Ultimovacs has announced the treatment of the first patient in the Phase I TENDU trial, representing the start of clinical evaluation for the company’s Tetanus-Epitope Targeting (TET)-platform.

The platform allows for the production of multiple therapeutic cancer vaccines that can be used to strengthen and increase T cell responses to cancer cells by targeting antigens that are specific to one type of cancer or common to many tumor types. By combining cancer antigens and the vaccine adjuvant in the same molecule, this platform can generate vaccine candidates with a beneficial safety and administration profile, presenting an opportunity to treat patients at an early stage of their disease, states the company.

The TENDU trial

The TENDU clinical trial, conducted at the Oslo University Hospital, is a first-in-human, dose-escalation study designed to generate initial safety and immune activation data for a prostate cancer-specific therapeutic TET-based vaccine in relapsed prostate cancer patients. The company expects to provide the first interim, preliminary safety readout from the trial by the end of this year.

“Conducting the TENDU study is an important step for us to gain initial data on the novel platform, while continuing to optimize the core TET-molecule and production process. The TET-technology will enable us to expand our pipeline and bring us closer to fulfilling our ultimate ambition of establishing Ultimovacs as a leader in the cancer vaccine field,” added Sara Mangsbo, Chief Innovation Officer at Ultimovacs.

The trial evaluates the safety of the vaccine in prostate cancer patients who have relapsed after radical prostatectomy. The primary objective of the study is to evaluate the safety and tolerability of three different doses of the vaccine. Patients will receive the vaccine prior to obtaining standard-of-care treatment consisting of radiation and antihormone therapy and will be followed for 6 months after the last dose of the vaccine to assess immunological responses such as the activation of T cells and anti-tumor activity. Patient enrollment is expected to be completed in the first half of 2022. Further details on the study can be found on clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT04701021.

Photo of Sara Mangsbo, Chief Innovation Officer at Ultimovacs: Mikael Wallerstedt