ImmunoCellular to present at stem cell symposium

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics (OTCBB:IMUC) said Friday that chief scientific officer (CSO), Dr. John Yu, will present at the 19th Annual Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference, taking place later this month in San Francisco, California.
Dr. Yu will deliver a presentation at the Cambridge Healthtech Institute's inaugural Targeting Stem Cells Symposium, highlighting emerging cancer stem cell therapies. The presentation will feature ImmunoCellular's discovery and development of cancer stem cell therapy.
The company's lead product candidate, ICT-107, is a cell-based vaccine for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a particularly aggressive form of brain tumour.
Earlier this year, the FDA accepted its investigational new drug (NDA) application, leading it to commence a phase two study of ICT-107.
As of earlier this month, ImmunoCellular had initiated the trial in 23 centres, with more than 115 patients enrolled in the study. The company expects to enroll a total of 160 to 200 patients by the second quarter of 2012, in order to enroll 102 subjects in the various immunological subtypes.
Progression-free and overall survival times for GBM patients treated with ICT-107 during the company's phase one trial of the drug continue to be substantially longer than those associated with standard of care (SOC) alone, ImmunoCellular said.
In September 2011, ImmunoCellular reported its three-year data, which indicated an overall survival of 55 percent, compared to 16 percent based on historical SOC.
Of the 16 newly diagnosed patients who received ICT-107, 38 percent continue to show no tumor recurrence after three years, compared to the historic disease-free survival rate of 6 percent with SOC.
Out of these patients, 19 percent remain disease-free after more than four years.
ImmunoCellular said the Targeting Cancer Stem Cells Symposium reflects a growing interest in the development of cancer stem cells, as many pharmaceutical and biotech companies have turned to focus on cancer stem cells as oncological drug targets.