ARM-X Vaccine Halts Ovarian Cancer Growth, Achieves Complete Responses in Animals

Vancouver, British Columbia--Defence Therapeutics Inc., a Canadian biopharmaceutical company, has announced promising results for its second-generation ARM-X anti-cancer vaccine. This vaccine has shown therapeutic effectiveness against pre-established ovarian cancer when used in conjunction with the anti-PD-1 immune-checkpoint inhibitor.

Using its proprietary Accum® platform, Defence Therapeutics previously demonstrated that the AccuTOX® treatment of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) induces strong antigen cross-presentation capacity in ARM-X cells. These cells have been shown to generate potent anti-tumor responses in various animal pre-clinical models, including solid T-cell lymphoma, melanoma, and pancreatic cancer. In a recent study, the combination therapy of ARM-X and anti-PD-1 led to a significant extension of survival in animals with pre-established ovarian cancer, with most treated animals showing a complete response.

"This marks the fourth cancer model we've efficiently targeted using our ARM-X anti-cancer vaccine," said Sebastien Plouffe, Chief Executive Officer of Defence Therapeutics. "The goal of testing our vaccine across various models is to demonstrate its adaptability to any patient's needs, regardless of the cancer type, as long as we have access to a tumor biopsy."

One of the significant advantages of the ARM-X vaccine is its requirement for lower amounts of antigens to produce the vaccine. This aspect reduces the need for a large tumor sample, making vaccine generation more feasible. Defence Therapeutics is currently testing the ARM-X vaccine for colon cancer as an additional indication. These findings will help set the target indications for Phase I-IIa clinical trials and further illustrate the vaccine's versatility and adaptability.

Defence Therapeutics is a publicly-traded, clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation vaccines and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) using its proprietary platform. The core technology, ACCUM®, enables the precise delivery of vaccine antigens or ADCs in their intact form to targeted cells, thereby increasing efficacy and potency against severe illnesses such as cancer and infectious diseases.