On April 17, 2019 OncoSec Medical Incorporated (OncoSec) (NASDAQ: ONCS), a company developing intratumoral cancer immunotherapies, and Duke University School of Medicine, reported that they have entered into a collaborative research agreement to evaluate the use of OncoSec’s proprietary TAVOPLUS (enhanced IL-12 DNA-plasmid) in combination or sequence with a HER2-plasmid vaccine administered with OncoSec’s novel intratumoral delivery system (Press release, OncoSec Medical, APR 17, 2019, View Source [SID1234535161]). The research will be led by Herbert Kim Lyerly, M.D., George Barth Geller Professor, Professor of Immunology, Surgery and Pathology at Duke University School of Medicine.
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"We are eager to expand our immunotherapy research in breast cancer through this collaboration with OncoSec. We have previously demonstrated, in a variety of breast cancer models, that local delivery of IL-12 stimulates an anti-breast cancer immune response with applicability beyond end-stage cancer. This delivery system has the potential to be a foundational therapeutic in the treatment of early-stage disease," said Dr. Lyerly. "The translational work with TAVOPLUS has been very encouraging and we are excited to explore the potential of OncoSec’s IL-12 plasmid delivery technology to enhance immune responses targeting HER2+ tumors and to elicit superior T-cell and B-cell responses to HER2 in a variety of preclinical breast cancer models."
Under the terms of the agreement, OncoSec will provide its proprietary TAVO (IL-12 plasmids) and its new electroporation generator, APOLLO, using lower voltage and a longer pulse width which greatly increased DNA-plasmid cellular transfection rates, to Duke University’s Center for Applied Therapeutics. Duke University investigators will conduct preclinical studies using plasmid vaccines targeting HER2 in combination with plasmid vaccines and TAVO in a newly developed endogenous mouse model of HER2+ breast cancer. Additionally, Duke investigators will use TAVO with their high-intensity ultrasound tumor ablation models to explore the impact of IL-12 delivery on the development of systemic immunity.