Member Info for RayPointer

I agree. LC seems to get more confident with every interview.
There are many aspects to be impressed about. What I like is that JLP has such a definite strategy and it is obviously working.
"Jubilee's brand has travelled" is my favourite phrase. They knew they would have to prove their processes to unlock those doors to the majors. I think they have done that.

WTP
IMO, I doubt it.
What we do know is that Ugur Sahin admires Moditope.
Lindy has repeated this a few times and his inclusion in Project blueprint speaks volumes. It also shows just how science-led BionTech are; an extremely busy CEO still finds time to be involved in a project outside his company.

Its Friday as well.
People are thinking about lazing on the beach and going for a swim in the sea to cool off.

Scancell use freely available software to help identify the target epitopes, according to one of their Paris posters

"Analysis was performed using PEP-FOLD3 software, a freely available online resource."

https://www.scancell.co.uk/Data/Sites/1/media/publications/posters/paris-2019-peptide-selection-final.pdf

Here is the interface to that software, in case anyone fancies having a go LOL

http://mobyle.rpbs.univ-paris-diderot.fr/cgi-bin/portal.py?form=HCA#forms::PEP-FOLD3

Interesting

"Despite significant evidence pointing toward the importance of CD4+ T-cell responses to neoantigens, many epithelial cancers lack class II MHC, and the precise mechanisms through which CD4+ T cells mediate antitumor immunity remain to be fully elucidated."

I think Lindy has fully elucidated the Moditope approach and why it works. She may have stumbled on it accidentally but she now knows why it works (at least in mice).
Of course, we still await the first human trial.

Do you have a link for that article Inan?

I'm guessing they had to comply with this document or something similar.

http://www.hse.gov.uk/biosafety/gmo/acgm/acgmcomp/part2.pdf

The word "vector" is mentioned 285 times.
So, 6 months delay having to comply with HSE simply because this was all new to Scancell. If BionTech had called off the TCR collaboration, why would Scancell bother getting compliance from HSE?
Scancell themselves are not going to go it alone on TCR production.

I'm enjoying that yellow sphere in the sky.
ATB

Hi Chelsea
"A considerably low number of 3 percent of potential patients volunteer to participate in oncology clinical trials. The difficulty in recruitment can cause overall delays to such trials. Currently less than 20 percent of studies are on-time, meaning the majority of the trials fail to meet initial plans and expectations.4 Feb 2018"

I can now understand more why Scancell were so keen on a US trial. For any trial run by Keith Flaherty that figure of 3% may be considerably higher.

IMO everything is progressing and there have been no failures in any of Scancell's projects so far.
Of course, some projects are progressing faster than others. As always, because the science is new there will always be unforeseen obstacles to overcome.

So, lets just summarise where we were at the SP high back when Moditope was announced - SP in the 60s briefly

a) Moditope just announced
b) SCIB1 trial initial results due in about 3 months
c) SCIB2 ready to go into development

And where we are now - SP 5p

Trial result
a) SCIB1 5 year results outstanding for patients with resected tumours
b) SCIB1 for patients with unresected tumours show need for CI

Trials planned or started
a) SCIB1 Combo started but no patients yet recruited, urgent need for more centres
b) Modi1 to start H1 2020 (we hope)
c) SCIB2 - waiting to hear on latest progress from CRUK (hopefully pre-clinical)

Products
a) Modi2 research continues (may be close to moving into development)
b) Modi3 hinted at
c) SCIB others ( glioblastoma and prostate are the ones we know about)
d) Glycans Mabs
e) Avidimab

Collaborations
a) BionTech - Modi1 TCR targets progressing but there was a 6 month delay due to HSE issues
b) Karolinska - no recent progress report
c) Avidmab - collaboration with a large pharma (unknown) and estimated as a 12 month evaluation but may be shorter
d) 2 new Mabs being worked on in collaboration with Barcelona (academic institute)

Other research (that we know about)
a) Liverpool and Durham - mass spectrometer study on post translational modifications
b) Nottingham school of Pharmacy - nano delivery research

This is what we know about. There may be other projects we don't know about.
So, very disappointing about the slow progress on the SCIB1 combo trial but amazing progress otherwise.

I should think Lindy will get an update when she collects her Nobel Prize.

Hi Chelsea
Well Scancell didn't hear for them for ages and then they suddenly decided to extend the collaboration.
They're obviously up to something but may not be in close contact with Scancell.
It may be a while before we hear from them again.

Great summary Crumbs.
Avidimab is only the 3rd string platform yet is has such potential. If and when Scancell do a deal on this, I hope it is on a Mab by Mab basis possibly starting with Scancell's own glycans Mabs. This would leave scope for multiple pharmas to look for deals for their own Mabs.
Remember also, that as well as a substantial increase in avidity, it also allows multiple types of killing actions. The mediated TCell attack intrigues me.

Here's a recent article that mentions some of the facets relevant to Lindy's Avidimab work

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41541-018-0095-z

Affinity, TCell mediation and glycans all feature in this article.

"Any deal will raise the SP considerably."
I certainly agree with that.
But what really amazes me is that all the science is the culmination of one woman's vision, knowledge and tenacity (all with a little help from her friends)
And she hasn't finished yet by any means.

We can thank Lindy and her team that, despite the ongoing saga of the SCIB1 Combo trial, we are still in a great place.
The much heralded Modi1 trial should start next year. We also have 2 possible deals next year that would transform the companies finances. And those deals would really draw attention to us.

Plan b would have been to negotiate with other UK and possibly European sites to agree in principle that Scancell would not pay for the cost of Keytruda.
So, in effect, do in advance what they are doing now.

Yes, but Scancell have known for ages that there are difficulties in getting approval in the US for Trigrid (whether the prototype or V2)
So why wasn't a plan b being formulated and, most importantly, why did we not negotiate in advance about the cost of Keytruda. Plan b could then possibly at the same cost as plan a and ready to implment.

I think what is shows is that money play a big part in running trials.
A big pharma would have the resources to change direction when getting a trial going is having difficulties. It is not a big deal from them to switch the trial to a different part of the world at more cost.

For Scancell it is a big deal since switching to the UK involves them paying for Keytruda which for them is a huge expense. They were caught in the headlights and didn't appear to have a plan b. The hope is that other NHS administrations will follow the lead set by Nottingham NHS and foot the bill for Keytruda. Failing that it was mentioned at the AGM that European centres were a possibility.

To me, the problem with this trial is that Scancell is being event driven. If plan a does not work plan b was not ready for immediate execution. In other words, the necessary negotiations about the funding of Keytruda by other UK sites and /or European sites should have been made in advance. That's what smart management would have done.

Am I being harsh on Scancell management?

We have our own RNS service
Its called Bermuda, Inan, Crumbs, Konar et al

Boom
The way I read it is that Modi1 will also attack a greater range of tumours than what was previously thought simply because it was able to induce the citrullinated target (via ifn gamma) in at least 1 more type of MHC class II molecule.
So maybe it widens the patient population and also the type of cancer.
But I stand to be corrected.

WTP
An abstract is a summary of a scientific paper. Your latest post is the full paper not an abstract.
But many thanks for posting this. I generally find that the abstract normally tells you what you want to know.
IMO, papers such as this one are what many companies would post as a RNS. Another piece of valuable research.