PsiOxus Starts Human Tests of Cancer Vaccine

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PsiOxus Starts Human Tests of Cancer Vaccine

PsiOxus Starts Human Tests of Cancer Vaccine - Businessweek

PsiOxus Therapeutics Ltd. began human testing of an experimental treatment that uses viruses to attack cancer cells while sparing healthy ones.

PsiOxus, a closely held company whose investors include Imperial Innovations Group Plc (IVO) and a GlaxoSmithKline Plc (GSK) venture-capital fund, tested the product, known as ColoAd1, Sept. 24 in a patient in Belgium who has late-stage head and neck cancer, Chief Executive Officer John Beadle said in an interview. PsiOxus also gained permission to enroll patients in the U.K. and Spain in the early- and mid-stage trial called Evolve, the company said in a statement today.

With the start of human testing, PsiOxus joins a competition with companies including Amgen Inc. (AMGN), Jennerex Inc. and Transgene SA (TNG) to develop vaccines using oncolytic tumor viruses, pathogens that infect and destroy cancer cells. The approach may enhance the tumor-fighting effects of standard treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation.

“ColoAd1 is much more potent as a cancer-killing virus but it doesn’t kill any of the normal cells,” Beadle said.

If either the cancer treatment or a medicine the Abingdon, England-based company is developing for cachexia, a muscle- wasting and weight-loss condition, progress toward regulatory approval they could help PsiOxus generate revenue to fund other treatments still in the laboratory or lead to its sale. The company’s shareholders include Glaxo’s SR One, Imperial Innovations, Invesco Perpetual, Lundbeckfond Ventures and Mercia Fund Management Ltd.