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British doctors to start new phase III trial with Pharmexa's GV1001

19 Mar 2007 - A Phase III trial testing a new treatment for pancreatic cancer has now been initiated. Pharmexa has developed the drug and is co-financing the trial together with pharmaceuticals company Roche and Cancer Research UK.
 
Referred to as the TeloVac trial, the recently initiated Phase III trial is a so-called investigator-sponsored trial. The trial is designed and managed by the Pancreas Cancer Sub-group of the National Cancer Research Institute in the UK, with Dr. Gary Middleton of the Royal Surrey County Hospital as Chief Investigator, whilst the group of Principal Investigators include Professor David Cunningham of the Royal Marsden Hospital and Professor John Neoptolemos of the Royal Liverpool University Hospital. Up to 80 UK cancer centres are participating in the trial. The trial is testing GV1001, a new immunotherapeutic drug for pancreatic cancer developed by Pharmexa.
 
Dr. Gary Middleton, Chief Investigator of the trial, said: "We believe that future treatment of pancreatic cancer as well as other types of cancer will include various chemotherapies combined with biological and targeted therapies. GV1001 is an especially attractive vaccine; the antigen that it targets is expressed in largely all pancreatic cancer cells, and the vaccine stimulates the formation of all the immune cells required for an effective attack on these cancer cells. Adding this vaccine to an optimised chemotherapy platform is an exciting strategy which, if successful, will set a new standard for the treatment of this disease."
 
GV1001 is a peptide vaccine that activates the immune system so that it recognises and kills cancer cells. GV1001 targets an enzyme called Telomerase. Telomerase is seldom found in normal cell types but is overexpressed in most cancer cells. In scientific circles, telomerase activity is considered a key factor in the process whereby cancer cells lose their normal mortality, a common feature for all cancers. In theory, GV1001 could therefore turn out to be a universal cancer vaccine, which is reflected in Pharmexa's broad development programme for GV1001. GV1001 has achieved orphan drug designation for the treatment of pancreatic cancer in both Europe and the United States. Pharmexa holds all the commercial rights to GV1001.