On December 1, 2020 Anixa Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIX), a biotechnology company focused on the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious diseases, reported that it has entered into a license agreement with Cleveland Clinic for exclusive, world-wide rights to an innovative ovarian cancer vaccine technology (Press release, Anixa Biosciences, DEC 1, 2020, View Source [SID1234572022]).
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Cleveland Clinic immunologist Dr. Vincent Tuohy has been working on a method to vaccinate women against ovarian cancer and other gynecological malignancies. This development-stage vaccine targets the extracellular domain of anti-mullerian hormone receptor 2 (AMHR2-ED), that appears in many types of ovarian cancer. AMHR2-ED is one of several proteins identified by Dr. Tuohy as "retired" proteins. While these proteins are necessary during the early stages of life, they are "retired" as a person ages, and are no longer expressed, or made at appreciable levels, in healthy adults. AMHR2-ED re-appears in cancerous cells and accordingly, it is an attractive target for vaccination.
Anixa and Cleveland Clinic are already collaborating on a preventative breast cancer vaccine also developed by Dr. Tuohy based on his research into "retired" proteins. The organizations plan to begin human trials with the breast cancer vaccine in early 2021.
"Through this collaboration we are expanding into additional preventive and therapeutic areas and we look forward to seeing the development of this ovarian cancer vaccine," said Dr. Tuohy. "Research into cancer therapies has typically focused on attacking the disease after a patient has been diagnosed, but if we could immunize people to prevent the cancer from ever forming, it could represent a paradigm shift for patients, their caregivers and the healthcare system."
"We are pleased to broaden our relationship and to expand our work with Dr. Tuohy," stated Amit Kumar, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Anixa. "Though it is still early days for the experimental ovarian cancer vaccine, pre-clinical research suggests the potential of this technology as both a prophylactic that prevents the occurrence of cancer, and a therapeutic that treats women with ovarian cancer."
Dr. Kumar added, "Anixa’s goal is to present patients that have limited treatment options with meaningful new therapeutic and prophylactic alternatives. We see this vaccine as a complementary component to our growing immuno-oncology portfolio, which includes a CAR-T therapy targeting ovarian cancer, for which we anticipate filing an IND shortly."
Conference Call Information:
Anixa will host a conference call and live audio webcast Thursday, December 3, 2020, at 1:15 p.m. PST. Interested parties may access the conference call by dialing:
An audio webcast will be accessible via the Investors section of the Anixa website: View Source An archive of the webcast will remain available for 30 days after the call.