Therion Melanoma Vaccine In Phase I

US firm Therion Biologicals Corp says its therapeutic vaccine for melanoma is now in Phase I clinical trials initiated by the National Cancer Institute. The study is designed to evaluate the safety and preliminary therapeutic role of a recombinant fowlpox vector encoding the MART-1 melanoma antigen in patients with metastatic melanoma.

The trial will be conducted as part of an existing, five-year Collaborative Research and Development Agreement with the NCI to advance the development of immunotherapeutic vaccines for cancer. In preclinical studies, fowlpox vectors have stimulated both humoral and cellular immunity while having a very favorable safety profile. They are known to replicate only in avian cells, said Steven Rosenberg, chief of the NCI surgery branch and co-developer of the vaccine. Therion holds a US patent for this technology.