Personalised Pancreatic Cancer Vaccination Therapy derived from Autologous Tumor Cells and Neoantigens

Objective

CyTuVax B.V. is a biotech enterprise founded in Maastricht (the Netherlands) in October 2012. It applies depot-formulated
cytokines (interaction molecules of the immune system), which enhance immune responses in an unprecedented manner
when used in extremely high local density. Single and multi-cytokine combinations can be formulated by simple procedures
and act as strong adjuvants, driving immune responses to their limits. It is a universal, patented platform adjuvant technology
that can be applied to any vaccines and can have great influence on future vaccine technology. CyTuVax achieved the first
clinical proof of concept in a Phase I trial in which 90% of hepatitis B non-responders were successfully vaccinated. Phase II
is on-going. CyTuVax decided now to focus on the challenging problem of developing a vaccine for pancreatic cancer, a
deadly disease for which no curative treatment exists. Its cancer vaccination therapy (PanCaVax) should substantially
improve the life-expectancy by extending the median survival rate to at least 12-24 months. Costs of PanCaVax will be
considerably less compared to checkpoint inhibitor antibodies, with locally strong, but systemically mild, side effects
expected. CyTuVax’ highly motivated team’s next step is to complete the preclinical development of
PanCaVax. Key impact of our innovation would be that it is providing a favorable clinical outcome and sufficient proof of efficacy to obtain financial resources for next steps in Phase IIb/IIIa, regulatory approval and ultimate access to pancreatic cancer patients currently lacking an acceptable therapy.

Fields of science

• medical and health sciences › health sciences › public and environmental health › epidemics prevention › immunisation
• medical and health sciences › basic medicine › pharmacology and pharmacy › pharmaceutical drug › vaccines
• medical and health sciences › clinical medicine › cancer › pancreatic cancer
• medical and health sciences › basic medicine › immunology

Programme(s)

• H2020-EU.3. - PRIORITY 'Societal challenges
• H2020-EU.2.3. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Innovation In SMEs
• H2020-EU.2.1. - INDUSTRIAL LEADERSHIP - Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies

Topic(s)

• EIC-SMEInst-2018-2020 - SME instrument

Call for proposal

H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-1
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1

Coordinator

CYTUVAX BV

Address

Oxfordlaan 55
6229 EV Maastricht
Netherlands

Activity type

Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)

EU contribution

€ 50 000