BACKGROUND
Monoclonal antibodies are the primary treatment option for targeted cancer therapies, yet they pose significant limitations within the clinic. Current antibodies target surface markers that are present on both cancer and healthy cells triggering off-target effects following administration. Consequently, almost all monoclonal antibodies cause adverse reactions ranging from minor to severe (grade 3 or higher) responses and at times, treatment-induced deaths. By contrast, cancer cells possess unique markers in the form of mutated proteins that are located intracellularly and are absent within healthy cells. The fragments of these proteins are present on the cancer cells’ surface as peptides that are displayed on their major histocompatibility complex 1 (MHCI) molecules. For antibody therapies the capacity to target these peptide MHCI molecules would significantly mitigate off-target effects, resulting in a safer therapy.
In addition to side effects, monoclonal antibodies are one of the costliest forms of treatments within the clinic. The costs of manufacturing clinical grade biologics are significant, leading to an annual treatment cost of over $100,000 USD per patient. This poses a sizable financial burden on the healthcare system while limiting accessibility of antibody therapies to cancer patients worldwide. Thus, rendering targeted therapies more affordable is crucial for achieving a greater clinical impact both domestically and globally.
TECHNOLOGY OVERVIEW
Our technology is a vaccine that induces patients’ own B cells to produce antibodies that target cancer exclusive peptide MHCI molecules. Specifically, we have developed an antigen design that efficiently delivers a cancer peptide MHCI molecule to the lymph node. This antigen design uniquely triggers the production of peptide MHCI targeting antibodies while traditional antigens (i.e. peptides or whole protein from which the peptides are derived from) fail to do so. Overall, we provide a vaccine platform that induces continuous production of cancer exclusive antibodies directly within patients.
Figure 1. Overview. (A) B cell antigen that uses MHCI molecule displaying cancer peptides. (B) Secretion of Abs by plasma cells that exclusively target cancer cells.
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Our vaccine is a disruptive platform that, for the 1st time, mobilizes our B cells towards effective cancer therapy. By placing the onus onto B cells to discover and mass produce antibodies, our vaccine overcomes several limitations associated with the monoclonal antibody R&D and production. Most antibody candidates require extensive durations for R&D only to achieve low success rates during clinical trials. For the candidates that are approved, there are significant costs associated with production that is also reflected in the exorbitant price for patients. Our antigen circumvents these major hurdles that limit monoclonal antibodies.
APPLICATIONS
Our vaccine is intended to be used for cancer therapies as a form of targeted treatment option.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY STATUS
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US Provisional Filed (May 2024)
PROJECT STATUS
For our stage of development, we have developed and characterized our antigen through in vitro assays. We also verified that this antigen can induce specialized antibodies that recognize peptide MHCI molecules within a mouse model. Moreover, vaccination with our antigen protects against melanoma challenge in a prophylactic setting. Currently, we are conducting more in-depth analyses of the antibody response as well as evaluating our vaccine’s efficacy in treating existing tumors.
Figure 2. Prophylactic efficacy of our vaccine. Naive or vaccinated immune competent mice were subcutaneously inoculated with murine melanoma cells. Subsequent tumor growth was monitored.
