Seattle-based TapImmune will sponsor a Mayo Clinic Phase I study of a therapeutic breast cancer vaccine, which has received FDA IND approval. Trial recruitment, which will focus on HER-2/neu positive breast cancer patients, is planned for the fourth quarter of this year.
The vaccine targets the HER-2/neu antigen, which has been linked with aggressive breast cancer. According to Keith Knutson, one of the leading researchers of the trial, immunity to the antigen blocked tumor growth in mouse studies. "In the planned human clinical trial, the goal will be to determine whether we can also boost immunity to HER-2/neu in patients, hopefully paving the way to asking whether vaccination blocks tumors in humans," Knutson said in a release.
TapImmune hopes to use the vaccine in conjunction with its "Transporter of Antigen Processing" replacement technology, another cancer therapy. The technology is also being studied with smallpox vaccines and prophylactic vaccines.
- read the TapImmune release