To better support Barrigen’s mission of developing best-in-class oncolytic virotherapies for patients, the R&D section aims to get a better understanding of the relevant mechanisms that underline the function of immunology and development of various cancers, which are believed to be the most critical basics of immunotherapy development. Furthermore, we also employ our leading talent for virology research aiming at viral vector-based therapeutics development. 

Cancer remains to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality around the globe. A major effort in oncology research is to understand the molecular and cellular biology of the onset and development processes of various types of cancer. The immune system plays an important role in regulating the growth of tumors. Beside proliferation and metastasis, malignant cells have the capability to evade the immune system.  

It has long been recognized that the complex interaction between growing tumors and the immune system which to some extent may determine the fate of disease and the effect of the given treatments accordingly. The major goal of immunotherapy is to harness the specificity and long-term memory of the adaptive immune response to achieve durable anti-tumor effect, although this has been achieved in only a small subset of patients by far.

Oncolytic viruses (OVs) is a group of viruses that selectively replicate in and kill cancer cells, while leaving the normal tissue uninfected. In addition to direct oncolysis, OVs are also very effective at inducing immune responses against tumor cells. OVs encompass a broad diversity of DNA and RNA viruses that are naturally cancer-selective or can be genetically-engineered.

Our talented scientists at Barrigen have long been devoting their efforts and time in studying the complex interactions between tumors, immune system, and various species of virus, and furthermore in developing better oncolytic immunotherapies with accumulated knowledge and experience from the researches.