Bavarian Nordic has announced that the first patient has been treated in an NCI-sponsored Phase I study of MVA-BN Brachyury in patients with advanced cancer.
MVA-BN Brachyury is a novel, active immunotherapy developed using Bavarian Nordic's proprietary validated MVA platform. This immunotherapy is designed to induce a robust immune response against Brachyury, a tumour-associated antigen which is overexpressed in every major solid tumour setting. Brachyury is believed to play a key role in both the metastasis and progression of tumours. Tumours that overexpress Brachyury are believed to be highly resistant to current therapies and are associated with decreased survival rates.
Paul Chaplin, president and CEO of Bavarian Nordic said: "Brachyury is an exciting and novel target which in recent years has come to be associated with highly difficult to treat, aggressive tumours, and we are pleased to introduce our newest pipeline candidate into the clinic. These tumours either fail to respond to current cancer treatments, or have metastasised beyond localised therapies. Using our proprietary and specialised immunotherapy platform, we created a drug candidate which can harness the immune system to target Brachyury and may offer a treatment option to those patients with aggressive or late stage disease. We are proud to be working with the NCI to become one of the leaders in this exciting space as Brachyury continues to gain interest with both investigators and drug developers."