Gothenburg, Sweden, 2014-12-19 08:30 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Immunicum AB (publ) today announced that the US Patent and Trademark Office has declared its intention to approve the Company's patent application for a genetically modified adenovirus vector. The vector is, among other things, intended to be used in the therapeutic cancer vaccine SUBCUVAX.
The vector makes it possible to charge Immunicum’s therapeutic cancer vaccine SUBCUVAX with several different tumor antigens. SUBCUVAX does not require access to an injectable tumor but can be injected under the skin (subcutaneously). Another use for the vector is oncolytic therapy with tumor killing virus particles.
- A strong patent protection increases our ability to develop and commercialize the therapeutic vaccine SUBCUVAX for the treatment of a wide range of cancers, says Jamal El-Mosleh, CEO of Immunicum.
Immunicum acquired the rights to the adenovirus vector in October 2014 from the research company VirEx AB.
SUBCUVAX treatment involves specially treated allogeneic dendritic cells from healthy donors, which are loaded with tumor-specific antigens in vitro and injected under the skin. Since the vaccine cells can be loaded with different types of antigens, it is theoretically possible to design vaccines for therapeutic treatment of all types of cancer.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) announced its intention to approve the patent application US61645666 through a "Notice of Allowance".
For further information, please contact:
Jamal El-Mosleh, CEO, Immunicum
Phone: +46 (0) 31 41 50 52
jamal.el-mosleh@immunicum.com
The company’s Certified Adviser is Redeye AB
Phone: +46 (0) 8 545 013 31. www.redeye.se
About Immunicum AB (publ)
Immunicum AB (publ) develops vaccines for the treatment of tumor diseases. A phase II study of the Company's most advanced project - INTUVAX® against renal cancer - is expected to start in early 2015. The project portfolio contains three further projects against various tumor diseases, including liver cancer.