Tocagen Aims Double Barrels At Glioma

Emerging Company Profile: Gene therapy technology company Tocagen has glioma in its sights. Marty Duvall, newly appointed CEO of the San Diego-based firm, tells Mike Ward how his company’s approach has potential to double survival in one of the deadliest diseases, for which little to no effective treatments exist.

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Speaking in the hallway at the 2017 Biotech Showcase, Marty Duvall revealed that Tocagen Inc. has developed a double-barreled approach that involves pairing Toca FC (extended-release 5-fluorocytosine), an inactive prodrug, with Toca 511 (vocimagene amiretrorepvec), a modified virus that infects the tumor and delivers an enzyme, which then activates the drug and allows it to kill the glioma cells.

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