Juvaris will develop the vaccine in collaboration with Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State University’s medical school
Juvaris’ vaccine technology will be tested in rodent tumor models to evaluate the impact on leukemia using an antigen-specific immunotherapeutic AML vaccine called JuvaVax. The SBIR grant application was supported by preclinical data generated by Juvaris and the Penn State College of Medicine demonstrating significant protection in a rodent tumor model.
“Our company has generated considerable long- term survival data in dogs with naturally-occurring cancers. These data in conjunction with the AML tumor model results, strongly suggest our technology platform may be applicable to a variety of tumor types.” said Martin Cleary, Chairman and CEO of Juvaris.
If successful the treatment could improve survival rates for acute leukemia which is currently estimated at 14%. Patients with AML often move into remission after chemotherapy but existing treatments are largely ineffective when relapse eventually occurs.