More than 50 Canadians with lung cancer will participate in a world-first trial that combines two viruses with an antibody therapy to strengthen and train the body’s immune system to find and kill cancer cells. BioCanRx is providing strategic funding to support the trial and pharmaceutical-grade virus manufacturing facilities in Ontario. A new biotech company, Turnstone Biologics Inc., has hired a veteran biotech executive and raised $11.3 million in Series A funding (with follow-on capital committed in excess of $20 million) with a Toronto venture capital firm to test the vaccine platform, which has been shown to shrink tumours in animals and in human tumour samples. Clinical trials at multiple sites across Canada are targeted to begin by the end of 2016. Other partners include the Ontario Institute of Cancer Research, a major pharmaceutical company and the Ontario Lung Association.