OncoSec and Duke University collaborate on cancer vaccine

California, USA-based OncoSec Medical (Nasdaq: ONCS), a company developing intratumoral cancer immunotherapies, saw its shares leap 32% in pre-market trading after it announced a collaboration with Duke University School of Medicine to evaluate the use of OncoSec's proprietary TAVOPLUS (enhanced interleukin (IL)-12 DNA-plasmid) in combination or sequence with a HER2-plasmid vaccine administered with OncoSec's novel intratumoral delivery system.

The research will be led by Dr Herbert Kim Lyerly, George Barth Geller Professor, Professor of Immunology, Surgery and Pathology at Duke University School of Medicine.

"We are eager to expand our immunotherapy research in breast cancer through this collaboration with OncoSec. We have previously demonstrated, in a variety of breast cancer models, that local delivery of IL-12 stimulates an anti-breast cancer immune response with applicability beyond end-stage cancer. This delivery system has the potential to be a foundational therapeutic in the treatment of early-stage disease," said Dr. Lyerly. "The translational work with TAVOPLUS has been very encouraging and we are excited to explore the potential of OncoSec's IL-12 plasmid delivery technology to enhance immune responses targeting HER2+ tumors and to elicit superior T-cell and B-cell responses to HER2 in a variety of preclinical breast cancer models," he added.