ImmunoCellular’s brain cancer technology gets Japanese patent allowance

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics (AMEX:IMUC), Tuesday announced it has secured a Japanese patent for its technology for the treatment of brain cancer.

The bio tech company, which is focused on immune-based cancer therapies, already holds an exclusive, worldwide license for its lead product candidate, ICT-107, a dendritic cell-based vaccine. Rather than simply targeting a single tumor-specific antigen, the company's vaccine pursues multiple different antigens found on cancer stem cells (CSCs).

ImmunoCellular said the patent covers the treatment of brain cancer with a combination of a dendritic cell based vaccine combined either before or concurrently with the administration of chemotherapy.

“The strengthening of our world-wide intellectual property protection for the treatment and detection of cancers further supports our developmental efforts and enhances our ability to license or partner our immunotherapeutic platforms,” said president and CEO Manish Singh, Ph.D.

“It is with this in mind that we continue to pursue opportunities to solidify our intellectual property on a global scale.”

The company said it believes that in the treatment of cancer, particularly cancers of the central nervous system such as glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), “a dual therapeutic approach that includes the administration of a dendritic cell-based cancer vaccine combined with a regimen of chemotherapy could substantially enhance the clinical efficacy of treatment”.

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

Earlier this month the company announced the expansion of its current phase 2b trial of ICT-107, in an effort to “further validate the study” and possibly short the trial by a few months.

The bio tech firm said that the trial will be expanded to include 123 patients, up from 102 that have either been treated or are scheduled to be randomized and treated over the next few weeks with its ICT-107 vaccine.

The phase 2 double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized study is designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the vaccine in patients with newly diagnosed GBM.