Biotech Values

[DewDiligence]

Failed cancer vaccines might live again with checkpoint inhibitors:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/28/us-health-cancer-vaccines-idUSKCN0HN0BL20140928

Using vaccines to fight cancer is a field littered with failures but experts believe it is possible the approach could get a new lease of life if such shots are combined with a new class of drugs called checkpoint inhibitors.

…GSK threw in the towel on its [MAGE-A3] vaccine in April, dashing hopes for a project that was once seen as a potential multibillion-dollar sales opportunity in lung cancer and melanoma. Johan Vansteenkiste of Belgium's University Hospitals Leuven, who led research into use of MAGE-A3 in lung cancer, reported full results of the failure at [ESMO] on Sunday and said the setback was a clear disappointment.

But he thinks the new checkpoint inhibitors, which are designed to stop the molecular trickery that is used by tumor cells to escape detection by the immune system, could finally unlock the value of such vaccines.

…Roche Chief Executive Severin Schwan said earlier this month that the Swiss drugmaker…was already exploring ways of combining its checkpoint inhibitors with vaccines that had failed in tests when given on their own.