BLUE BELL, Pa., Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Inovio
Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NYSE Amex:
INO), a leader in the development of therapeutic and preventive
vaccines against cancers and infectious diseases, announced today
the regulatory approval of a Phase 2 clinical trial (WIN Trial) to
treat leukemia utilizing Inovio’s new ELGEN 1000 automated vaccine
delivery device. This open-label, multi-center clinical trial being
run by the University of Southampton is evaluating a DNA vaccine to
treat chronic myeloid leukemia and acute myeloid leukemia.
Financial support for the trial is being provided by the UK
research charity Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research (LLR) and by the
Efficacy and Mechanisms Evaluation (EME) programme (which is funded
by the UK Medical Research Council and managed by the UK National
Institute for Health Research). The DNA vaccine was developed at
the University of Southampton with funding from LLR and the charity
Cancer Research UK.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110127/LA37605LOGO)
Leukemia is a cancer of the bone marrow and blood that accounts
for at least 300,000 new cases and 222,000 deaths worldwide each
year – a very high death rate. Wilms’ Tumor gene 1 (WT1) is highly
associated with these types of cancer, which led the University of
Southampton to design its leukemia DNA vaccine to target this
antigen. Preclinical data from mice showed strong induction of
antigen-specific CD8+ T cells and the ability to kill human tumor
cells expressing WT1. There have been several prior clinical
studies in humans using parts of the WT1 gene, notably as peptide
vaccine candidates, demonstrating the production of modest levels
of CD8+ T-cell responses and measurable clinical responses,
although both effects were transient. This will be the first study
to combine DNA vaccination wit
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