CancerVax's postive results

CancerVax, from Carlsbad, CA, US, has said that preclinical results support the anti-angiogenic effects of H8, a humanised monoclonal antibody to denatured collagen licensed to its wholly owned subsidiary Cell-Matrix, Inc.

The preclinical data, which were presented during the recent Annual Meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, indicated that the H8 humanised monoclonal antibody inhibits angiogenesis in animal models of choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), an ophthalmologic condition caused by excess growth of blood vessels within the eye that is the major cause of severe visual loss in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

In a poster entitled: 'Inhibitory Effect of an Antibody to Cryptic Collagen Type IV Epitopes on Choroidal Neovascularization,' it was demonstrated that the H8 humanised monoclonal antibody binds to hidden, or cryptic, binding sites on collagen that become exposed during angiogenesis. In a murine model of CNV, H8 preferentially recognised areas of new vascular growth but not existing normal vasculature and inhibited angiogenesis in a dose-dependent manner.

At the recent 95th Annual Meeting of the American Association of Cancer Research, CancerVax presented data demonstrating the ability of this antibody to suppress blood vessel formation and inhibit tumour growth in animal models of melanoma and breast cancer. Taken together, these data suggest that the H8 humanised monoclonal antibody may be applicable as a treatment for a variety of diseases where angiogenesis supports unwanted vascular growth, including, potentially, cancer and AMD.

'These findings confirm data previously generated by CancerVax indicating that the H8 humanised monoclonal antibody inhibits angiogenesis in animal models of several disease conditions,' said David Hale, president and ceo of CancerVax. 'CancerVax intends to continue to support efforts to develop products using this technology that may benefit patients suffering from AMD and other diseases of the back of the eye. We also plan to continue to develop these promising humanised monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer, while exploring opportunities to out-license non-cancer treatment applications.'

finance

The company also reported that for the three months ended March 31, 2004, it had a net loss of $12.8m, as compared with a net loss of $7.8m for the same period in 2003.As of March 31, 2004, the Company had cash, cash equivalents and securities-available-for-sale of $92.4m.

'In the first few months of 2004, CancerVax has focused on increasing enrollment in the Company's Phase III clinical trials of Canvaxin for the treatment of patients with advanced-stage melanoma, and on continuing to build our manufacturing and quality systems infrastructures. We are currently on track to complete enrollment in this clinical trial for patients with Stage III melanoma this year,' said Hale. 'In addition, we have continued to advance our pipeline of key biologics for the treatment of cancer. We have enhanced our technology portfolio by licensing novel technology using telomere homologue oligonucleotides, or T-oligonucleotides, for the potential treatment or prevention of cancer.'

The increase in expenses primarily reflects additional investment in personnel in the manufacturing, clinical affairs, research and development and marketing and business development departments, increased clinical trial expenses associated with the resumption of patient enrollment in the Phase III clinical trials of CancerVax's lead product candidate, Canvaxin, in April 2003, including costs associated with the production of Canvaxin for use in these clinical trials, increased insurance premiums and other expenses associated with CancerVax becoming a publicly-traded company, increased legal fees related to business development activities and payments made under the sublicense agreement with SemaCo, which were recognised as research and development expenses.

Background

The extracellular matrix is a molecular network that supports cells and tissues and regulates cellular processes such as adhesion, migration, gene expression and differentiation. Collagen proteins are found in the extracellular matrix of connective tissue and blood vessels. CancerVax's humanised monoclonal antibodies bind specifically to hidden, or cryptic, binding sites within collagen. These sites become exposed when collagen is altered during angiogenesis, which occurs during tumour growth and metastasis as well as during other diseases such as AMD. As a result of antibody binding to the cryptic sites, angiogenesis is inhibited at these sites with little effect on normal collagen proteins or existing blood vessels.