01 The continued significant investments by healthcare companies to meet the industry demand and the growing adoption of several therapies among major payors to manage early-stage detection are the major factors propelling the growth of the global oncolytic virus therapies market."Cancer is a group of diseases marked by the uncontrolled growth and spread of aberrant cells," the American Cancer Society states. The World Health Organization (WHO) states that cancer will be the second most significant cause of death worldwide in 2021, accounting for 10.0 million deaths, or one in every five. Men are more likely to develop prostate, lung, stomach, liver, and colorectal cancer than women, who are more likely to develop colorectal, breast, lung, thyroid, and cervical cancer.
01 Increasing Incidence of Cancer According to the WHO, cancer is one of the leading causes of death globally and is responsible for 10.0 million deaths in 2020. Globally, about one in one death is due to cancer. Moreover, according to the 2020 GLOBOCAN database, global cancer incidence is predicted to rise to 18.3 million new cases, with 44.2 million people living with cancer in 2021. Gene therapies have been extensively studied to offer advantages over advanced cancer therapies such as monoclonal antibodies. They also provide target specificity with high selectivity, affinity, and stability. This has led to the rise in the use of gene therapies for the treatment of cancer. Therefore, the rising cancer burden is a significant factor contributing to the market growth, driving oncolytic virus therapies in the forward direction.
02 Increasing Research Funding from National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute routinely rolls out two grants, Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR & STTR), and a Translational research grant for cancer prevention, diagnosis, and research. The proceeding SBIR & STTR grant is being rolled out to create opportunities for the private sector and small business participation to develop and commercialize novel technologies for prevention, diagnosis, and cancer treatment. A translational research grant supports translating potential research areas into in-vitro diagnostics and therapeutic intervention research for cancer patients.It is expected that the increase in cancer cases, coupled with responsive research advances, will significantly drive the growth of cancer research and diagnostics development. Moreover, the increased allocation of funds to NCI is expected to aggravate cancer research and diagnostic development due to the number of grants rolled out annually for cancer research to crucial players. The increasing number of grants received by key players is expected to drive the growth of the oncolytic virus therapies market during the forecast period.
01 High Cost of Therapy The personalized nature of oncolytic virus therapies is responsible for the high costs. With several small-molecule drugs, the price per unit will decrease as production scales up. But these therapies are typically developed individually for each patient. As a result, per-unit production costs remain relatively consistent at different production levels, resulting in costly treatment. Thus, the high price of these therapies, once suitable reimbursement models are formulated, will pose a significant challenge to the market, restricting market growth.
01 Drug Approvals and Strong Pipeline of Oncolytic Virus Therapies According to the FDA, there is a significant increase in the quantity of investigational new drug (IND) applications as oncolytic virus therapy products enter early development. The authority predicts that as a result of this activity, more oncolytic virus medicines will receive product approvals in the upcoming years, indicating significant scientific progress and the therapeutic promise of these novel inventions. By 2021, the FDA is anticipated to receive more than 200 INDs annually, adding to the more than 800 active INDs for directly administered or cell-based gene therapy that was on file with the FDA as of January 2019. Additionally, based on an evaluation of the current pipeline and the clinical success rates of these drugs, the FDA anticipates approving 10 to 20 gene treatments year by the year 2025. With such a promising outlook, businesses will soon have access to rich potential in the market for oncolytic virus medicines.
March 2026 Replimune expanded its oncolytic immunotherapy pipeline with continued development of RP1 (vusolimogene oderparepvec) and combination therapy programs targeting solid tumors through immune system activation.
January 2026 Amgen expanded its oncology immunotherapy portfolio through continued development and commercialization activities related to Imlygic (talimogene laherparepvec), supporting the use of oncolytic virus approaches in cancer treatment.
November 2025 Targovax expanded its oncolytic virus therapy research programs with advancements in immune-stimulating viral platforms designed for solid tumor treatment applications.
September 2025 Vyriad expanded its clinical development initiatives for oncolytic virus candidates targeting cancer immunotherapy applications, strengthening research into virus-based tumor destruction technologies.