Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) remains an aggressive cancer with poor prognosis, suggesting the need for novel and less toxic therapeutic strategies. Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are a new class of tumor antigens that remain dormant in healthy tissues but show aberrant expression in cancer cells, thus opening up new therapeutic opportunities.
Kahimmune Therapeutics SAS has signed an exclusive licensing agreement with Gustave Roussy and SATT Paris-Saclay. Created at the end of last year as a spin-off of Gustave Roussy and SATT Paris-Saclay, Kahimmune builds on the latest discoveries in immunology relating to the dark genome.
A trio of European cancer vaccine specialists have filed progress reports, with advances in technology and targeting, fresh infusions of cash, and off-the-shelf products moving into the clinic. Six years on from its formation, Ervimmune closed a series A at €17 million (US$19.9 million) to drive forward clinical development of lead program Ervac-01. Accession Therapeutics Ltd. raised a further £30.5 million (US$40.4 million) from its existing investors, following dosing of four patients with Trocept-01. And Infinitopes Ltd. added $15.4 million to its seed round, as it finalizes preparations for a phase I/IIa trial of the lead product ITOP-1.
Arginase 1 (Arg1) is a key mediator of immune suppression, and its overexpression has been reported in multiple cancers, including renal cell carcinoma, pancreatic cancer, and head and neck cancer. However, clinical strategies aimed at inhibiting Arg1 function have achieved only limited success.
When Robert Kennedy Jr. announced the cancellation of 22 projects related to mRNA vaccines and the end of new investments in that technology, the U.S. Secretary of Health only mentioned their use against respiratory viruses, without referring to other applications. The vaccines whose safety and effectiveness Kennedy is questioning are based on the same molecular principles as cancer vaccines under development. “Continued investment in mRNA technology is essential to fully realize its potential in oncology and ensure that promising strategies like neoantigen-based vaccines reach clinical application.” Kazuhiro Kakimi, professor at the Department of Immunology at Kindai University Faculty of Medicine, told BioWorld.
Avixgen Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of Dx&Vx Co. Ltd., inked a $360 million license agreement with an unidentified U.S.-based biotechnology company, granting the latter rights to its advanced cell penetrating (ACP) peptide drug delivery platform.
IO Biotech ApS will discuss this fall with the U.S. FDA the data package related to Cylembio (imsapepimut and etimupepimut, adjuvanted) after the off-the-shelf therapeutic cancer vaccine prospect missed “by a hair” the primary endpoint in a pivotal phase III melanoma trial, said CEO Mai-Britt Zocca.
DNA vaccines are a promising therapeutic approach for personalized cancer immunotherapy. However, the application of therapeutic DNA-based cancer vaccines is still limited by their variable clinical results, primarily due to suboptimal antigen selection, backbone plasmid design and the limited transfection efficacy of naked DNA administered by injection.
Io Biotech Aps has presented preclinical data regarding their Arg1-derived peptide cancer vaccine IO-112 as a potential immunotherapeutic that would allow controlling the tumor microenvironment.
Gene editing strategies, from epigenetic engineering to cell reprogramming and genetic vaccines, are accelerating the development of new therapies that awaken the immune system to treat cancer, as presented last month in Rome at the 31st Annual Congress of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ESGCT). Some of these advances are taking advantage of the conditions of the tumor microenvironment, where cancer cells coexist with immune cells, microorganisms and blood vessels.
