British Gene Therapy Company Takes Steps Toward Cancer Vaccine

LONDON-Oxford BioMedica Plc, a gene therapy company spun from Oxford University, has announced they are making progress in an anti-cancer vaccine.

TroVax, designed to stimulate a patient's immune system to destroy cancer cells, has been tested in phase1/11 studies. Patients involved in the study did develop an immune response against a tumor antigen in colorectal cancer. The vaccine works by encoding the protein OBA1, which naturally exists on the surface of many tumor cells, and basically teaching the immune system to fight these protein cells when they are recognized.

People involved in the study were divided into three dosage groups of the vaccine. The first study's results are from the low dosage group, with the other reports expected to be published next year.

While officials from the company are optimistic the vaccine will be successful, they also warn that it has not yet been shown to treat human cancer.

Information from www.givenimaging.com, Reuters Health