MOLOGEN receives Grant for Cell-based Cancer Therapy

06.10.2004

MOLOGEN AG will be granted subsidies for the development of a cell-based, tumor-specific medicine against kidney cancer (Renal Cell Carcinoma, RCC). According to the covenant of Sep 27, 2004, the company will get subsidized with up to 212,000 EUR during the coming 15 months by funds of the Innovation Support Program of Berlin. A milestone after 7 month will be evaluated.

The subsidies were granted for final pre-clinical development, to enable start of a clinical trial. MOLOGEN will start working on this project immediately. Subsequently, a phase I/II clinical trial can be initiated, where the therapeutic cell-based vaccine will be evaluated in patients with renal cell carcinoma. (RCC).

The innovations developed by MOLOGEN cover the cell-based, tumor-specific medicine as well as the necessary production procedures. Both of the MOLOGEN proprietary technologies will be employed in the medicine: MIDGE vectors to modify cells by special gene packages and dSLIM immunomodulators for stimulation and control of the patients immune response.

The tumor-specific therapy is expected to enable the body's own immune system of cancer patients to detect and destroy tumor cells. This is accomplished by application of 4-fold gene-modified and immunomodulated allogeneic tumor cells, which send recognition and activation signals from their cell surface. Allogeneic tumor cells (others than autologous tumor cells, used in related treatment regimes) are not the respective patient's own cells. They are produced instead for all patients from a previously accurately characterized and examined cell line.

MOLOGEN has a long standing and broad expertise in therapeutic anti-cancer vaccines and can use highly developed in-house infrastructures for development and production. They already finished a clinical trial, where gene-modified and immunomodulated, autologous tumor cells were successfully tested in RCC patients. MOLOGEN expects key-advantages, medically and commercially, compared to treatments with autologous cells. A successful "proof-of-concept" allogeneic approach with RCC patients, will open the door, to use gene-modified and immunomodulated cells for treatment of other, more frequent cancers than RCC. Future financing of advanced clinical trials is intended to be gained through MOLOGEN's Arabian business partners.

https://www.bionity.com/de/news/39971/mologen-receives-grant-for-cell-based-cancer-therapy.html