> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.fdaweb.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# U.P. Oncolytics Gets Orphan Status for Glioma Therapy
- URL: https://www.fdaweb.com/u-p-oncolytics-gets-orphan-status-for-glioma-therapy/
- Published: 2024-10-23T12:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-14T14:44:46.000Z
- Author: David McFarland
- Tags: Drugs, #legacy-id-D5158045

FDA has granted U.P. Oncolytics an orphan drug designation for its oncolytic virus-based therapy to treat malignant gliomas. Last month, [the company](https://uponc.com/?ref=fdaweb.com) was awarded a $500,000 from NIH as part of a Phase 1-2 fast-track grant that will fund the company’s proposed *in vitro* and *in vivo* IND-enabling studies on the “validation of a novel treatment for glioblastoma using oncolytic Zika virus.”

The company says about a quarter of the 80,000 newly diagnosed primary brain tumors each year in the U.S. are gliomas. These form when glial cells grow out of control in the brain and spinal cord. “Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), the most malignant and pervasive subtype of glioma and the most common primary brain tumor in adults, is included within the scope of the orphan designation by the FDA,” it says.