Project BriefOpen Competition 1 - BiotechnologyDevelopment of a Broad Platform Immunostimulatory Cancer VaccineDevelop a cancer immunotherapeutic vaccine that effectively triggers the immune system to overcome barriers currently preventing other approaches from aggressively killing cancer cells. Sponsor: Iomai Corporation20 Firstfield RoadSuite 250 Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Cancer immunotherapy involves activation of the patient's own immune system with therapeutic vaccines to kill tumors. Current state of the art in therapeutic cancer vaccines is limited by the fact that cancer cells are not typically seen by a patient's immune system as being different from normal cells -- this is called "immune tolerance." Immune tolerance reduces the ability of cancer vaccines to trigger a robust and sustained immune response against cancer cells. Iomai Corporation proposes a novel cancer vaccine method that brings together all of the key elements needed to overcome "immune tolerance" and mount a potent attack on cancer cells, selectively killing tumors without harming normal cells. The immune system attacks tumors with specialized white blood cells called cytotoxic (cell-killing) T cells. In addition, other immune cells called helper T cells are needed to effectively overcome immune tolerance. While other cancer immunotherapy methods have met with some success, none have been able to effectively bring into play the helper T cell, a key element in mounting a truly effective immune response against cancer. The proposed approach employs a novel method to direct the immune system into attacking the cancer cells as if they were foreign. The research involves stimulating cancer killing cytotoxic T cells using a potent immunostimulant chemical, together with delivery of a protein expressed at high levels on tumors and molecules that activate the helper T cells. Significant technical barriers must be overcome for this project to be successful, including the integration of the various steps of immunostimulation, effective helper T cell activation, and tumor protein delivery. The research has the potential to effectively treat cancer in a much less toxic manner than currently available. Successful demonstration of clinical efficacy would likely lead to a major technological leap in cancer immunotherapy. Initial products would include a vaccine for treating Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a pre-leukemic disease characterized by low white blood cell count, and associated cancers that share the same tumor antigen (WT1). Development and licensing agreements with vaccine and pharmaceutical companies are anticipated. National economic benefits would accrue from a successful cancer therapy through reductions in health care costs, jobs creation, and tax revenue on corporate profits. The potential revenue from development of an effective vaccine against MDS is $20 million and $160 million for a vaccine against all the related cancers. A small company, Iomai cannot attract investment for long-term research and must focus its resources on products closer to commercialization, such as preventive vaccines against the more traditional infectious diseases. ATP funding will accelerate development of cancer immunotherapy that overcomes immune tolerance and make possible broader therapeutic vaccine development addressing additional types of cancer.
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