Tag: cancer vaccines

Company News: ISA Pharmaceuticals Strengthens Patent Protection for its Lead Product ISA101

– Granted EU patent provides market exclusivity until 2028 –

ISA Pharmaceuticals B.V., a clinical-stage immunotherapy company focusing on rationally designed therapeutic vaccines against cancer and persistent viral infections, today announced it has been granted a European patent on its lead compound ISA101. The patent ensures market protection of ISA101’s active ingredient in Europe until 2028.

ISA101 is a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of high-risk, HPV16-induced diseases. The vaccine consists of synthetic long peptides derived from the E6 and E7 oncogenic proteins of the HPV16 virus. This HPV strain is responsible, among others, for over 50% of human cervical cancers, more than 85% of HPV-positive head and neck cancers, and a variety of premalignant disorders.

The patent covers long peptides of the HPV-E6 protein, including a novel CD4+ epitope and provides exclusivity for the treatment of HPV-related diseases.

ISA101 is currently studied in the CervISA trial, a company-sponsored Phase I/II trial in cervical cancer and anal intra-epithelial neoplasia (AIN). Moreover, the vaccine has established clinical proof-of-concept by successfully completing a Phase II trial in vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN).

 

Company News: Jean-Paul Prieels joins VAXIMM’s Board of Directors

VAXIMM AG, a Swiss-German biotech spin-off from Merck KGaA focusing on cancer vaccines, announced today the appointment of Jean-Paul Prieels as a new member of its Board of Directors.

Dr. Prieels is a renowned industry expert in the vaccine field. He held various executive positions at GlaxoSmithKline, where he headed the vaccine research and development in Rixensart, Belgium, among others. Dr. Prieels, who joined GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (formerly SmithKline Beecham Biologicals) in 1987, has been instrumental in developing several marketed vaccines, including cervical cancer vaccine Cervarix™, Rotarix™ to protect from rotavirus infection, and Synflorix™ for the prevention of pneumococcal infections. He retired from GSK as Senior Vice President Research and Development in early 2011 and is currently a board member of several biotech companies in the vaccine field.

VAXIMM’s lead product candidate VXM01 is being evaluated in a placebo-controlled phase I dose escalation study enrolling up to 45 pancreatic cancer patients, with results expected in H1, 2013.