Oxford BioMedica’s posts positive cancer drug results

The data show that TroVax is safe and well-tolerated in the renal cell carcinoma patient group and that it induces a strong anti-tumour immune response against the 5T4 tumor antigen.

The ongoing open label study is evaluating TroVax in combination with interleukin-2 (IL-2) therapy, an FDA-approved treatment for renal cell carcinoma. Patients receive five immunizations of TroVax over 12 weeks and up to four cycles of high dose IL-2. Patients that show an anti-tumor immune response to TroVax will be offered an additional three vaccinations.

The trial is intended to recruit up to 25 patients, in order to gather information on the safety of TroVax in this setting and also the ability of TroVax to elicit immune responses to the tumor antigen 5T4.

“It is very encouraging that the results with TroVax in renal cell carcinoma are consistent with our data set in colorectal cancer,” commented Oxford BioMedica’s chief executive, Professor Alan Kingsman. “Renal cell carcinoma is an aggressive disease with an unmet need for effective treatments. The high levels of 5T4 in renal cancer and the paucity of treatment options make this an ideal setting for further development of TroVax”.