A pre-clinical study has demonstrated the anti-tumoural efficacy of the AccuVAC-D001 cancer vaccine.
Developed by biotechnology company Defence Therapeutics Inc., the AccuVAC-D001 cancer vaccine demonstrated a 70% cure rate of mice with pre-established solid tumours, confirming an effective anti-tumoral response.
Defence Therapeutics is working on engineering the next-generation vaccines and ADC products using its proprietary platform, the core of which is the ACCUMTM technology. This technology enables precise delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs in their intact form to target cells, resulting in increased efficacy and potency against illness such as cancer and infectious diseases.
Vaccines for cancer
Non-specific degradation of endocytosed cancer antigens by endo-lysosomal organelles in dendritic cells (DC) is a major limitation in the field of cancer vaccination. Defence AccuVACTM addresses this with its engineered novel antigen formulation.
The AccuVACTM protects endocytosed antigen from non-specific endosomal degradation by promoting its escape via endosomal membrane disruption. As such, endocytosed antigens accumulate – in their closest native state – in the cytosol of DC cells consequently resulting in efficient antigen cross-presentation to responding immune cells.
AccuVACTM dramatically improved protein processing and cross-presentation by ex vivo developed monocyte-derived DCs, which elicited potent CD4 and CD8 T-cell responses compared to the use of naked antigen. The net outcome culminates into effective anti-tumoral responses, curing 70% of animals with pre-established solid tumours.
Mr Sébastien Plouffe, CEO of Defence Therapeutics, said: “The solid results of the AccuVACTM study demonstrates how this strategy can be positively adapted to engineered universal DC vaccines. This puts Defence and its technology on the path for future development of universal therapeutic vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases vaccines.”
