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- Biopharmaceutical company Imugene (ASX:IMU) is on track to start Phase 1 clinical trials for its cancer treatment
- The CF33 oncolytic virus works to treat cancer by infecting and killing tumour cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed
- Two batches the cancer treatment were successfully produced to clinical grade GMP, paving the way for Phase 1 trials in 2020
- There are two constructs of the virus, CheckVacc and Vaxinia, which will be tested in separate trials
- Imugene shares are down 8.77 per cent, trading for 5.2 cents apiece
Imugene Limited (ASX:IMU) is on track to start Phase 1 clinical trials for its CF33 oncolytic virus technology in 2020.
The Australian-based company specialises in immune-based cancer treatments, developed at the City of Hope Center for Biomedicine and Genetics in California.
Imugene is on track to undertake Phase 1 clinical trials after two batches of the cancer treatment were successfully produced to clinical grade GMP.
The CF33 oncolytic virus is produced in two different constructs: the CheckVacc which is “armed” with an immune checkpoint inhibitor inserted in the virus and the Vaxinia which is “unarmed.”
The company plans to conduct a separate Phase 1 trial for the different constructs at some stage in 2020.
The CF33 oncolytic virus works to treat cancer by infecting tumour cells, before multiplying and ultimately killing them. Pre-clinical trials have shown it is effective on both primary, metastatic and recurring tumours while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
Pre-clinical trials have also shown the CF33 virus technology to effectively shrink tumours at an extremely low dose.
Imugene shares are down 8.77 per cent, trading for 5.2 cents a share at 4:10pm.
