Oxford's Scancell welcomes data from first stage of cancer vaccine trial
Scancell Holdings, the Oxford Science Park-based developer of novel immunotherapies for treating cancer and infectious disease, unveiled on Tuesday (September 19) positive data from the first stage of a clinical trial for its lead cancer vaccine called SCIB1.
In a statement, the company reported on initial data from 11 patients in the first stage of its Phase 2 SCOPE trial, which is investigating SCIB1 in combination with checkpoint inhibitors (CPIs) in advanced melanoma - a type of skin cancer.
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It said 11 patients showed an 82% objective response rate (ORR) to treatment, which was better than 70% ORR that the trial was configured to show.
In London on Tuesday, shares in Scancell rose 20%.
The trial was designed to determine if the ORR in patients with unresectable metastatic melanoma could be improved in combination with CPIs. The theory is that the vaccine induces new, or boosts existing, immune responses which are subsequently protected in the tumour environment by the CPIs.
The company said that to its knowledge no other combination has achieved this response rate with doublet checkpoint inhibitors in unresectable metastatic melanoma.
Professor Poulam Patel, the chief investigator, said: "These results, if confirmed in a larger cohort, will be a significant improvement on what patients can expect from available treatment today. We look forward to continuing the second stage of the study and reporting further data in due course."
The SCOPE trial has now successfully moved into a second stage, which will recruit a further 27 patients - for a total of 43, noted Scancell.
Patient recruitment is expected to be complete by the end of 2023 with data available in the first half of 2024.
Based upon the first 11 patients there is a greater than 90% probability that the second phase will also be successful, Scancell added.
Biopharma Scancell is building a pipeline of innovative products using its four technology platforms: Moditope and ImmunoBody for vaccines and GlyMab and AvidiMab for antibodies.
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