The acquisition will bring together IVT's signature VacciMax(R) platform with Immunotope's portfolio of immunotherapeutic antigens and antigen discovery platform, allowing the new private company to create an entire pipeline of proprietary therapeutic cancer and infectious-disease specific vaccines. The combined clinical-stage company will continue to support Immunotope's ongoing Phase 1 immunotherapeutic vaccine clinical trial in ovarian and breast cancer patients at Duke University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
"IVT is continuously evaluating partnership opportunities," remarked Dr. Randal Chase, president and CEO of IVT. "With this acquisition, we enhance our research capabilities, expand our operations into the U.S., and gain a distinct competitive advantage for our immunotherapy products."
Dr. Ramila Philip, President and CSO of Immunotope commented, "The complementary scientific and management skills of IVT and Immunotope will enable us to leverage our respective strengths and increase our capability to develop therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines. Therapeutic cancer vaccines that combine the right antigens with a powerful delivery system have the potential to treat cancer early and prevent recurrence."
The full acquisition will be complete by June 2008.immunovaccine
Dr Ahmed Ashour Ahmed, Cancer Research UK clinician scientist, and first author of the paper, said: "Our work reveals that some proteins that surround cancer cells such as TGFBI send messages to microtubules, the backbone of the cell, sensitising them to paclitaxel. Deciphering the code by which these messages are sent will enable the discovery of new treatments that will simulate the coded messages leading to a significant improvement in paclitaxel response."
Prof Herbie Newell, Cancer Research UK's director of translational research, said: "We are entering a period of cancer treatment where more drugs are targeted at those people who will benefit the most. This personalised medicine approach potentially means treatments will be more effective with fewer side effects. This is really important for diseases like ovarian cancer that can be challenging to treat."
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