News Releases
Announces Filing Of Its Initial Annual Information Form And Eligibility Under The Prompt Offering Qualification System

Calgary, AB, November 23, 2000 --- Oncolytics Biotech Inc (TSE:ONC) reported today that it has received a receipt for its Initial Annual Information Form under National Policy 47 from the Securities Commissions of Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. A copy of this Initial Annual Information Form can be accessed through the link to SEDAR either directly or through the company's website (www.oncolyticsbiotech.com) in the "Investor Relations" section.

This filing provides the company with the ability to prepare and file a short-form prospectus under the prompt offering qualification system (the "POP" System). The POP System is designed to shorten the time period and to streamline the procedures by which these issuers and their security holders can access the Canadian capital markets through a prospectus offering. In addition, this filing will assist the company should it proceed to register in other jurisdictions. Such registrations would still be subject to the appropriate regulatory approvals.

Oncolytics is a Calgary-based biotechnology company whose focus is the development of the reovirus as a potential cancer therapeutic. The reovirus infects and kills cancer cells with an activated Ras pathway. Ras is an important component of a pathway controlling normal growth and differentiation of a cell, and when activated, may account for a large proportion of all tumors. Researchers believe that targeting this pathway could have broad potential in the treatment of many cancers. Oncolytics researchers demonstrated that reovirus was selectively able to kill cancer cells with this particular activation and successfully demonstrated that the virus could kill human cancer cells in vitro derived from breast, prostate, pancreatic and brain tumors, as well as being able to treat tumors successfully in a number of animal models. Oncolytics initiated its Phase I human clinical trial on REOLYSIN® in June 2000.

This release contains certain forward-looking statements which involve known and unknown risks, delays, uncertainties and other factors not under the Company's control which may cause actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from the results, performance or expectations implied by these forward-looking statements.