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Company News: Towards a Best Practice Approach in Cancer Immunotherapy: Cancer Vaccines Gain Momentum
– Review in The Journal of Clinical Investigation points the way forward for therapeutic cancer vaccines
ISA Pharmaceuticals B.V., a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focusing on rationally designed immunotherapeutics against cancer and persistent viral infections, today announced the publication of a comprehensive scientific review[1] of therapeutic cancer vaccines, outlining the best available strategies for successfully eradicating tumors with immunotherapy. The article, which was published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, was authored by a group of scientists from Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC); lead author is Cornelis Melief, professor at LUMC and CSO of ISA Pharmaceuticals. The researchers point out that considerable progress has been made with therapeutic cancer vaccines, resulting in prolonged patient survival, but also conclude that most strategies have not resulted in objective, durable tumor regressions.
Looking at numerous studies, the authors have identified crucial success factors for better clinical outcome in cancer immunotherapy by vaccination:
- Sufficient antigen concentration in dendritic cells,
- an effective route of administration,
- the use of an adjuvant that can stimulate dendritic cells,
- the choice of combination therapy and, above all,
- selection of the right antigen.
“With few exceptions, the design of many cancer vaccines has fallen short of important parameters for success,” said Prof. Melief. “As an example, it is now clear that cancer vaccines need co-treatment and cannot be expected to work as a monotherapy. In peptide-based immunotherapies, we now know that only concentrated antigen sources such as DNA, RNA or synthetic long peptides can raise robust CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses. But it is also very clear today that the best results can only be achieved by choosing antigens that are unique to the cancer, thereby avoiding central immunological tolerance.”
He noted that many immunotherapies for non-viral cancers have targeted antigens that are shared by tumor cells and normal cells, albeit with different levels of expression. However, the T cells induced by these antigens rely on the T cell repertoire left after the induction of central immune tolerance in the thymus. Therefore, the available repertoire is depleted of high-avidity T cells, resulting in suboptimal immune responses.
“This is different in cancers induced by viruses,” added Ronald Loggers, CEO of ISA Pharmaceuticals. “We are therefore seeing impressive outcomes with our lead candidate ISA101, which targets cancers induced by human papillomavirus infection. In the light of recent findings, reviewed in the JCI article, we will also focus on neo-antigens, i.e. novel antigens arising from mutations, for the treatment of non-viral cancers. Like the viral antigens, the neo-antigens are not subject to central immunological tolerance of a thymic nature, and therefore vaccination against neo-antigens fosters T cells with strong cancer killing capacity. As they are patient-specific, our synthetic long peptide (SLP®) approach is well suited for the design of personalized immunotherapies against neo-antigens.”
He added that the benefits of the SLP® platform include robust CD4+ and CD8+ T cell response induction, high specificity, absent toxicity, lasting efficacy and short time-to-patient.
Loggers concluded: “The validity of our SLP® platform is expected to be further strengthened by early 2016, when immune response data and early clinical observations will be evaluated from the dose-finding phase of ISA’s Phase 1/2 CervISA trial. In this study, late-stage HPV16 positive cervical cancer patients are treated with ISA101 in combination with standard of care chemotherapy. Recruitment is on target and scheduled to be completed during the fourth quarter of 2015.”
[1] Melief CJM, van Hall T, Arens R, Ossendorp F, van der Burg SH. Therapeutic Cancer Vaccines. J Clin Invest. 2015;125(8). doi:10.1172/JCI80009
Company News: Heraeus takes a major equity stake in Ankasa Regenerative Therapeutics Inc.
– Agreement includes Right of First Refusal for an orthopaedic indication
Heraeus Holding (Heraeus), a Fortune 500 technology group, has announced the completion of an equity investment in Ankasa Regenerative Therapeutics Inc. (Ankasa), a California-based regenerative medicine company.
Ankasa is focused on pharmaceutical preparations for reactivation of stem cells for organ and tissue regrowth, tissue repair and healing. The company is focusing on the development of the stem cell growth factor WNT3A, which is found in humans and functions in the maintenance of bone growth and repair, but the level of which declines with age. Ankasa intends to develop a proprietary localized therapy involving WNT3A for spinal fusion surgery patients as well as the use in additional bone and other tissue repair applications.
Ankasa´s solution is strategically relevant for Heraeus Medical GmbH, a subsidiary of Heraeus Holding. Heraeus Medical, awarded as a TOP 100 innovative company in Germany, develops biomaterials and medical devices for orthopedic surgery, traumatology and biosurgery.
