Multi-Peptide Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine Trial Kicks Off

A pharmaceutical company announced that the Phase 1b clinical trial to evaluate its new multi-peptide therapeutic cancer vaccine, PVX-410.

One of the most dreaded diseases today is cancer. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), cancer is one of the leading causes of sickness and death worldwide, with about 14 million new cases and 8.2 million cancer-related deaths in 2012. The number of new cases is expected to increase by about 70 percent over the next 20 years.

OncoPep, Inc., a pharmaceutical company developing immunotherapies, developed the vaccine in the hopes of preventing the progression of smoldering multiple myeloma (SMM), an early precursor to a rare blood cancer called multiple myeloma. This type of cancer affects plasma cells and produces proteins that can be measured through urine and blood.

The study, led by doctors at the Massachusetts General Hospital, will assess the safety and tolerability of PVX-410 in combination with durvalumab with or without lenalidomide over a three-month treatment phase.

The trial follows the successful completion of a Phase 1/2a dose escalation study of PVX-410 in patients suffering from SMM. The results will be presented during the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) on Dec. 3 to Dec. 6 in San Diego California.

"We are hopeful that this approach will allow immune system recognition of cancer-associated antigens and result in a targeted immune response that can be utilized as a possible adjuvant treatment for stage II or III TNBC," Dr. Steven Isakoff, Associate Director for Breast Cancer Clinical Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and Assistant Professor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, said in a press release.

What Is PVX-410?

PVX-410 is a therapeutic cancer vaccine, currently in Phase 1b clinical trials, in the hopes to prevent the progression of certain cancers like smoldering multiple myeloma and triple negative breast cancer.

It contains four peptides from regions of three cancer-associated antigens. It is designed to produce an immune response to the tumor antigens.

"The initiation of this Phase 1b clinical trial of PVX-410 in TNBC marks an important milestone in OncoPep's development," said Doris Peterkin, Chief Executive Officer of OncoPep.

"We are now developing PVX-410 in two oncology indications, TNBC and smoldering multiple myeloma, in which we are hopeful that the vaccine will provide enhanced immune targeting of cancer cells for improved patient outcomes," she added.