Melimmune-1 and -2 therapeutic vaccine data

At the First International Conference on Engineered Vaccines for Cancer and AIDS in San Francisco, IDPH reported results from Phase I/II tests of Melimmune-2 alone showing initial evidence of tumor regression or disease stabilization in 6 of 24 patients. Toxicity consisted of fever and muscle aches due to the adjuvant, said James Merritt, senior director of clinical sciences.

IDPH also presented animal data showing the human immune response is boosted by the Melimmune-2 vaccine, with anti-tumor antibodies created in vaccinated melanoma patients. These prevented spread of human tumor cells injected intravenously into nude mice. The mouse data included a decrease in counts of lung cancer colonization from 348 colonies to 100 colonies with post-immune versus pre-immune serum from vaccinated patients. Also, in vitro measures of killer T cell activity showed that exposure to Melimmune-2 in culture stimulated peripheral mononuclear cells to kill HLA-matched melanoma cells, but not mis-matched melanoma cells, or kidney cancer cells. ...