Now known for its vaccine developed against Covid-19, the German biotechnology company BioNTech has just announced the launch of phase II clinical trials of its candidate vaccine against skin cancer. A first patient has already received a first injection of this vaccine which is based on messenger RNA technology.
Launch of phase II clinical trial of a vaccine against skin cancer
The German biotechnology company BioNTech officially launched, on June 18, 2021, phase II of the clinical trial aimed at testing the effectiveness of its vaccine candidate against skin cancer, called BNT111. After obtaining encouraging results last summer during the first phase of the clinical trial, this second phase should make it possible to test the efficacy of the vaccine alone and in combination with the drug Libtayo, a monoclonal antibody co-developed by Regeneron and Sanofi. In total, 120 people will participate in this second phase of the clinical research process. All recruited patients have stage 3 or 4 melanoma.
A first patient received an injection of the vaccine candidate
For now, a first patient has received an injection of the vaccine candidate as announced in a press release from BioNTech published on June 18. Much like the Covid-19 vaccine developed by the German company, it is a vaccine that relies on messenger RNA technology. In addition, it should help train the patient’s immune system to fight cancer, not prevent it. As Özlem Türeci, MD, co-founder and medical director of BioNTech explains: “ BNT111 has already shown a favorable safety profile and encouraging preliminary results in early clinical evaluation. With the start of treatment of patients in our Phase 2 trial, we are encouraged to continue on our initial path to realizing the potential of mRNA vaccines for cancer patients. “.
While messenger RNA technology has already proven its worth in the fight against Covid-19, BioNTech’s medical director has expressed his desire to fight cancer: ” Our vision is to harness the power of the immune system against cancer and infectious disease. We were able to demonstrate the potential of mRNA vaccines in the fight against Covid-19. We must not forget that cancer is also a threat to global health, even worse than the current pandemic “.
