TrueMed supporting Vaccentis with cancer vaccine
Zurich/Netanya - Vaccentis has gained a partner for the commercialization of its vaccine candidate to combat renal cancer in the shape of the Israeli firm TrueMed. The small Zurich-based biotechnology firm is competing against the pharma giants Moderna und Biontech to launch the first cancer vaccine on the market.
(CONNECT) Vaccentis has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with TrueMed. As the Zurich-based company, which focuses on the development of tumor vaccines, has announced, the aim is to establish a strategic partnership to drive the strategic and operational development of Vaccentis’s most promising vaccine candidate VCC-001 and the platform technology associated with it.
According to Vaccentis, VCC-001 represents “a promising, personalized, therapeutic vaccine for the adjuvant treatment of renal cell carcinoma”. As Arie Koren and Shmulik Berkovich, co-founders and CEOs of TrueMed, explain, this is “a promising immunotherapeutic approach with enormous potential”. Having amassed experience in market launches and commercialization activities, and with an extensive investor network at their disposal, they are hoping that patients will be able to “access the vaccine as quickly as possible”.
TrueMed sees itself as a local partner for global innovators and is a specialist in the market launch and commercialization strategies of new therapies. The support of this sparring partner “offers valuable opportunities to further accelerate the development of our product candidate VCC-001 and our tumor vaccine platform technology”, as Vaccentis CEO Martin Munte and Patrik Grandits, who sits on the Board of Directors, explain.
The Zurich-based biotechnology company is competing with the pharma giants Moderna and Biontech to develop the first cancer vaccine. Ingrid Rauter, who heads up R&D activities at Vaccentis, spoke to the weekly German-language newspaper Handelszeitung about the potential approval of the company’s protein-based tumor vaccine in the USA and Europe by 2027 or 2028. Moderna and Biontech are working on the development of mRNA-based cancer vaccines, both of which are currently undergoing Phase 3 trials. Biontech expects approval to be secured before 2030. For Moderna, too, it is likely to now be a waiting game to see whether or not the cancer returns after a Phase 3 trial, which could be successfully completed by the end of 2025 at the earliest. ce/mm
