GenVec, Inc., announced that Nader Hanna, assistant professor of surgery, surgical oncology, University of Kentucky Medical Center, presented new data on GenVec's lead oncology product candidate, TNFerade, at the 2004 ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium held in San Francisco, California. GenVec is a publicly held biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies that improve patient care in the areas of cancer, heart disease and vision loss.

"We are excited about the pancreatic cancer data. TNFerade continues to demonstrate a favourable safety profile and these new data from the third cohort of patients further supports a dose related improvement," commented Paul Kessler, GenVec's executive director of Clinical Research.

Dr Hanna's oral presentation and the poster provide an update on the use of TNFerade as front-line therapy in combination with radiation and chemotherapy in patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer.

With an estimated 33,000 new cases diagnosed annually, pancreatic cancer is the fifth leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Approximately $600 million is spent on the treatment of pancreatic cancer each year.