Evaxion Biotech has announced that it intends to further increase its focus on its lead oncology assets EVX-01 and EVX-02/03 to bring them to clinical proof of concept followed by out-licensing.

The company further plans preclinical partnering of its early-stage programs under its infectious disease platforms, it states in a press release.

“I am deeply impressed by the AI platforms and the quality of the innovative programs that Evaxion has developed. The company holds several first-in-class assets within oncology and infectious diseases. In the current biotech market, however, we fully acknowledge the increasing need to center our activities. Consequently, our resources will be channeled into our leading clinical assets within personalized cancer immunotherapy,” states Per Norlén, new CEO of Evaxion. “Our primary focus will be on our Phase IIb program for EVX-01 and our Phase I/IIa program for EVX-02/03. Regarding our early programs for infectious diseases, such as our Staphylococcus aureus vaccine, we aim to develop these in partnerships rather than bringing them into clinical development ourselves.”

Personal cancer immunotherapies

The EVX-01 program recently started to enroll patients in the global Phase IIb trial in metastatic melanoma. At the same time, the Phase I/IIa trial of the DNA-based EVX-02 is progressing as planned, with data readout currently expected by mid-2023. The next-generation DNA vaccine, EVX-03, builds on EVX-02 and holds the potential for even stronger efficacy due to an integrated mechanism that boosts the immune system, states the company. It plans to submit a regulatory filing of EVX-03, following EVX-02 data, which may allow Evaxion to advance EVX-03 faster to clinical proof of concept.

“We are now awaiting the completion of the EVX-02 trial to fully capture the clinical data and incorporate its learnings into the upcoming EVX-03 study.”

“We have generated very promising pre-clinical data on EVX-03 demonstrating that this next-generation DNA immunotherapy has the potential to outperform existing technologies. I believe that this truly novel concept makes Evaxion a leading player within the field of personal cancer immunotherapies. We are now awaiting the completion of the EVX-02 trial to fully capture the clinical data and incorporate its learnings into the upcoming EVX-03 study. This will allow us to move EVX-03 forward with high speed and quality towards clinical Phase II,” says Per Norlén.

Photo of Per Norlén: Jenny Leyman