On December 6, 2023 Anixa Biosciences, Inc. ("Anixa" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: ANIX), a biotechnology company focused on the treatment and prevention of cancer, reported new and updated positive results from the Phase 1 clinical trial of its breast cancer vaccine (Press release, Anixa Biosciences, DEC 6, 2023, View Source [SID1234638203]). The trial is being conducted in collaboration with Cleveland Clinic with funding by a grant from the U.S. Department of Defense.
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The data were presented at the 2023 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium by G. Thomas Budd, M.D., staff physician at Cleveland Clinic Cancer Institute and principal investigator of the study, in a poster entitled "Phase I Trial of alpha-lactalbumin vaccine in high-risk operable triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and patients at high genetic risk for TNBC."
Patients who had been curatively treated for TNBC received three vaccinations given once every two weeks. IFNγ and IL-17, which are T cell immune response indicators (cellular immunity), and antibody production (B cell humoral immunity) were measured to evaluate the vaccination effect. Data from the 16 patients treated to date showed that:
The majority of patients developed ELISpot (T-cell) responses that met the rigorous protocol-specified definition of an immune response, with a measurable but lesser magnitude of response noted in the remaining patients.
12 (75%) of the women had antigen-specific IFNγ and/or IL-17 ELISpot responses that were observed at all dose levels, while ELISA antibody responses were observed at Dose Level 2 and higher.
A statistically significant (P = 0.03) increase in IFNγ over baseline (Day 0) was observed by Day 56; while a significant (P = 0.0001) increase in IL-17 over baseline was observed by Day 14.
Among the doses studied, Dose Level 1 (10 mcg α-lactalbumin/10 mcg zymosan) was determined to be a usable immunologic dose as well as the maximum tolerated dose (MTD).
No significant side effects were observed, at the MTD, besides irritation at the sites of injection. No myalgias, flu-like symptoms, or aberrant laboratory values were noted.
Anixa and Cleveland Clinic plan to investigate additional intermediate dose levels and continue studying the vaccine’s safety and immunologic effects in two additional patient cohorts.
The first cohort, which opened for enrollment in August 2023, is evaluating the combination of the Company’s breast cancer vaccine with Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in post-operative patients found to have residual disease following neoadjuvant chemo-immunotherapy.
The second cohort will investigate the safety and immunologic effects of the vaccine in patients who are BRCA1, BRCA2, or PALB2 mutation positive and are planning prophylactic risk-reducing mastectomies.
"The data from our Phase 1 trial to date has exceeded our expectations, and we are pleased with our progress. This vaccine is designed to direct the immune system to destroy TNBC cancer cells through a mechanism that has never previously been utilized for cancer vaccine development," stated Dr. Amit Kumar, Chairman and CEO of Anixa Biosciences. "We look forward to reviewing additional data as the trial continues to completion, and we are in the planning stages of the Phase 2/3 studies of this vaccine. Our goal is to initially evaluate the vaccine’s ability to prevent recurrence of cancer in survivors, and continue with extension studies to eventually determine its effectiveness in preventing the initial onset of TNBC."
"There is a large unmet need for preventing TNBC, an aggressive form of breast cancer with few targeted treatment options available," said Dr. Budd, Cleveland Clinic. "We are encouraged by the data gathered to date and look forward to determining the optimal vaccine dose in additional patient cohorts. Our hope is that future studies will demonstrate that the antigen-specific T cell responses we observed translate to the prevention of breast cancer recurrence."
Anixa is the exclusive worldwide licensee to the novel breast cancer vaccine technology invented at Cleveland Clinic, the site of the Phase 1 trial. The grant from the U.S. Department of Defense was made directly to Cleveland Clinic.
Conference Call Information
Anixa is pleased to invite all interested parties to participate in a conference call, during which this new data will be discussed.
Conference Call Details:
Presentation host:
Anixa management, with special guest speakers
Date and time:
Today, December 6, 2023, at 6:30 p.m. ET
Phone access:
Registration Link to receive your dial-in number and unique PIN
Webcast:
Available at www.anixa.com under "Events & Presentations"
About Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
One in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with an invasive breast cancer at some point in their lives. Approximately 10-15% of those diagnoses are TNBC, however TNBC accounts for a disproportionately higher percentage of breast cancer deaths and has a higher rate of recurrence. This form of breast cancer is twice as likely to occur in African-American women, and approximately 70% to 80% of the breast tumors that occur in women with mutations in the BRCA1 genes are triple-negative breast cancer.