Onyvax Limited Release: University of Michigan Researchers Zero-In On CD55

Onyvax Limited, the biotechnology company developing novel cancer therapies, today announced the publication of two key research papers by a group led by Professor Kenneth Pienta and Dr Robert Loberg at the University of Michigan, that validate the target of the Onyvax-105 vaccine in prostate cancer. The researchers report that CD55 is over-expressed in prostate cancer and that it is an important mediator of prostate cancer development, in particular by protecting tumour cells from immune attack. Furthermore, they showed that inhibition of CD55 expression in an in vivo model of prostate cancer resulted in a 76% decrease in overall tumor burden. Key findings from the research are summarized below.