An agreement has been signed to develop technology which can treat lung cancer.
Cancer Research UK and Cancer Research Technology (CRT), the charity’s development and commercialisation arm, have reached an agreement with Asterias Biotherapeutics, Inc,. a biotechnology company.
Asterias works in regenerative medicine and the agreement will see it advance its novel immunotherapy treatment AST-VAC2 into clinical trials in subjects with non-small cell lung cancer.
AST-VAC2 represents the tenth treatment to enter Cancer Research UK’s Clinical Development Partnerships scheme, with six having progressed into the clinic.
A non-patient specific (allogeneic) cancer vaccine, AST-VAC2 is designed to stimulate patients’ immune systems to attack telomerase, a protein that is expressed in more than 95% of cancers but is rarely expressed in normal adult cells.
The vaccine was developed following successful early phase clinical trials of a similar, patient specific (autologous) Asterias vaccine, called AST-VAC1, which was derived from patients’ blood cells and tested in prostate cancer and acute myeloid leukemia.
Unlike AST-VAC1, and other patient specific vaccines that are developed from a patient’s own cells, AST-VAC2 is derived from human embryonic stem cells.
This means that it can be produced on a large scale and stored ready for use, rather than having to produce a specific version of the drug for each patient.
Pedro Lichtinger, Asterias’ chief executive officer, said: “The Asterias collaboration with Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office and CRT represents a major step in advancing our proprietary dendritic cell platform for the potential benefit of patients.
“AST-VAC2 is based on a specific mode of action that is complementary and potentially synergistic to other immune therapies. We are delighted to partner with Cancer Research UK to advance this important platform through Phase 1/2 clinical trials.
“Cancer Research UK’s Drug Development Office has the global recognition of having the quality, capability and track record of successfully advancing development programmes.
“We are excited about the possibility of favorably impacting the lives of patients across multiple cancers and are proud to be working with Cancer Research UK.”
Under the agreement, Asterias will complete development of the manufacturing process for AST-VAC2. Cancer Research UK will then produce the vaccine and conduct the phase 1/2 clinical trial in the UK.
On completion of the clinical trial, Asterias will have an exclusive first option to acquire a license to the data from the trial on pre-agreed terms including an upfront payment, milestones and royalties on sales of products.
If Asterias declines this option, CRT will then have an option to obtain a license to Asterias’ intellectual property to continue the development and commercialisation of AST-VAC2 and related products in exchange for a revenue share to Asterias of development and partnering proceeds.
Dr Jane Lebkowski, president of research and development at Asterias, said: “The use of human embryonic stem cells to derive allogeneic dendritic cells for cancer immunotherapy has the potential to dramatically improve the scalability, consistency, and feasibility of cellular cancer vaccines.
“We believe this collaboration will enable the acceleration of clinical studies of AST-VAC2 and the collection of important proof-of-concept data for the entire human embryonic stem cell-derived dendritic cell immunotherapy platform.”
Nigel Blackburn, Cancer Research UK’s Director of Drug Development, said: “Recent advances in cancer immunotherapy have demonstrated the exciting potential of these treatments to improve outcomes in devastating diseases such as lung cancer. Better treatment options for lung cancer are badly needed and it is through collaborations such as this that we can save more lives sooner.”
