inShare Pdf ImmunoCellular Therapeutics licenses EphA2 from University of Pittsburgh

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics (OTCBB:IMUC) Thursday entered into an intellectual property licensing agreement with the University of Pittsburgh for the novel immunotherapeutic target EphA2.

EphA2 is a tyrosine kinase receptor that is highly expressed by ovarian cancer and other advanced and metastatic malignancies.

The financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The agreement grants a world-wide exclusive license to Pittsburgh intellectual property for ovarian and pancreatic cancers; and a
world-wide non-exclusive license to Pittsburgh intellectual property for brain cancer.

ImmunoCellular said it will employ intellectual property in the development and commercialization of ICT-140, a multivalent, dendritic cell-based vaccine for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

ICT-140 is designed to target cancer stem cells as well as daughter cells in ovarian cancer by targeting multiple various antigens including EphA2, mesothelin, Her-2/neu, IL-13Ra2 and several other undisclosed antigens.

"Experimental data have indicated that EphA2, which is highly expressed by ovarian cancer, holds significant promise as an immunotherapeutic target, specifically for dendritic cell-based vaccines such as ICT-140," ImmunoCellular's president and CEO Dr. Manish Singh said.

The company intends to file an Investigative New Drug application for ICT-140 in the fourth quarter of this year.

"While further research is necessary to determine the therapeutic value EphA2, our decision to license it reflects our
determination to develop a novel vaccine that harnesses the patient’s native immune system to precisely and comprehensively target multiple antigens associated with ovarian cancer, a devastating disease that claims the lives of over 15,000 women in the U.S. every year," Singh added.

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics is a Los Angeles-based clinical-stage company that is developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers.