NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[Lykiri]

Aug 18, 2022
Written By RYAN RUSSELL

Our Next Steps with CeGat

The next steps will include some continued treatments (Avastin infusions will continue every 2 weeks) and I’ll do a follow-up in a few months to assess our progress via MRI with Duke.

Equally important is that we are also making progress with our efforts along with CeGat and immunotherapy. I mentioned this in my previous post, but I thought I would explain a bit more about what CeGat is and how it works.

CeGat is a clinic located in Tübingen, Germany. Since 2009, CeGat has been helping doctors and patients find the genetic causes of rare diseases. They are a world leader in gene analyses, and they help oncologists and cancer patients find the best therapy options.

We learned about CeGat after our story went viral and people from all over the world reached out to us. Amazingly, one of the families that reached out to us is also getting treated at CeGat - and is actually moving here to our small town in PA this month (what a small world).

We’ll share more about CeGat once we actually go, but here’s what we know about how this immunotherapy works.

In a nutshell, CeGat took a tissue sample of my brain tumor (that was removed back in May during the craniotomy) and they also took blood samples, and they are testing them to see what genetic markers and mutations they can find (that step is currently happening right now and usually takes 3-4 weeks - so we should be hearing back from them soon).

Then, based on what mutations are present, they will be able to create a one-of-kind, individualized vaccine that is literally just for me - no one else in the world would ever be given the same one (this second part of the process takes about 3-4 months).

Once the vaccine is ready, we will travel to Germany where I will receive the vaccine in shot form. I’m told I will receive the shot in their clinic every day for 4 days, then head home for a few weeks, then go back again for another round of shots 4-6 weeks later. We will repeat this process over the course of a year or so (not exactly sure how long), returning to Germany every 4-6 weeks.