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Immunovaccine and UConn Health Extend Collaboration to Support Advancement of Patient-Specific Immunotherapies to the ClinicHALIFAX, Nova Scotia, Dec. 07, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immunovaccine Inc. (“Immunovaccine” or the “Company”) (TSX:IMV) (OTCQX:IMMVF), a clinical stage immunotherapy and vaccine company, today announced an expansion of its ongoing collaboration with UConn Health. The collaboration is part of Immunovaccine’s DPX-NEO program, which is evaluating the anti-cancer activity of proprietary patient-specific epitopes developed at UConn Health and formulated in the Company’s DepoVax™-based vaccine formulation. Based on prior preclinical and manufacturing milestones achieved in evaluating cancer neoepitopes formulated in Immunovaccine’s proprietary delivery formulation, Immunovaccine and UConn Health will begin working toward DPX-NEO’s first clinical trial. Epitopes are the part of the biological molecule that is the target of an immune response. Neoepitopes are the mutated proteins produced by a patient's own tumors.1 “The potential of neoepitope-based therapies to trigger anti-cancer immune responses tailored to the unique biology of each patient’s disease could be an oncology treatment game-changer,” said Frederic Ors, Immunovaccine’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our successful preclinical work showed that the DPX-NEO delivery formulation is poised to become a significant solution to the barriers that have, thus far, hindered the deployment of these truly personalized immunotherapies on a wide-scale basis. Namely, DPX-NEO’s intrinsic mechanism of action has consistently demonstrated the ability to generate long-lasting T cell responses, and efficiently accommodate a large, diverse band of peptide targets, both of which may be crucial to generating sustained, impactful anti-tumor activity.” In previously announced preclinical research, researchers from UConn found that neoepitopes formulated in DepoVax-based vaccines demonstrated superior immunogenic activity over other formulations in mouse tumor models. Researchers are preparing a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed journal and will release further data upon publication. Immunovaccine and UConn Health agreed that these results provided a strong rationale for extending the collaboration towards a clinical trial. In the anticipaed Phase 1 study, UConn Health will use its proprietary technology to identify patient-specific neoepitopes, which will be formulated in the DPX-NEO delivery technology. “The successful results from our work in mouse models, combining our proprietary neoepitope selection process, along with the DepoVax-based formulation technologies, strongly support advancement into a clinical program. My colleagues and I look forward to doing so,” said Principal Investigator Pramod K. Srivastava, Ph.D., M.D., Professor of Immunology and Medicine, and Director, Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Connecticut School of Medicine at UConn Health. Immunovaccine had also previously announced a breakthrough in formulating multiple peptides in DepoVax formulations. The Company has patented the technology, which allows for both a larger number, and a broader potential range, of peptides into a single formulation as compared to standard formulation technologies. About DepoVax About Immunovaccine Immunovaccine Forward-Looking Statements Contacts for Immunovaccine: MEDIA INVESTOR RELATIONS Patti Bank, Managing Director, Westwicke Partners REFERENCES 1 Neoepitope Vaccines, Next Immunotherapy Frontier Cancer Discovery Published Online First December 28, 2015; doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-NB2015-179 |