On April 23, 2024 Defence Therapeutics Inc. ("Defence" or the "Company"), (CSE: DTC, OTCQB: DTCFF, FSE: DTC), a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing novel immune-oncology therapeutics and drug delivery technologies, reported that its second-generation ARMTM anti-cancer vaccine using AccuTOX, called ARM-002TM, is therapeutically effective against pre-established melanoma when combined with the anti-PD-1 immune-checkpoint inhibitor (Press release, Defence Therapeutics, APR 23, 2024, View Source;utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=defences-accutox-anti-cancer-arm-002-vaccine-exhibits-potent-antigen-presentation [SID1234642247]).
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Defence’s application of reprogrammed mesenchymal stromal cells ("MSCs") represents a leading vaccination platform due to its ease in manufacturing and the therapeutic potency that this allogeneic off-the-shelf vaccine can provide. The use of AccuTOX to reprogram these MSCs relies mainly on the induction of protein aggregation. This process is known to induce the activation of the unfolded protein response, a cellular defense mechanism normally triggered to destroy any captured protein aggregates due to the toxicity and disturbance it causes to cell integrity.
"Defence’s AccuTOX was initially known for its ability to kill cancer cells. In addition, our team found that at specific doses, AccuTOX forms protein aggregates when mixed with tumor lysate, a process that pushes MSCs to degrade these intracellular complexes resulting in potent antigen presentation." says Mr. Plouffe, Chief Executive Officer of Defence Therapeutics.
The original ARMTM vaccine was potent against melanoma. The ARM-002TM vaccine is even more potent, as it actually requires 10x less protein. This was confirmed both in vitro (using antigen cross-presentation assay) and in vivo where ARM-002TM pulsed with 0.05 mg/ml of tumor lysate resulted in similar outcomes compared to ARM-002TM generated using a dose of 0.5 mg/ml. In addition, the potency of the ARM-002TM vaccine was comparable in both male and female mice, with no noticeable side effects detected in vaccinated animals. Defence is currently testing the ARM-002TM vaccine on "hard-to-treat" cancers such as pancreatic, colon and ovarian cancers. These results will set the target indication for the Phase I trials, and it also shows how versatile and adaptable the ARM-002TM anti-cancer vaccine is.