Last checked at 2 May 2012 07:00
2 May 2012
Scancell Holdings Plc
('Scancell Holdings' or the 'Company')
SCIB1: First patient treated in Phase II clinical trial.
Scancell Holdings Plc, (AIM: SCLP), the developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines, is pleased to announce the recruitment and treatment of the first patient in the second part of its Phase I/II clinical trial of SCIB1, its DNA ImmunoBody® vaccine being developed for the treatment of melanoma. The Phase II part of the trial will be conducted in five UK centres in thirteen patients with Stage III/IV disease to further assess the safety of treatment and to assess the cellular immune response induced by SCIB1. Patients will be treated with a 4mg dose of SCIB1 on five occasions over a period of 6 months. The study is expected to take 18 months to complete.
Professor Lindy Durrant, Joint CEO of Scancell Holdings and Professor of Cancer Immunotherapy at Nottingham University, commented:
"Although the recruitment of patients to early stage cancer studies can be very challenging, we expect recruitment for the Phase II part of the study to be substantially faster than for Phase I as we will not be constrained by the cohort study design required for dose escalation, there are more patients available and they are likely to have earlier stage disease."
For further information contact:
Scancell Holdings Plc Dr Richard Goodfellow / Professor Lindy Durrant | + 44 (0)20 7653 9850* |
Newgate Threadneedle (Financial PR) Graham Herring / Heather Armstrong | + 44 (0)20 7653 9850 |
Zeus Capital - Nominated Adviser/Joint Broker Ross Andrews/Tom Rowley | + 44 (0)161 831 1512 |
XCAP - Joint Broker Jon Belliss/ Adrian Kirk | +44 (0)207 101 7070 |
*calls to this number will reach Newgate Threadneedle, at Scancell's instruction.
About Scancell
Scancell is developing novel therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases based on its groundbreaking ImmunoBody® technology platform. Scancell's first cancer vaccine SCIB1 is being developed for the treatment of melanoma and is currently in Phase II clinical trials.
Treating cancer by vaccination allows small non-toxic doses of a vaccine to be administered to a patient, stimulating an immune response. Effective cancer vaccines need to target dendritic cells to stimulate both parts of the cellular immune system; the helper cell system where inflammation is stimulated at the tumour site; and the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte or CTL response where immune system cells are primed to recognise and kill specific cells.
A limitation of many cancer vaccines currently in development is that they cannot specifically target dendritic cells in vivo. Several groups have demonstrated successful vaccination by growing dendritic cells ex vivo, pulsing them with tumour antigens and re-infusing them. However, this procedure is patient specific, time consuming and expensive. Scancell has developed its breakthrough patent protected ImmunoBody® technology to overcome these limitations.
An ImmunoBody® is a human antibody or fusion protein engineered to express helper cell and CTL epitopes from tumour antigens over-expressed by cancer cells. Antibodies are ideal vectors for carrying T cell epitopes from tumour antigens as they have long half-lives and can effectively target dendritic cells via their Fc receptors, allowing efficient stimulation of both helper and CTL responses.
The Immunobody® technology can be adapted to provide the basis for treating any tumour type and may also be of potential utility in the development of vaccines against hepatitis, HIV and other chronic infectious diseases.