Advaxis Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies, has formed a research collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) to evaluate the immunologic and anti-tumor activity of patient tumor-specific, neoepitope-based immunotherapy.

The goal of the collaboration, titled MINE (My Immunotherapy Neo-Epitopes), is to use Advaxis’ Lm Technology to develop neo-epitope immunotherapies based on an individual patient’s tumor (ADXS-NEO). MINE will first focus on a preclinical study of Advaxis’ new construct approach to evaluate the immunologic effects and anti-tumor activity of a personalized immunotherapy in a mouse tumor model. Advaxis will use learnings from the MINE collaboration to identify and target neoepitopes using Lm Technology and later develop patient specific immunotherapy constructs that incorporate the neoepitope sequences identified in the patient’s tumor cells. Clinical studies using ADXS-NEO, to be conducted at MSK, are in development.

“Existing immunotherapies have been shown to very effectively augment tumor immunity in a subset of patients, leading to durable responses,” said Jedd Wolchok, chief of melanoma and immunotherapeutics service, Department of Medicine and Ludwig Center at MSK. “However, recent advances in genome sequencing have made it possible to investigate the role of neoepitopes, or unique mutations, in an individual patient’s cancer, which may allow for the development of specific immunotherapies that generate and enhance an immune response directed against the neoepitopes contained in a patient’s tumor.”

Advaxis’s Lm Technology is positioned to take advantage of the advances in genome sequencing which occurred in recent years. Lm Technology has the bandwidth to potentially target all of a patient’s immunogenic cancer neoepitopes, eliminating the need to use “predictive algorithms.” This technology can enable the development of truly individualized immunotherapies that can be manufactured in a cost-effective and timely manner.

“We welcome this collaboration with MSK, a top cancer institution, which will allow us to study our clinically validated Lm Technology in a new way to deliver precision medicine by personalizing neoepitopes specific to a patient’s tumor,” said David Mauro, executive vice president and chief medical officer, Advaxis.