Immunicum includes first patients in phase l/ll of cancer vaccine study

Gothenburg-based Immunicum includes first patients in phase l/ll of cancer vaccine study.

In total, 12 patients with metastasis cancer of the kidney are being treated in order to investigate possible side effects and the antitumour effect of the vaccine. "“We are looking forward to the study and hope that a future kidney cancer vaccine will help a large number of people that cannot be effectively helped today," says Jamal El-Mosleh, Immunicum´s CEO.

Immunicum's cancer vaccine is based on the discovery of dentritic cells and their capacity to activate the immune defence system. The discovery is considered so significant that it was awarded the 2011 Nobel Price for Medicine. As opposed to competing concepts, Immunicum is unique in its use of dentritic cells from healthy blood donors, which enables the mass production of the vaccine. In total, 12 patients with metastasis cancer of the kidney are included in the study, which is being conducted at Uppsala University Hospital. It is expected to run until the middle of 2013.

  “The first patient received the initial dose of vaccine only three weeks ago, but, as yet, there have been no indications of any serious side effects, only that the immune defence system has been activated. The recruiting of this first patient for the phase l/ll study is a very important milestone for Immunicum. We are looking forward to the study and hope that a future kidney cancer vaccine will help a large number of people that cannot be helped effectively today," says Jamal El-Mosleh, Immunicum´s CEO.    “The vaccine is based on the general principle that dentritic cells from another person start a strong inflammatory reaction in the recipient," says Anna Laurell, an oncologist at the hospital and responsible for the tests. “In theory, this enables us to treat all types of tumour providing we can access the primary tumour and possible secondary tumours via injection."

The purpose of the vaccine is to make the dentritic cells, which are foreign bodies in the patient, start a localised rejection reaction in the tumour. The resulting inflammation, in turn, leads to the patient's own dentritic cells beginning to "train" tumour-specific killer cells (cytotoxic T cells). These attack both the primary tumour and the metastasis. 

“The strategy is unique and has not been tested in clinical studies before. Tests on animals have given promising results, and we are now hopeful that the vaccine will also have a tumour inhibiting effect on patients with spread cancer of the kidney," says lecturer Alex Karlsson-Parra at Rudbeck laboratory in Uppsala, who is the chief researcher behind the vaccine in question. “Each patient will receive two doses, which are injected into the primary tumour in the kidney, the second two weeks after the first. After the second dose, the tumour affected kidney is removed as with the normal method of treatment. In addition to studying possible side effects, researchers will use a tomography scanner to follow the effect on the metastasis, which will enable us to evaluate the effect of the vaccine."

For further information, please contact: Jamal El-Mosleh, CEO Mobile: 0703-31 90 51 jamal.el-mosleh@immunicum.com

About Immunicum Immunicum develops vaccines for the therapeutic treatment of cancer. The patented technology is based on 20 years of research in the field of transplantation immunology and the activation the body's own immune defence system to attack dangerous substances such as tumour cells. As opposed to several competitive medicines, the vaccines can be mass produced. www.immunicum.com