{"entity":{"id":"howard-kaufman","kind":"person","name":"Howard L. Kaufman","aka":[],"tldr":"Led OPTiM, the trial that made talimogene laherparepvec the first approved oncolytic virus therapy.","summary":"Howard Kaufman was a lead investigator and senior author of OPTiM, the phase 3 trial showing the herpes-based oncolytic virus talimogene laherparepvec improves durable response rates in advanced melanoma, leading to the first approval of an oncolytic virus in 2015. He led the JAVELIN Merkel 200 trial of avelumab and was president of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Kaufman%20HL%5BAuthor%5D%20talimogene%20oncolytic"}],"tags":["immunotherapy","oncolytic-virus","melanoma"],"related":[],"cancers":["melanoma","merkel-cell-carcinoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":["oncolytic-virus"],"targets":[],"drugs":["talimogene-laherparepvec"],"companies":[],"institutions":["mgh","sitc"],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":["nature-reviews-drug-discovery"],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"role":"Surgical Oncologist, Massachusetts General Hospital; Chief Medical Officer, Ankyra Therapeutics","institutionId":"mgh","specialisms":["Oncolytic virus therapy","Melanoma","Intratumoural immunotherapy","Merkel cell carcinoma"],"profiles":[{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Kaufman%20HL%5BAuthor%5D%20talimogene%20oncolytic"}],"papers":[{"title":"Talimogene laherparepvec improves durable response rate in patients with advanced melanoma (OPTiM)","journal":"JCO","year":2015,"doi":"10.1200/JCO.2014.58.3377"},{"title":"Oncolytic viruses: a new class of immunotherapy drugs","journal":"Nature Reviews Drug Discovery","year":2015,"doi":"10.1038/nrd4663"}],"orcid":"0000-0003-1131-004X"},"route":"/people/howard-kaufman/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"melanoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Melanoma","route":"/cancers/melanoma/"},{"id":"merkel-cell-carcinoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Merkel cell carcinoma","route":"/cancers/merkel-cell-carcinoma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"oncolytic-virus","kind":"technology","name":"Oncolytic viruses","route":"/technologies/oncolytic-virus/"}],"drug":[{"id":"talimogene-laherparepvec","kind":"drug","name":"Talimogene laherparepvec","route":"/drugs/talimogene-laherparepvec/"}],"institution":[{"id":"mgh","kind":"institution","name":"Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center","route":"/institutions/mgh/"},{"id":"sitc","kind":"institution","name":"Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer","route":"/institutions/sitc/"}],"journal":[{"id":"nature-reviews-drug-discovery","kind":"journal","name":"Nature Reviews Drug Discovery","route":"/journals/nature-reviews-drug-discovery/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-andtbacka-optim-talimogene-jco-2015","kind":"paper","name":"OPTiM: the trial that made talimogene laherparepvec the first approved oncolytic virus","route":"/key-papers/paper-andtbacka-optim-talimogene-jco-2015/"},{"id":"paper-shalhout-oncolytic-progress-challenges-natrevclinonc-2023","kind":"paper","name":"Shalhout 2023: what the approved oncolytic viruses actually do in practice","route":"/key-papers/paper-shalhout-oncolytic-progress-challenges-natrevclinonc-2023/"}],"trial":[{"id":"javelin-merkel-200","kind":"trial","name":"JAVELIN Merkel 200","route":"/trials/javelin-merkel-200/"}]}}