WELCOME

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

It is my honor and great pleasure to welcome you to the 14th International Oncolytic Virotherapy Conference in Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan, from Sunday, October 23 to Wednesday, October 26, 2022. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this Karuizawa meeting, originally planned to be held in November 2020, had to be postponed twice. I am hopeful that we can finally get together in person this year.

After a long period of basic and translational research, multiple oncolytic virus therapy products are now in the market, including talimogene laherparepvec approved for malignant melanoma in US and Europe, and teserpaturev, the latest oncolytic HSV-1 product approved for malignant glioma in Japan. Currently, oncolytic virus therapy is one of the most rapidly progressing and the most competitive field of drug development.

The purpose of this conference is to bring together 400 experts in this field from around the world to discuss cutting-edge technologies and regulatory science, and, furthermore, to expand and deepen the friendship among this society. This conference, which began in 1997 with colleagues working on early development of oncolytic viruses, has developed into the oldest and the most authoritative international conference on oncolytic virus therapy. Most of the meetings have been held in Canada and US except for twice in UK, and this 14th Conference will be held for the first time in Asia, making this conference truly international. We are preparing to have active discussions from various perspectives with you from all countries. Please come and join us in Karuizawa, a resort area not far from Tokyo, to enjoy the brilliantly colored autumn leaves and hot springs.

I look forward to seeing you in Karuizawa.