Date: 2016-01-11
Type of information: Milestone
Compound: ImmunTraCkeR® and DNA ImmunoBody® vaccine SCIB1
Company: Scancell (UK) ImmunID (France)
Therapeutic area: Cancer - Oncology
Type agreement: R&D
Action mechanism: plasmid/immunotherapy product. SCIB1 is a plasmid DNA which encodes a human antibody molecule engineered to express a melanoma antigen called Tyrosinase-Related Protein 2 (TRP2) plus two helper T cell epitopes. Following immunisation, the engineered antibody will be expressed and be taken up by dendritic cells, resulting in the development of immune responses against tumour cells expressing the TRP2 antigen. SCIB1 was designed so that the Fc component of the engineered antibody will be recognised by the high affinity CD64 receptor present on dendritic cells, leading to a significant enhancement of both the frequency and avidity of the T cell immune response. The induction of high avidity T cells against TRP-2 is expected to lead to the inhibition and regression of both primary and metastatic tumour growth. ImmunTraCkeR® is a proprietary CE-marked immune molecular diagnostics assay. It evaluates a patient’s immune status, from a simple liquid biopsy, based on T lymphocyte repertoire diversity. ImmunTraCkeR® provides information on the patient’s complex immune profile to evaluate clinical benefit or risk under treatment with immunotherapies.
Disease: metastatic melanoma
Details: * On July 30, 2015 - Scancell Holdings and ImmunID announced an agreement to collaborate on a research project aimed at predicting which patients will respond best to SCIB1 treatment. The study will use ImmunID’s flagship clinical product, ImmunTraCkeR®, before and during treatment, to assess the immune-modulatory effect of Scancell’s SCIB1 ImmunoBody® vaccine in patients with Stage III/IV metastatic melanoma. The ImmunTraCkeR® assay will be used to understand pre-existing immunity of Stage III/IV metastatic melanoma patients and to monitor T cell diversity over time in order to assess immune-modulatory effect of the SCIB1 cancer vaccine. It will also be used to make a preliminary assessment of ImmunTraCkeR® acting as a predictor of response to SCIB1; and to identify any other predictive or prognostic clinical value of T cell diversity.
SCIB1 is being developed for the treatment of melanoma and is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial. The latest data suggests that SCIB1 may have the potential to significantly extend survival times, especially in patients with resected disease.
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Latest news: * On January 11, 2016, Scancell and ImmunID released data showing patient immunologic response to cancer vaccine SCIB1 can be demonstrated through monitoring changes in the diversity of T cells found in the blood. The data was generated through a pilot study performed in conjunction with Scancell’s Phase 1/2 trial of the SCIB1 cancer vaccine in patients with resected stage III/IV metastatic melanoma. ImmunID’s ImmunTraCkeR® assay was used to assess T cell diversity in the blood from patients before and during treatment with SCIB1. Results showed variations in T cell diversity kinetics during SCIB1 treatment, underlining the immune-modulatory effect of the vaccine, and indicated that patients had developed an immunological response to SCIB1. Data also suggested that patients who relapsed did not have an adequate immunological response to the vaccine. These preliminary results will be confirmed in a larger patient population through an extended collaboration between Scancell and ImmunID.
