ImmunoCellular Therapeutics has signed a research agreement with George Mason University for the development of a blood test designed to detect small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer using ImmunoCellular’s monoclonal antibody technology. According to the agreement, the blood-based test would be designed to look for certain markers, potentially allowing for early detection of cancers as well as assisting in the selection of patients most likely to respond to the company’s monoclonal antibody therapy, ICT-109.
ImmunoCellular is a development stage biotechnology company that is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers. The company’s lead product, a dendritic cell-based vaccine for treating brain tumors, is currently being evaluated in a Phase I clinical trial, and the ICT-109 therapy associated with the agreement is one that will target lung and pancreatic cancer. Additionally, the company is developing a therapeutic vaccine targeting cancer stem cells for multiple cancer indications.
In response to the agreement, Dr. Manish Singh, president and chief executive officer of ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, stated, “We are excited to be working with such a renowned scientist, Dr. Emanuel Petricoin, and his team at George Mason University, as his work in the development of personalized medicines and the application of proteomics in cancer detection is highly regarded, including his past work on cancer biomarker discovery for ovarian and prostate cancer early detection. We were pleased to present exciting pre-clinical data from our antibody program at last week’s American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting demonstrating the ability to detect dramatic disparities between cancer types, potentially allowing for the development of discerning therapeutics for specific cancers, thereby enabling greater safety and efficacy.”
Commenting on behalf of the University, Dr. Petricoin, professor of life sciences and co-director of the Center for Applied Proteomics stated, “We look forward to working with ImmunoCellular Therapeutics and working toward the validation and verification of their candidate biomarkers, as we are intrigued by the preclinical data collected to date. Small cell lung cancer and pancreatic cancer are two of many cancers where patients could benefit from early detection, so we will seek to develop a simple blood test using IMUC’s antibody technology that might enable these cancers to be discovered early, which could ultimately dramatically improve a patient’s prognosis. This work will greatly assist our University CAP-CLIA compliant proteomics laboratory module the necessary proficiency testing towards full accreditation of the laboratory.”
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