The company is collaborating with experts from Duke University School of Medicine to develop EVX-05. This program targets endogenous retrovirus (ERV)-derived antigens shared between glioblastoma patients, which AI-Immunology has unique capabilities in identifying, the company states. These ERV-antigens constitute a novel source of highly attractive targets for off-the-shelf cancer vaccines.

With its new therapeutic concept, EVX-05 is being developed as a novel therapeutic approach for glioblastoma.

EVX-05 builds on the same ground-breaking ERV-targeting concept as EVX-04, Evaxion’s vaccine candidate against acute myeloid leukemia. This confirms the broad applicability of the concept across cancers where immunotherapies remain inadequate and conserved immunogenic antigens can be identified.

Both programs draw on learnings from the EVX-03 program, which has now been discontinued and removed from the company’s R&D pipeline as a matter of portfolio management.

“We are delighted to transform our discoveries in glioblastoma into a promising new vaccine program with EVX-05, which could hold a significant therapeutic potential in area of massive unmet medical need. We have an outstanding collaboration with Duke University and now see the huge benefits of combining their extensive disease understanding and clinical expertise with the unique target discovery capabilities of AI-Immunology,” says Birgitte Rønø, CSO and COO of Evaxion.”