I found this on the Web and thought it may have some relevance to the Imugene story.
Also would like to make some points for discussion.
I have seen Viralytics mentioned from time to time but haven't really been right up with the story, as such I apologise in advance to those that have covered this before.
https://www.newcastle.edu.au/research/stories/research-impact/using-cold-virus
https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/merck-ditches-cavatak-more-four-years-after-buying-viralytics
Point 1: The timeline of development mirrors what YF described in a non-deal roadshow about how difficult it was to create a marketable product and maintain patent strength.
Again as some on hc have expressed their impatience at the pace of the trials, please compare apples with apples.
Point 2: The purchase by Merck under a scheme of arrangement for Viralytics was around $502 million basically for the one product,
IMU as a package would, IMO have to be at least 5 times this in today's dollars.
Point 3: I wouldn't be looking at Merck as a potential partner due to the fact that they are likely to be adverse to looking at another Oncolytic virus therapy given their recent shelving of the CAVATAK®️ trial.
Also given Professor Yuman Fongs statements in regards to selling to BP and it possibly being shelved before being properly trialed.
Point 4: In the case of CAVATAK®️ the inventor (Professor Darren Shafren, with support from University of Newcastle), admitted that he stumbled upon this virus's ability to kill cancer cells by accident, compare this to the process that Yuman Fong and the COH went through to develop Vaxinia, absolutely chalk and cheese in comparison.
Point 5: There were at least 14 trials testing Cavatak, many of which had already been completed, according to ClinicalTrials.gov. Three active trials that were no longer recruiting were testing Cavatak in combination with Keytruda and one trial still recruiting was looking at Keytruda in combination with a number of investigational treatments, including Cavatak. One set of results published in August 2021 from a phase 2 trial assessing Cavatak as a monotherapy in 57 patients with stage 3 or 4 unresectable melanoma found a 38.6% progression-free survival rate at six months. The rate at the 12-month mark dropped to 32.9%, and the 12-month overall survival rate was 75.4%.
Vaxinia update Dec 23 Newsletter- Phase1 trial
Up until the announcement of the early data, 34 heavily pre-treated patients had been dosed with CF33-hNIS virus, all of which have been determined safe and tolerable. Notably, one patient with bile duct cancer achieved a Complete Response (CR) in the mid dose on study for over 350 days, and another patient with melanoma showed a Partial Response (PR) at the mid dose. Additionally, 16 patients had Stable Disease (SD).
Also notable was that 7 patients with gastrointestinal cancers who received CF33-hNIS alone, including those with colorectal, bile duct, pancreatic, and liver cancers, showed positive treatment effects with a disease control rate (CR, PR, and SD combined) of 86%. Given the early results, the trial has been expanded with a further 10 patients with bile duct cancers to be enrolled.
The results speak for themselves.
DYOR opinion only
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