On October 10, 2017 CEL-SCI Corporation (NYSE American: CVM) reported that the European Patent Office has issued a new patent to CEL-SCI for its lead investigational immunotherapy, Multikine* (Leukocyte Interleukin, Injection), which is currently in a pivotal Phase 3 trial for head and neck cancer (Press release, Cel-Sci, OCT 10, 2017, View Source [SID1234520870]). Patent # EP 1 879 618 B1 is titled, “A Method for Modulating HLA Class II Tumor Cell Surface Expression With A Cytokine Mixture” addresses Multikine’s mechanism of action to make tumors more visible to the immune system.

“This is a key patent which along with the other Multikine issued patents addresses how Multikine enables the immune system to recognize and attack the tumor. One way tumor cells evade the immune system is by expressing human leukocyte antigens (HLA) on the tumor cell surface, thus appearing as ‘self’ to the immune cells and therefore the tumor cells are not attacked,” stated Eyal Talor, PhD, CEL-SCI’s Chief Scientific Officer. “It is important to note that the tumors of the Multikine-treated responders in our prior Phase 2 studies had no HLA Class II expressed on the cell surface following Multikine treatment as compared to controls**. This points to Multikine’s ability to modulate HLA expression on the tumor cell surface, thereby allowing the immune system to recognize and attack the tumor.”

Geert Kersten, CEO of CEL-SCI commented, “As we are now nearing the end of our Phase 3 study with Multikine in head and neck cancer, this recently issued European patent is very important. It further fortifies our IP estate, which includes a number of issued patents for Multikine in the US, Europe and other major world markets including Japan and China, where we hope to make Multikine available to patients, upon regulatory and marketing approval.”

** Timar et al, JCO 2005 (a Pathology Study)