David Kirn can't turn his back on a century-old quest to pit oncolytic viruses against tumors.
By Andrew Holtz
ARTICLE EXTRAS
Reports like this prompted many investigators in the middle of the last century to apply viral infections to tumors, but the available viruses, either taken from the wild or adapted from contemporary vaccines, were blunt instruments. Advances in bioengineering have provided the means to sharpen viral activity, fine tuning its targeting and adding transgenes that might aid in the destruction of cancer. Kirn is eager to get these infectious agents into humans.
On a sunny March morning, the San Francisco Bay and the Oakland Bay Bridge offer a shining view out the window, but the attention of the six staff members gathered around a conference table at Jennerex Biotherapeutics is focused on the young company's founder. Kirn, his receding hair and moustache goatee closely-cropped has his sleeves rolled up ...
