Diakonos secures CPRIT grant to advance melanoma vaccine study

Diakonos Oncology has received more than $7 million from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to support a Phase I/II study of DOC1021 in refractory melanoma. The grant, one of nine awarded from 164 applications, will help expand the company’s personalized dendritic cell platform into a third clinical indication.

President and chief operating officer Jay Hartenbach said, “We are honored to have CPRIT's support as we bring DOC1021 into a new and critically underserved indication.” The new study will assess safety, early efficacy and biomarker signals, with enrollment expected in January 2026.

Refractory melanoma remains a difficult setting where patients have stopped responding to checkpoint inhibitors such as Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and Opdivo (nivolumab). Alternatives include newer cell therapies, but options remain limited. Market analysts value the global melanoma therapeutics market at around $9 billion in 2024, with growth driven by demand for better immunotherapies.