Scientific/expert symposium

SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT

Oncolytic virotherapy in modern cancer treatment

From research to clinical application

June 11, 2026.
School of Public Health “Andrija Štampar” Rockefeller Street 4, Zagreb, Croatia
Start at 2:00 PM

As part of the project “Development of Oncolytic Virotherapy for Cancer Treatment in Animals”, the University of Zagreb and the Centre of Excellence for Viral Immunology and Vaccines, in cooperation with the Croatian Academy of Medical Sciences and the Andrija Štampar School of Public Health, are organizing a scientific/expert symposium dedicated to modern approaches in oncolytic virotherapy and its clinical application. The symposium brings together national and international experts in virology, oncology, immunotherapy, and translational medicine, with the aim of presenting current scientific and clinical insights into the application of oncolytic viruses in the treatment of malignant diseases.

The event is intended for physicians, researchers, representatives of the healthcare and scientific sectors, and all those interested in the development of innovative therapeutic approaches in oncology.

Please find the program below this invitation.

WATCH THE ORIGINAL ANNOUNCEMENT HERE.

We look forward to welcoming you!

Sincerely,

Organizing Committee

Speakers

Prof. Dr. med. dr. rer. nat. Guy Ungerechts / CV
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Heidelberg

Lecture title: Immunovirotherapy – Clinical translation

Various early clinical trials with oncolytic viral vectors including Measles virus (MeV) for the treatment of different cancer types have been completed. To engineer next generation MeV vectors for more efficient immunovirotherapy we encoded various immunomodulators including immune checkpoint inhibitors (e. g. anti-PD1), bispecific T cell engagers (BiTEs), cytokines (e. g. IL-12), as well as tumor associated antigens (TAA) for monotherapy, and to explore combination with adoptive cell transfer (ACT) approaches. MeV-IL12 is our lead candidate for clinical translation and GMP manufacturing is currently ongoing. A phase I/II dose escalation trial in patients with advanced/metastasized solid tumour’s will be launched next year. Upfront, we treated four patients within an early clinical access program.

Dr. sc. Beata Halassy / CV
University of Zagreb, Centre for Research and Knowledge Transfer in Biotechnology

Lecture title: Oncolytic viruses as ex tempore, point-of-care preparations

Oncolytic virotherapy uses viruses as anticancer agents capable of selectively infecting and destroying malignant cells. ex tempore pripravaka onkolitičkih virusa proizvedenih neposredno na mjestu primjene. Poseban naglasak bit će na mogućnostima razvoja reproducibilnih i analitički definiranih point-of-care virusnih pripravaka te njihovom potencijalu za sigurnu i učinkovitu kliničku primjenu u liječenju malignih bolesti.

Prof. Dr. Tihana Lenac Roviš / CV
Center for Proteomics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, Croatia

Lecture title: Development of novel nectin-based immunotherapies for cancer

Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have demonstrated substantial clinical benefit in subsets of oncology patients; however, the majority of patients fail to respond due to diverse tumor immune evasion mechanisms. Among these, the poliovirus receptor (PVR, CD155) plays a role in suppressing anti-tumor immunity through multiple non-redundant pathways, including inhibitory signalling via TIGIT, CD96, and KIR2DL5A receptors. The lecture will present in vitro and in vivo studies dissecting the role of nectin family proteins and their receptors in tumor biology. We will discuss the development of novel antibody-based strategies, including anti-PVR monoclonal antibodies, and highlight their preclinical efficacy in restoring CD8⁺ T cell and NK cell function. Emphasis will be placed on PVR-targeted approaches, with focus on the translational development of the clinical-stage candidate NTX1088, currently being evaluated in early-phase clinical trials in combination with PD-1 blockade.

PRELIMINARY SYMPOSIUM PROGRAM

* the organizer reserves the right to change the symposium schedule

Registration

The symposium is free, but since the number of participants is limited, please register via the following link or QR code: REGISTRATION LINK.

If you have problems with registration, please contact us by e-mail. sravlic@unizg.hr.

Organizing Committee

Sanda Ravlić, Beata Halassy, Maja Lang Balija, Lucija Ivandić, Erika Gamulin, Anto Vrdoljak

Official language of the professional symposium

English