CancerVAX Announces Encouraging Advances in Pediatric Cancer Immunotherapy Treatment

CancerVAX Reports Positive Progress on Kids Cancer Immunotherapy Treatment

CancerVAX, Inc., developer of a breakthrough universal cancer vaccine that uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer, has announced that its UCLA research team has made positive progress towards developing a treatment for Ewing sarcoma, a deadly form of kids cancer.

Ewing sarcoma is an aggressive bone and soft-tissue cancer with limited chances of cure, more prevalent in adolescents and young adults. Current therapies for Ewing sarcoma have reached a plateau over the last several decades, and there is an urgent need for improved outcomes. Approaches that target chemotherapy-resistant tumors, especially in metastatic and/or microscopic residual disease would be revolutionary.

CancerVax is working with a team of experienced cancer researchers and physicians at UCLA. The team has previously identified a protein present on the surface of more than 90% of Ewing sarcoma tumors. Using the latest technologies available, the investigators have been working on chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) T cells and bispecific antibodies targeting this protein biomarker. The findings of this work will create and evaluate new promising tools for recruiting and activating the patient’s own immune system to track and destroy Ewing sarcoma tumors. 

Over the past year, the Company’s UCLA research team has successfully developed 7 antibody candidates. Six (6) have been fully humanized with confirmed targeting affinity for the Ewing sarcoma biomarker, two (2) of which will be used to develop CAR T-cell treatments, three (3) will be manufactured into bispecific antibodies.

Ryan Davies, CEO of CancerVAX, commented, “This is very exciting progress. We started this adventure with UCLA based on their discovery of a natural Ewing sarcoma surface marker. Now, they have successful developed some promising ways to target that marker, therefore Ewing sarcoma tumor cells. This project is on track to have a bispecific antibody and custom engineered CAR T-cells by the end of summer or fall. Then, we will move into comprehensive testing of in vitro and in vivo cytotoxicity of mouse models, hopefully by the spring of 2024.”

Byron Elton, Chief Marketing Officer of CancerVAX, also commented, “As a former cancer patient myself, I know first-hand the emotional and physical toll cancer has on patients and their families, especially with the old paradigm of cancer treatment using chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Immunotherapy, which uses the body’s own immune system, represents a new paradigm of cancer treatment that helps patients get better without feeling worse by being highly targeted.”

Published on : 13th June, 2023