IN FOCUS: Using the body’s own defenses against cancer - Scancell reveals its immunotherapy products

UK-based cancer therapeutics firm Scancell (AIM: SCLP), developer of novel immunotherapies, gathered its investors in London for an update on October 1. The company is developing novel therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancer based on its ground-breaking ImmunoBody and Moditope technology platforms, reports The Pharma Letter's Sophie Flowers.

Scancell’s first cancer vaccine SCIB1 is being developed for the treatment of malignant melanoma and is in Phase I/II clinical trials. Encouraging results from the Phase I part of the study provided the first evidence that Scancell’s ImmunoBody vaccine approach is producing an immune response in cancer patients which may also be associated with clinical benefit.

Scancell has also identified and patented a series of modified epitopes that stimulate the production of killer immune cells that destroy tumors without toxicity. This Moditope platform has the potential to generate a completely new class of potent and selective immunotherapy agents and could have a profound effect on the way that cancer vaccines are developed.