The restrictions placed upon both CF33 and Vaxinia would have been a bridge too far for many drugs to traverse. But not Professor Fongs miracle concoction, which killed cancer at a prolific rate in mice back in the day. Therefore you would have to understand why my own heart skipped a beat yesterday when he himself acknowledged “everything we saw with animals, we are now seeing with humans”. Yes that’s right, even at the exceptionally low dosage rates imposed by the FDA, Vaxinia is performing within humans, “doing as it should.” There are signs the virus is infecting cancer cells, moving from one tumour to another, and shrinking these dastardly lumps inside cancer patients. And cancer patients I might add with an array of tumours, everything from solid tumours in ones gall bladder, to testicular and colon cancer patients to name but a few. Why the MAST Vaxinia study may treat over 10 different cancer types when all is said and done. In doing so that no doubt opens the door when revisiting the FDA to suggest the oncolytic virus has the potential to treat any solid tumour thrown at it, now wouldn’t that be a something to behold. Professor Fong noted when discussing Vaxinia and immuno activation thet he had seen “unequivocal signs of the virus working in humans”, and that “we are convinced we are on the right path”.
Obviously as I noted it would be good to know or indeed ascertain what the optimal dosage limit for Vaxinia would be prior to toxicity resulting in patients. In other words how much we could turn up the dial when dosing patients before they became sick. Clearly the more Vaxinia the better for those in need of such treatment. However Professor Fong noted that for those in Cohort 3 of the existing Vaxinia Trial he expects to come closer to what may be the optimal biological dose for patients receiving Vaxinia. This appeared to suprise even him, as prior to the trial he may have envisaged patients would require much higher doses of Vaxinia to see strong results. To be honest this revelation had my heart beating even faster. We may see outstanding results from the IT and IV arm of patients in the current Cohort 3, given they are being administered with stronger doses than those in Cohorts 1 and 2, from which Professor Fong has already visualised evidence of Vaxinia’s efficacy. Irrespective of whether the monoclonal antibody Keytruda identifies these hot tumours and goes to work in reducing their size or eliminating them altogether, at least we now know Vaxinia would appear to work on it’s own as a stand alone cancer treatment arm. Down the track if the biopsies taken from Cohorts 1 and 2 support Professor Fong’s view the virus is taking effect at low dosage rates, one can only imagine how successful it promises to be at optimal biological dosage rates.
Speaking of optimal biological dosage rates it would appear the Her Vaxx Keytruda combination trial is well underway and moving ahead as planned, with an update on the combination trial anticipated in the not too distant future. Given Chair Paul Hoppers’ affirmation yesteday he plans on selling not just HerVaxx, but all his drugs prior to Phase 3, it would seem a deal for Her Vaxx is imminent, or at the very least “in the offing”. Such a result would no doubt lift the spirits of many shareholders who have been asking for some revenue to hit the IMU decks in recent times. Later when watching as Dr Jakob Dupont discussed Imugene’s Oncarlytics treatment arm and it’s ability to paint a disallowed or target on a solid tumour for an allogenic therapy or re-engineered Car T cell to attack, I couldn’t help but think the forthcoming FDA IND for Ocarlytics could be a massive shot in the arm for Imugene’s commercial standing as well. As you are no doubt aware similar FDA IND approvals have provided a commercial windfall for many other biotech stocks of late.
There is much to digest from the March Roadshows and in the fulness of time all shall be revealed. Yet upon saying goodbye to an excited and smiling Professor Fong yesterday I couldn’t help but smile on the inside. To hear his news of Vaxinia’s pending success in treating cancer patients with solid tumours, a feat that has until now seemed all but impossible, was confirmation that I myself was on the right path. I would one day benefit monetarily from Imugene, who in my opinion would revolutionise cancer treatment as we know it. But alas, much of the credit for this transformation must go to the humble and compassionate Professor from NY.
DYOR - Seek investment advice as and when required - Opinions Only
Expand
(20min delay)
