Cerus views alternatives for its immunotherapy program

US biopharmaceutical company Cerus has said it will explore strategic alternatives for its immunotherapy programs. It will consider several possible business structures, including partnering some or all of the programs within its immunotherapy business with companies having established programs in this sector or in cancer and infectious disease indications, combining its immunotherapy business with another public or private company, or spinning out the business for an equity interest in a newly-formed immunotherapy company.

In the field of immunotherapy, Cerus is employing a proprietary attenuated Listeria vaccine platform to develop a series of novel therapies to treat cancer and chronic infectious diseases. The company currently has three cancer immunotherapeutic product candidates, one of which entered Phase I human clinical trials in 2006 and a second for which an Investigational New Drug application is scheduled to be filed in mid-2007. These product candidates are designed to stimulate both innate and adaptive immune pathways, generating highly-specific and highly-potent anti-tumor responses.

Cerus has also developed a proprietary technology platform (called Killed But Metabolically Active, or KBMA) for application to prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines against infectious diseases, including hepatitis C and HIV, and certain oncology indications.