OXFORD, England, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Oxxon Therapeutics will present survival data from its Phase IIa clinical study of its novel Hi-8(TM) MEL therapeutic vaccine in patients with advanced non-resectable melanoma at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Atlanta, GA, between 2-6 June 2006.
The clinical efficacy data will be presented in a special melanoma poster/discussion session from 0800-1400hrs EST on Tuesday 6 June by Prof. R. Hawkins of The Christie Hospital, Manchester, UK (Poster no.21; Bldg A, level 3, room A311. Discussion; Bldg A, level 4, A411).
This Phase IIa clinical study was a dose-escalation study evaluating increasing doses and two regimens of Hi-8(TM) MEL therapeutic vaccine in 41 HLA.A2 positive, stage III/IV melanoma patients with non-resectable disease. Interim data representing 35/41 patients were previously reported at the World Congress on Melanoma in Vancouver (7 September 2005), at which time the Hi-8(TM) MEL therapeutic vaccine appeared to be well tolerated, with cellular immune responses in >50% of patients and signs of anti-tumour activity. The final data analysis will be presented at ASCO including overall survival data from median 21 months follow up.
Oxxon’s Hi-8(TM) MEL therapeutic vaccine
Hi-8(TM) MEL for the treatment of melanoma is a two-step procedure: the first step involves the administration of a plasmid DNA vaccine expressing seven epitopes derived from five melanoma antigens (Melan-A, MAGE-1, MAGE-3, NY-ESO-1 & Tyrosinase), which primes a population of cytotoxic CD8+ T cells; the second step significantly amplifies the T cell response through the administration of a viral vector (MVA) expressing the same epitopes as the plasmid prime. This highly expanded population of antigen-specific CD8+ T-lymphocytes may suppress tumour growth.
For further information, please visit www.oxti.com
About Oxxon Therapeutics
Oxxon Therapeutics (Oxxon), based in Oxford, UK, is advancing the next generation of innovative immunotherapeutics to treat patients with chronic infectious diseases and cancer. To date, the Company has built a pipeline through its proprietary Hi-8(TM) PrimeBoost(TM) platform, an approach that allows rapid development of products to selectively stimulate and enhance a potent cellular response. The Company has development programmes in hepatitis, melanoma and HIV, two of which have just completed early Phase II clinical trials. In addition, the Company is leveraging its enabling platform through partnerships with companies and academic collaborations.
Oxxon Therapeutics
CONTACT: For further information, please contact: Dr Joerg Schneider, VicePresident / Director of Research, +44-(0)1865-398100, info@oxti.com, MarkSwallow PhD, Citigate Dewe Rogerson, +44-(0)20-7638-9571,mark.swallow@citigatedr.co.uk
