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Regeneus: Study highlights efficacy and safety of Kvax cancer vaccine

Last updated: 17:02 06 Mar 2014 EST, First published: 18:02 06 Mar 2014 EST

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Regenerative medicine company Regeneus (ASX: RGS) has received support for the efficacy and safety of its licensed Kvax cancer vaccine with a paper showing it led to remission rates of 30%-60% in rats with brain tumour.

Kvax uses the removal of a tumour or biopsy from the patient as source material to produce a personalised vaccine that stimulates the patient’s immune system to see the cancer cells as foreign.

Regeneus has an exclusive worldwide licence for commercialisation of the technology for veterinary applications and an option over all human applications.

The paper “Streptavidin: A novel immunostimulant for the selection and delivery of autologous and syngeneic tumor vaccines”, which was published in the peer-reviewed journal Cancer Immunology Research, describes experimental work in a pre-clinical rat glioma (brain tumour) model.

Besides showing that Kvax led to remission rates of 30%-60%, upon challenge these animals did not get the disease, which indicates acquired immunity.

The paper also described the treatment of 25 dogs that had a range of advanced cancers. 

These companion animals presented at veterinary clinics in Sydney with cancer types ranging from melanoma to bone cancer. Dr Chris Weir, who developed the technology with Professor Ross Davey, produced personalised vaccines for the vets to administer to the dogs.

The study in dogs demonstrated that there were no safety issues with the vaccine and that the dogs often survived longer than expected indicating that the vaccine can slow tumour growth and recurrence.

“The results from the work in rats is a major breakthrough,” said Dr Weir from Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory. 

“The 9L glioma model is extremely aggressive, and achieving the level of remission and immunity that we did, using a vaccine derived from tumours is significant and unique.”

Regeneus Veterinary Business Unit head Duncan Thomson said the work in dogs suggests that the vaccine is effective in a wide range of tumour types, making it a significant commercial opportunity.

The company had in November 2013 received the green light to commercialise the canine vaccine in the U.S. through the Centre for Veterinary Biologics at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

It will now focus on setting up a vaccine manufacturing site in the U.S. and beginning a marketing trial with key opinion leaders in the US.

According to the US National Canine Cancer Foundation, cancer accounts for almost half of the deaths of pets over 10 years of age, which is roughly the same rate as humans.

Analysis

With cancer accounting for almost half of the deaths of pets over 10 years of age, the paper provides Regeneus with further support to the safety and efficacy of its Kvax cancer vaccine.

That the vaccine led to remission rates of 30%-60% for rats in the trial in light of the extremely aggressive 9L glioma brain tumour in rats is also encouraging.

With the focus now on setting up a manufacturing site, Regeneus is now well on its way towards commercialising the vaccine.

 

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