Bavarian Nordic terminates cancer vaccine work
Bavarian Nordic will cease work on an experimental cancer vaccine in early-stage testing and no longer invest in oncology, announcing Wednesday plans to instead prioritize its infectious disease research.
The cancer vaccine it is scrapping, TAEK-VAC, stimulates immune cells to target two proteins, HER2 and brachyury, expressed on tumors. It was being tested in a Phase 1 study in people with either HER2-positive breast cancer or a rare type of bone tumor.
That shot, though, “has reached a stage where clinical expansion and further investments would be required,” according to Bavarian Nordic. The company will instead use those resources to develop vaccines for infectious diseases.
Bavarian Nordic’s decision to abandon oncology comes amid a resurgence in cancer vaccine research.
For years, drugmakers struggled to develop shots that could stimulate a strong enough immune response to thwart cancer or evade tumors’ immunosuppressive tactics. But newer technologies have shown signs that they could be more potent. These shots are designed to target “neoantigens,” unique protein flags on the surface of tumors.
In the last few years, Moderna, BioNTech and Gritstone Oncology have brought these “personalized” shots into clinical testing. Moderna’s vaccine, which is partnered with Merck & Co., is in the lead, having already shown promise in mid-stage testing in melanoma. The shot, which covers 34 neoantigens, is currently in a Phase 3 trial.
For Bavarian Nordic, meanwhile, the discontinuation of its oncology work represents another setback in its efforts to expand beyond the shots its sells for smallpox and other infections. The company stopped developing a shot for respiratory syncytial virus last year.
The Denmark-based company could bring a vaccine for chikungunya virus to market next year, however. That shot, acquired in a deal with Emergent BioSolutions, trails a vaccine developed by Valneva that won Food and Drug Administration approval in 2023.
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