We are truly fortunate to have a man of the calibre and...

We are truly fortunate to have a man of the calibre and international standing of Axel Hoos on the Board of Imugene.

The future prospects (and value) of this company and the true worth of its IP and range of cancer vaccines will soon be apparent to all.

Forging new paths in the journey to overcome cancer.

Published on June 2, 2020

Axel Hoos

Senior Vice President, R&D Governance Chair, Therapy Area Head, GlaxoSmithKline

When the first immuno-oncology therapy was approved nearly 10 years ago, it felt like a seismic shift had occurred in cancer treatment. We were making significant strides against cancer. Since then, other immuno-oncology agents have demonstrated impressive survival improvements in a variety of tumor types that were once thought intractable. However, cancer is a formidable enemy. As it continuously finds crafty ways to change and grow, so must we in our efforts to overcome it.

With the introduction of immuno-oncology, cancer research came full circle in a way. For most of the 20th century, physicians took a broad-based approach to treatment, relying first on surgery, and then radiation and chemotherapy. In the 1990’s and 2000's, on the heels of greater understanding of the genetic underpinnings of cancer, targeted therapies were introduced. For the first time, physicians could pair specific patient populations with specific treatments, using so-called “precision” approaches.

However, there was still a need for additional treatments for patient, particularly those with advanced cancers. Those of us in the research community were driven to push forward to address these needs, and ultimately, to find better, different solutions for the patients who were counting on us. Our next step was investigating ways to harness the immune system, which ultimately led to the dawn of immuno-oncology. Once again, we were pursuing a systemic approach, but one which treats the immune system and not the cancer directly, and therefore has the potential to treat a broad array of cancers and offer the opportunity to help more patients.

The excitement in academia and industry about this innovation was palpable, but excitement was not enough. As research on these immuno-oncology agents has advanced further, it has become clear that any single approach does not hold all of the answers. GSK is pursuing new ways to use immuno-oncology as well as other cutting edge areas of science, including cell therapy (engineering human T-cells to target cancer), cancer epigenetics (modulating how information that directs DNA is read and used, to induce anti-cancer effects) and synthetic lethality (addressing two targets at the same time, which, together, but not alone, have substantial effects against cancer).

Making paradigm-shifting scientific approaches like these widely available to patients requires inter-disciplinary collaboration. We learned this lesson early on in immuno-oncology research when we started observing that some new response patterns exhibited by the first immuno-oncology agent did not fit standard efficacy criteria. Working together with researchers and clinicians across academia, industry and regulators, we determined the most reliable endpoint for immuno-oncology clinical trials: overall survival. Whereas previously, trials had commonly focused on shrinking tumors , the new thinking was that impacting patient survival should be the focus. Today, as the community looks to improve upon immuno-oncology therapies, collaboration paired with these clinical insights will be key.

We must also continue to apply our scientific and intellectual curiosity and challenge ourselves to take risks. This has long been a personal philosophy of mine, and it’s what motivated me to leave my native Germany to pursue research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and later, what drove me to explore research opportunities in both the biotech and pharma industries. Current immuno-oncology approaches still hold great promise for many cancer patients. However, for those patients who still need more, we must push the boundaries further to identify new mechanisms and understand how combination therapies might move the needle even further.

As we look ahead, it feels like we are on the cusp of another wave of innovation in cancer research, and I have never been more energized or inspired. It is a privilege to be working among the best in the industry, who are collaboratively fighting cancer on multiple, ground-breaking fronts and who keep the patient voice at the core of what we do. Because of this, I believe the future is filled with hope.