburn, M.D., Ph.D, who has been with the firm since October 2018 and was previously