PsiOxus Therapeutics commences clinical trial of anti-cancer vaccine
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Imperial Innovations Group plc (AIM: IVO, 'Innovations'), a leading technology commercialisation and investment group, announces that portfolio company PsiOxus Therapeutics ('PsiOxus'), a development stage biotechnology company using non-traditional approaches to novel therapeutics for cancer and other unmet clinical needs, has launched the first clinical trial of its new anti-cancer vaccine, ColoAd1.
ColoAd1 is a highly potent, broad-spectrum, anti-cancer therapeutic capable of destroying tumour cells at minute concentrations. The vaccine is injected into the bloodstream, and is delivered to cancer sites, where it replicates inside cancer cells, killing them. Each infected cell produces thousands of new copies of ColoAd1, which spread to nearby cancer cells, killing those, whilst ignoring normal cells.
This approach represents a new generation of "self-amplifying" cancer therapy that has the effect of killing tumours and acting as a cancer vaccine. Significantly, Professor Len Seymour and his team at the University of Oxford have already shown that ColoAd1 survives very well in human blood.
The initial target indications for ColoAd1 are metastatic colorectal cancer and primary hepatocellular carcinoma. These are both exceptionally large market segments with significant unmet medical need. The incidence of colorectal cancer is forecast to reach nearly 500,000 cases globally by 2018. Primary hepatic cellular carcinoma
is the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, and currently has few effective treatment options.
In a two-stage multinational study, the safety, biological activity and efficacy of ColoAd1 will be evaluated in 126 patients, with initial results expected by the end of 2013.
Susan Searle, CEO of Imperial Innovations, said:
"The launch of these trials is a key achievement for PsiOxus and a great step forward in demonstrating the potential of its novel approach to cancer treatment. The successful fundraising in July has helped this trial to get underway as planned."
John Beadle, CEO of PsiOxus, commented:
"This study is a major milestone for both PsiOxus and ColoAd1 as we test a new form of anti-cancer agent with greatly improved selectivity for tumor cells in humans for the first time. While there remains much work to be done, this study could forge a path to a new treatment option for patients with metastatic cancer."