UK to launch ‘groundbreaking’ cancer vaccine trial

The United Kingdom (UK) is set to begin a “match-making” service called the cancer vaccine launch pad (CVLP), which can match patients with suitable trials.

In the project, which will be run by the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit (SCTU), based at the University of Southampton, thousands of patients will be able to access “ground-breaking” cancer vaccines as part of an NHS trial.

The programme aims to improve patient access to clinical trials to test new investigational immunotherapies by speeding up the development of personalised cancer vaccines.

The vaccines are created by analysing a patient’s tumour and using that information to create a vaccine tailored to that individual.

The vaccines aim to create an immune “memory” that can prevent cancer from returning after surgery or chemotherapy.

The first trial will be testing a vaccine under development by the biotech company BioNTech SE.

Simon Crabb, SCTU clinical director, said the new scheme would “bring together different academic and industry partners who are developing cancer vaccines and allow patients across England to access trials of treatments that may not have previously been an option for them”.

“Cancer vaccines have the potential to improve the way we treat the disease, particularly for those cancers where treatment options are currently limited or very demanding on patients’ bodies,” Gareth Griffiths, director of the Cancer Research UK SCTU, said.