25 February 2009

Funding boost for cancer vaccine find

Source: The Sheffield Star, 25 February 2009

Adjuvantix, a University of Sheffield spin-out company, has received a £350,000 boost to research vaccines to prevent lung cancer and tuberculosis.

The Sheffield University spinout, which is based at the Innovation Centre on Portobello, has received £250,000 from Yorkshire Cancer Research and a further £100,000 from existing investors the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund and Fusion IP.

Adjuvantix specialises in developing adjuvants – substances that boost the effects of vaccines by stimulating the body's immune system. It will use the cash to fund studies, paving the way for clinical trials of cancer vaccines incorporating its ADX40 adjuvants.

Company founder, Dr Andy Heath, said: "We were delighted to receive the support of Yorkshire Cancer Research for our vaccine programme. We hope our technology will be a major impetus to the development of therapeutic cancer vaccines which will ultimately prove useful in the clinic."

Morgan Williams, commercial and clinical development officer at Yorkshire Cancer Research (YCR), said: "Having provided a pump-priming grant for the early stages of the ADX40 research, YCR is delighted to be able to help Adjuvantix further its cancer adjuvant development work.

"The charity continues to support cancer research outcomes with the prospect for significant patient benefit, and which show good potential. The ADX40 project meets those criteria."

Vaccines protect the body by mimicking the disease in order to trigger an immune response, but without causing the ill effects of the disease itself.
One of the major barriers to creating effective cancer vaccines, is tolerance, which occurs when the vaccine or the disease itself fails to trigger an immune response.

A successful cancer vaccine needs an adjuvant to boost the immune response, but current adjuvants are often weak or have side effects – and that is where Adjuvantix hopes to score.