Following recent early-stage investments, Heraeus continues to actively seek enabling technologies and development partners in the burgeoning field of regenerative medicine in order to accelerate its product development pipeline.
Financial terms of the investment by Heraeus were not disclosed.
Company News: InDex Pharmaceuticals Appoints Uli Hacksell and Jesper Wiklund to its Board of Directors
InDex Pharmaceuticals today announced that Uli Hacksell and Jesper Wiklund have been appointed as new members of the Board of Directors. Professor Hacksell and Mr Wiklund together bring to InDex over 40 years of senior management experience from the life sciences industry in drug development, commercial operations, and business development.
Uli Hacksell has over 20 years of international management experience from both large pharmaceutical and biotech companies. He was the CEO of ACADIA Pharmaceuticals from September 2000 to March 2015, and led the company from a private start-up to becoming a public multibillion dollar company listed on the NASDAQ. Previously, Prof. Hacksell held senior executive positions at Astra AB and was president of Astra Draco, one of Astra’s largest Research and Development subsidiaries, where he directed an organization of more than 1,100 employees. Earlier in his career he held the position of Professor in Organic Chemistry at Uppsala University. He has a diverse Board experience from several long-term assignments, including SynAct Pharma A/S, SLS Invest AB, Action Pharma A/S and the Swedish Medical Products Agency. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Uppsala University.
Jesper Wiklund has over 20 years of international commercial experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Mr Wiklund currently holds the position of Managing Director at Oberland Capital. Mr Wiklund was CEO of InDex Pharmaceuticals from September 2011 to March 2015. Over the course of his career he has completed strategic transactions with an aggregate value exceeding USD 700 million. He previously worked at Swedish Orphan Biovitrum where he was responsible for Business Development, at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Elan Pharmaceuticals in the United States and at Evotec in Germany. Mr Wiklund has a B.Sc. from St Marys College of California and a MBA from Harvard Business School.
Company News: Curetis Initiates Next Phase of Unyvero U.S. FDA Trial in Lower Respiratory Tract Infections
– First patient enrolled in prospective arm of IVD trial
– Study to include a total of at least 2,500 patient samples
– Milestone triggers payment of EUR 6.8 million financing tranche
Curetis AG, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced the enrollment of the first patient in the prospective phase of its Unyvero U.S. FDA trial.
The primary endpoint of the multicenter U.S. study will be the performance of Curetis’ second generation Unyvero Lower Respiratory Tract (LRT) cartridge, LRT55, in detecting lower respiratory tract infections as compared to microbiology culture – which is currently considered the diagnostic standard of care. In addition, Unyvero results will be compared to an independent molecular composite comparator based on pathogen DNA analysis by PCR and sequencing. At least eight trial sites across the U.S. will participate in the at least 2,500-patient study.
The new trial phase is based on an augmented study design and an enhanced product. This phase of the U.S. trial incorporates two new elements: the latest FDA guidelines for diagnostic trials, and modifications resulting from outcomes of the first phase of this trial. Enrollment completion is anticipated in mid-2016 with FDA submission targeted for the second half of 2016. The Company aims for FDA clearance for Unyvero and subsequent commercialization in early 2017.
The continuation of the trial triggers a EUR 6.8 million financing tranche supported by current Curetis investors.
LRT55 is a second-generation cartridge based on the design of the CE-IVD marked P55 cartridge marketed outside the U.S. It features 40 markers and a novel control concept with live bacteria in the control material and improved representation of pathogens in the panels. As a result, it provides the most comprehensive molecular marker panel for LRT infections marketed today. P55 has demonstrated superior performance in the CE performance evaluation study and additional investigator-initiated clinical studies.
In the U.S. FDA trial, tracheal aspirates and bronchial lavages will be pre-processed by the Unyvero Lysator and transferred to the Unyvero LRT55 cartridge, which is subsequently analyzed by the Unyvero Analyzer. Results are available within four-to-five hours.
The prospective arm of this trial includes at least 1,500 hospitalized patients with suspected lower respiratory tract infections to determine the clinical specificity of the Unyvero LRT55 cartridge.
In another arm of the study, at least 1,000 retrospective blinded patient samples will be analyzed for clinical sensitivity endpoints. All pathogens and resistance markers featured on the Unyvero LRT55 Cartridge will be included in the study. Already, Curetis has collected more than 500 retrospective patient samples across its clinical trial network. All retrospective samples have been tested positive for pathogens on the LRT55 panel by standard microbiology culture.