A novel immunotherapy against cancer

Ultimovacs AS utvikler nye legemidler mot kreft som virker gjennom å påvirke immunsystemet. Selskapets første produkt, UV1, er en kreftvaksine rettet mot telomerase. Kreftceller er i motsetning til kroppens øvrige celler i stand til å dele seg i det uendelige. UV1 kan brukes som en selvstendig behandling eller i kombinasjon med annen kreftbehandling. Det aktuelle prosjektet fokuserer på behandling av langtkommet føflekkskreft, en sykdom hvor behovet for mer effektiv og sikker behandling er stort. UV1 i kombinasjon med ipilimumab (Yervoy) undersøkes i en klinisk studie i pasienter med langtkommet malignt melanom. 12 pasienter er inkludert i studien.Foreløpige analyser av data indikerer en synergistisk effekt av UV1 i kombinasjon med ipilimumab. Et program for identifikasjon av biomarkører pågår. En ny prosess for produksjon av UV1 er utviklet i samarbeid med en partner og vaksine for klinisk bruk er produsert.

Ultimovacs is an innovative Norwegian biotech company whose primary business idea is to develop UV1 as a general therapeutic cancer vaccine for the global pharmaceutical market. UV1 is a peptide cancer vaccine directed against telomerase, a target present in 90% of cancers. UV1 may be used as monotherapy or in combination with other cancer therapies, and may potentially be applied in several cancer subgroups. The current project is focused on treatment of advanced malignant melanoma, an indication with a significant medical need for more effective and safe drugs. The mechanism of action of UV1 is to stimulate the immune system to attack cancer cells which are expressing telomerase while sparing normal cells. The major challenge for this type of treatment is to overcome immunoregulatory processes induced by the tumors reducing the immune systems ability to effectively kill cancer cells. The immunomdulator ipilimumab mode of action is to down regulate the malignant cells ability to protect themselves from the immune system. Combining the two principles of action; stimulation of the immune system against tumor cells by using UV1(immunostimulation) and making the tumor cells more vulnerable to attack from the immune system using ipilimumab (immunomodulation) has great potential. The current project will test the combination of UV1 and ipilimumab in 20 patients with advanced melanoma. If successful, this clinical trial will be the first step in documenting UV1 as being of clinical value for patients with mali gnant melanoma. The combination treatment may also be extended to other indications such as lung and prostate cancer. The current project also includes a program for biomarker discovery.