Scancell Holdings has appointed six world-leading clinicians to establish its Clinical Advisory Board (CAB). The Board will be chaired by Professor Robert Coleman and will provide strategic guidance and support. This will be especially needed as the cancer immunotherapy company prepares for its lead Moditope candidate, Modi-1, to enter the clinic in Q1 2020 in multiple tumour types, including head and neck, breast and ovarian cancer.
The CAB comprises:
- Professor Robert Coleman, Emeritus Professor of Medical Oncology at Weston Park Hospital and the University of Sheffield
- Professor Christian Ottensmeier, Professor of Experimental Cancer Medicine at the University of Southampton
- Professor Poulam Patel, Professor of Clinical Oncology at the University of Nottingham and Honorary Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
- Professor Iain McNeish, Professor of Oncology and Head of the Division of Cancer within the Department of Surgery and Cancer, Imperial College London Professor David Miles, Lead Clinician for breast cancer at Mount Vernon Cancer Centre; and Professor Stephen Chan, Director of Clinical Trials in Breast Cancer and Gynaecological Cancer at Nottingham University Hospital
Scancell also provided an update on progress towards initiating the Modi-1 Phase 1/2 clinical trial:
- Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) synthesis of the bulk Modi-1 peptide conjugates is underway at the PolyPeptide Group’s facilities in the Netherlands
- The company signed an agreement at the end of April 2019 with AMRI (Glasgow, UK), a global contract research and manufacturing organisation, to formulate, manufacture and package the Modi-1 GMP final product for clinical testing
- The preclinical toxicity testing programme required prior to the start of the clinical trial commenced in April 2019 and is anticipated to be completed during H2 2019
Scancell’s Moditope platform acts by stimulating the production of CD4 T cells using citrullinated tumour-associated peptide epitopes. This technology overcomes the immune suppression induced by tumours themselves, allowing activated T-cells to seek out and kill tumour cells that would otherwise be hidden from the immune system.
Previous pre-clinical data demonstrated that conjugation of the Modi-1 peptides to Amplivant enhances anti-tumour immune responses 10-100 fold and resulted in highly efficient tumour eradication, including protection against tumour recurrence.
Dr Cliff Holloway, Scancell CEO, said: “The creation of this Board is part of our wider strategy to fully develop and deliver the full potential of the Moditope platform across multiple tumour types.”
Holloway added: “The initial focus of the Board will be to inform the clinical strategy for the planned Modi-1 clinical trial and to ensure the best possible outcome in several solid tumour indications, including ovarian cancer, head and neck cancer, and triple negative breast cancer. Significant progress has been made towards completing the GMP manufacture of the Modi-1 product and the preclinical testing required prior to the anticipated start of the trial early in 2020.”
