Combining the personalized cancer vaccine mRNA-4157 (V-940, Moderna Inc.) with Keytruda (pembrolizumab, Merck & Co. Inc.) significantly extended recurrence-free survival in patients with stage III/IV resected high-risk melanoma in the randomized phase II KEYNOTE-942/mRNA-4157-P201 trial. Compared to Keytruda alone, adding the vaccine cut the risk of recurrence or death by 44% 18 months after treatment, lead investigator Jeffrey Weber reported at the opening clinical trials plenary of the 2023 annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).
In a striking demonstration of how the success of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 has opened up the potential of the technology in cancer, mice that cleared a tumor after a single administration of an mRNA vaccine, also cleared a second tumor without receiving further immunization. This display of potent immunogenicity formed part of a head-to-head study of three different mRNA technology platforms in human papillomavirus (HPV)-16 associated tumors.
A Harvard Medical School research team developed a bifunctional therapeutic vaccine strategy by transforming living tumor cells into a potent agent with direct tumor killing and immunostimulatory abilities.
Biontech SE is piggybacking on the U.K.’s lead in implementing cancer genomics in routine health care to set up a national clinical trial of personalized mRNA cancer vaccines that are based on the mutational landscape of individual tumors.
MGFB, a subsidiary of Fairwinds Bio, has entered into a patent license agreement with Mayo Clinic to advance experimental cancer vaccine therapeutics based on a novel platform developed at Mayo.
Shares in Swedish biotech firm Rhovac AB collapsed May 30 on news that its therapeutic cancer vaccine, RV-001 (onilcamotide), failed to exhibit efficacy in a phase IIb trial in metastatic prostate cancer. The stock lost 94% of its value when trading opened on the Spotlight junior exchange in Stockholm.
Off-the-shelf cancer vaccine specialist Nouscom AG has taken the wraps off a multiproject agreement with Janssen Research and Development LLC, after the lead candidate received FDA approval to enter clinical trials.
Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine have turned pancreatic cancer’s immunosuppressive properties, and mechanisms, against itself. The team have used the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes as a delivery vehicle for tetanus toxoid protein, a highly immunogenic antigen that is used in childhood tetanus vaccinations. In mouse models of pancreatic cancer, treatment reduced both primary tumors and metastases, and extended survival.
Nec Corp. has acquired all of Vaximm AG’s neoantigen program assets. Tokyo-based Nec will conduct the acquisition via its subsidiary, Nec Oncoimmunity AS.
