Publication in Human Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics highlights progress in understanding tumour biology and vaccine technologies since the pandemic
OXFORD, England, May 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Infinitopes Precision Immunomics, an integrated cancer biotech combining world leading platforms in precision antigen discovery with vaccine vectors capable of durably stimulating protective immune responses, today announced the publication of a peer-reviewed article in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics (HVI). The article outlines the current cancer vaccine landscape and the challenges facing vaccine technologies for the treatment of solid tumours to explain the advantages of Infinitopes’ combined approach to cancer vaccines: incorporating the right targets and the right vectors, for the right patients at the right time.
The review, entitled “Unlocking Cancer Vaccine Potential: What are the Key Factors?”, was an invited contribution from the editorial team at HVI for inclusion in their special edition on cancer vaccines. The Company co-authored the review in close collaboration with senior academics from the University of Oxford’s cancer vaccine programme. The article describes the history of cancer vaccine development, the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on vaccine immunology, and the hurdles that face the successful clinical development of vaccines within the solid tumour space.
Limited understanding of tumour biology has historically been a major obstacle to progress in cancer vaccine development. Following the announcement of its £12.8m seed funding round in April 2024, Infinitopes is investing in world-leading mass spectrometry equipment to accurately identify the best synergistic tumour targets. This will enable the company to expand the development of its precision-targeted cancer vaccines for five further cancers beyond its lead candidate, which is due to begin phase I/IIa later this year.
Dr Jonathan Kwok, Infinitopes CEO, commented: “Infinitopes’ team has amassed an enormous wealth of insight into the fundamental immunology required to develop effective cancer vaccines. Over the past decade, we have crystallised our understanding of the building blocks necessary to design precision-targeted, durably stimulating, affordable vaccine therapies. It’s an honour to be invited to share our learnings with readers of the prestigious Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics journal, and we look forward to the future collaborations this will unlock.”
Lead author Dr Michael Grant, Executive Medical Director of Infinitopes, commented: “The global burden of cancer is increasing, whilst advances in diagnosis and shifts in lifestyle factors are changing the demographics of patients that we see in clinic. There is a growing need for cost-effective treatments that can be deployed in the earlier stages of disease. Cancer vaccines offer a potential solution to this and, in the past few years alone, we have begun to see some exciting results from different vaccine platforms. However, it is vital that we learn from previous failures – as well as recent successes – to optimise the clinical development of future cancer vaccines.”
Professor Mark Middleton, Head of the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford and Scientific Advisory Board member for Infinitopes, added: “As we detect cancers earlier, we need treatments that are cheaper and better tolerated than existing drugs, and cancer vaccines look very promising. Recent trial results show that they work, and they are relatively cheap to make at scale. The challenge now is to understand the rules that govern vaccine activity, so we can give them to the right patients at the right time.”
“Unlocking Cancer Vaccine Potential: What are the Key Factors?” is available to read online at:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/21645515.2024.2331486
Notes to editors
About Infinitopes
Infinitopes Ltd is a soon to be clinical stage, integrated cancer biotechnology company supported by Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and the University of Oxford. The Company combines two world leading platforms, in precision antigen discovery and in high efficiency, vector delivery systems, to develop immunologically durable vaccines for use against multiple solid tumour indications. The lead vaccine candidate is expected to begin phase I/IIa trials in Q3 2024. Infinitopes has cultivated in-house talent across antigen discovery, immunology, vaccinology, oncology, biomanufacturing, trials and regulation, winning an ‘Innovative Licensing and Access Pathway’ (ILAP) innovation passport from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in 2022. Infinitopes has also won two prestigious, maximum size nondilutive awards from Innovate UK, a Cancer Therapeutics Award (in 2022) and a Future Economy Investor Partnership (in 2023). In 2024, the company closed its £12.8 m seed financing. Since incorporation, the Infinitopes team has grown from three co-founders to 28 full time equivalents, and is now the largest tenant of Oxford University’s BioEscalator Innovation Building. For more information, visit www.infinitopes.com
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