Cancer Vaccine Acceleration Fund Is Launched by CRI
- By BSTQ Staff
The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) has launched the Cancer Vaccine Acceleration Fund (CVAF),a new model of philanthropic investment and academicindustry collaboration to speed the clinical development of therapeutic cancer vaccines and other immune system-based therapies. Therapeutic cancer vaccines represent a new class of cancer treatment by harnessing the power of an individual’s immune system’s natural ability to recognize and attack cancer cells throughout the body. Clinical trials have provided evidence that therapeutic vaccines can help patients stabilize their existing cancers, achieve substantial tumor regressions and delay or prevent cancer recurrence, often with few to no side effects.
The CVAF, created in 2010, employs a highly selective screening process to identify and prioritize the most promising cancer vaccines and vaccine components in global development. It then seeks out partnerships with biopharmaceutical companies to bring these therapies into clinical trials, where they can be studied in-depth and where complementary immunotherapies can be identified.
To date, the CVAF has finalized collaborations with biopharmaceutical companies in support of the development of two immunotherapies and is reviewing several other companies with cancer vaccine candidates. In one of the collaborations,CRI provided up to $1.5 million in funding to Tolerx Inc. to support clinical development of TRX518, a firstin-class anti-GITR monoclonal antibody intended to enhance the immune system by enabling T cells to attack cancer cells more effectively. A Phase I clinical trial of TRX518 for melanoma patients is currently under way.