# Rationally combining oncolytic virotherapy and TIM3 blockade

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR · 2020 · $227,250

## Abstract

Oncolytic viruses, such as the rabbit-specific myxoma virus (MYXV), represent promising,
novel methods to treat patients diagnosed with a variety of solid tumors. While these viruses excel at acutely
debulking tumor mass, completely eradicating disease, thus generating durable, complete responses, has
proven significantly more challenging. Developing methods to increase the efficacy of oncolytic therapy is
therefore of great significance.
 One of the reasons that oncolytic therapy fails to completely eradicate solid tumors is that these tumors
often actively suppress the oncolytically induced immunotherapy which is critical for the therapies success. Our
preliminary data demonstrates that this active suppression can be overcome by modifying oncolytic MYXV to
secrete a soluble form of the T cell checkpoint protein TIM3. This modification significantly improves the
efficacy of MYXV therapy against established tumors and while also displaying reduced toxicity profiles
compared to more traditional combination therapy. Unfortunately, the translation of this promising therapy is
currently prevented by a lack of understanding concerning the mechanisms involved in treatment which likely
cause our current virus to be suboptimal therapeutically. We therefore put forth the current R21 proposal
designed to advance the use of our recombinant MYXV into a clinical setting by 1) identifying the specific
TIM3:ligand interactions mediating the function of our recombinant virus, and 2) understanding the
mechanisms mediating this viruses reduced toxicity profile.
 The successful completion of this project will have an immediate, positive impact on public health by
advancing the use of a novel agent for the treatment of late stage tumors, as well as significant long-term
impact by improving our understanding of both MYXV as a therapeutic agent and the potential synergy
between oncolytic virotherapy and TIM3-based checkpoint blockade.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9867630
- **Project number:** 7R21AI142387-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO HEALTH SCIS CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric Carter Bartee
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $227,250
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2019-02-06 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9867630

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9867630, Rationally combining oncolytic virotherapy and TIM3 blockade (7R21AI142387-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9867630. Licensed CC0.

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