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A French company is currently developing a vaccine to delay or prevent recurrences of ENT cancers, cancers that present the highest risk of relapses that are difficult to treat. The results of the phase I clinical trial were presented at the World Cancer Congress in Chicago. Phase II is underway.
Transgene, a company based in Strasbourg, is working on the development of a vaccine aimed at preventing the recurrence of cancers in the ENT sphere (cancer of the tongue, throat and respiratory tract). This Monday, June 5, the results of the phase I clinical trial for the TG4050 vaccine were unveiled at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The vaccine can only be used on people with ENT cancer. Before administering it to patients, a first step is necessary: the removal of a piece of the patient’s tumor during a surgical operation. This piece of tumor is then genetically sequenced by a Japanese artificial intelligence whose mission is to identify the 30 mutations most at risk for the patient. A complex step when we know that there are 3000 mutations likely to give an immune response.
The vaccine is then manufactured at the headquarters of Transgene in Strasbourg and it is personalized since it is based on the data obtained thanks to the analysis of the end of the tumour. Each patient therefore has their own vaccine. Once administered (in the form of 20 subcutaneous injections), the TG4050 vaccine “will educate the immune system to develop antibodies capable of destroying cancer cells”, explained Christophe Le Tourneau, head of clinical trials at the Institut Curie, in a interview granted to the Parisian.
Promising results
“TG4050 is being evaluated in two Phase I clinical trials in patients with HPV-negative ovarian and head and neck cancers and has shown promising early results”, can we read in a press release from Transgene. The study was conducted on 31 patients. No relapse was observed in the 16 people who received the vaccine. “Above all, all of them developed an immune response, which shows that the vaccine is working”rejoices Christophe Le Tourneau.
Phase II of the clinical trial should begin in a few months, with a larger cohort (several hundred people). Phase III will assess the effectiveness of the vaccine on several thousand patients.
Transgene is also working on a vaccine against cancers induced by the papillomavirus
Transgene is also developing another vaccine (TG4001) aimed at combating certain anogenital cancers. The principle ? Educate the immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells expressing HPV-16 E6 and E7 antigens. The TG4001 vaccine is being evaluated in a phase II study whose objective is to show the superiority of the vaccine in combination with avelumab (human monoclonal antibody) compared to avelumab alone in patients with HPV16-positive anogenital tumors without hepatic metastases.