ImmunoCellular receives critical US patent for potential brain cancer vaccine

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics (OTCBB: IMUC) said Tuesday that it received a key US patent for its technology to treat cancer, for which it holds an exclusive global license.
The Los Angeles-based biotech company has developed a potential vaccine, called ICT-107,  to treat glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive type of brain tumour.
The vaccine uses cancer stem cells to target multiple tumour-associated antigens, which generate an antibody response from the body's own immune system.
In other words, white blood cells are primed in the lab to attach to markers present in brain tumours, and these cells are then injected back into the body, where they travel to the brain and attack tumour cells.
The new patent issued covers the combination of its vaccine with chemotherapy to treat the recurrence of cancer, including cancers of the central nervous system.
"This patent has applicability to multiple types of cancer, including our first clinical target, glioblastoma,” said president and CEO, Manish Singh.
"ICT-107...in combination with chemotherapy might fundamentally alter tumors by priming their death machinery."
Earlier this month, the company expanded the number of sites for its phase two clinical trial of ICT-107.
Originally, the trial, which is now underway, was planned to be held at up to 15 clinical centres, but this number has now been increased to 20 or more, the Los Angeles-based company said.
ImmunoCellular has qualified 21 sites so far, and has submitted the trial to 12 prospective sites' Institutional Review Board (IRB) for approval.
The phase two study is a double-blind, placebo-controlled test to determine the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in patients with newly diagnosed glioblastoma multiforme.
In the phase one trial, 80% of 16 patients showed a two-year overall survival rate, while44% also showed a progression-free survival rate. Even more, six of the 16 clinical patients are now disease-free.
No treatment-related serious adverse events were observed to date, the company said.
Shares of ImmunoCellular were up more than 3.5% on Tuesday, to trade at $2.02 as of 1:30pm EST.