Funding Gap Between Overall Survival Data and Investor Near-Term Expectations Is Stalling Oncology Drug Development, Says Oncolytics Biotech CEO Jared Kelly

At the 2026 BIO International Convention (BIO 2026), Jared Kelly, CEO, Oncolytics Biotech, addressed the tension between overall survival (OS) endpoints, which are the gold standard in oncology drug development, and investor demand for near-term efficacy signals. In an interview with BioPharm International®, he discusses this issue while highlighting how viral vectors fit in the next wave of cancer immunotherapy.

Kelly notes that FDA has reinforced OS as the primary endpoint for cancer drug development, a position he describes as appropriate but practically challenging to fund. Investors typically seek near-term catalysts, such as tumor response data, which do not always translate into survival benefit. The result, he says, is a structural disconnect in which companies with statistically significant OS data from phase 2 trials are struggling to secure funding for phase 3 registrational studies.

How does trial indication selection affect the ability to attract investment for OS endpoints?

Kelly emphasizes the funding challenge through indication-specific timelines. In second-line colorectal cancer, OS data may be achievable within approximately 11 months. In breast cancer, OS endpoints can require 4–7 years of follow-up, indicating a timeline that demands investor conviction. Kelly points to Oncolytics' own pancreatic cancer program, which has been effectively paused despite demonstrating survival benefit roughly double the expected standard of care, because tumor response data have not matched that of competitors.

"You need bigger trials to convince people, but you need the money to get the bigger trials, so it's a chicken and egg problem," Kelly states.

On the broader immunotherapy landscape, Kelly notes that checkpoint inhibitors are past their peak and the field is actively searching for the next dominant modality, whether chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR-T) therapy, T cell engagers, or viral vectors. He explains that viral vectors can access tumor environments that monoclonal antibodies and small molecules cannot, and that a single high-profile success in that space could catalyze broader investor and large pharma interest in the modality.

BIO 2026 occurred June 22–25 in San Diego. To view more conference coverage, click here.

About the speaker

Jared Kelly, CEO, Oncolytics Biotech

Kelly is an accomplished lawyer and executive with a distinguished career in corporate law, particularly within the biotechnology sector. He previously served as head of legal and corporate strategy at Ambrx and has managed numerous transactions in the biotech space for companies at various stages of development. He has also served as an advisor to multiple public and private drug development and pharmaceutical companies. Prior to becoming a biotech executive, Kelly was a public company lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis, where he represented various public companies in securities offerings, IPOs and merger transactions. He also served as a partner at Lowenstein Sandler focused on representing biotechnology companies in financing transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and other complex transactions.