MissionIR's  Instablog

ImmunoCellular Therapeutics, a clinical-stage company developing immune-based therapies for the treatment of brain and other cancers, today announced it has entered into an agreement with the University of Pennsylvania, under which ImmunoCellular is granted exclusive worldwide licensing for a patent pending technology for the production of high-activity dendritic cells (DCs).

ImmunoCellular said the licensed technology underlies its lead DC-based cancer vaccine candidate, ICT-107, for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme. The license covers the application of the technology toward the development of therapeutics for all indications, excluding cancer and ductal carcinoma in situ.

The agreement enhances the value of ImmunoCellular's intellectual property related to ICT-107, and as stated by Manish Singh, Ph.D., ImmunoCellular's president and CEO, positions the company to reduce manufacturing costs associated with the vaccine.

"This licensing agreement represents an expansion of our intellectual property surrounding the technology underlying our lead product candidate, ICT-107. In addition to contributing to the powerful immune responses to ICT-107 we have observed to date, this technology also enables the manufacture of multiple vaccine shots from a single production run, allowing us to significantly reduce the cost of manufacturing the vaccine. As we continue advancing our ongoing phase II trial in glioblastoma, we are confident that will continue to realize the benefits of the enhanced efficacy and efficiency of this innovative dendritic-cell production method," Dr. Singh stated in the press release.

The technology was developed by Brian J. Czerniecki, M.D., Ph.D., co-director of University of Pennsylvania's Rena Rowan Breast Cancer Center and surgical director of the immunotherapy program at the Abramson Cancer Center.

To learn more about IMUC, please visit www.imuc.com

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