A personalized cancer vaccine is already on the horizon

An alliance between two major pharmaceutical companies is bringing a promising proposal out of the lab: a personalized cancer vaccine.

Although the alternative, for many, is still experimental, NEC Bio Therapeutics and AGC Biologica are betting on its possibilities.

Did you know that Bristol-Myers Squibb’s drug Opdivo is estimated to sell more than $11 billion by 2024?

But, according to Statesmanthis drug took the third place in sales from 2017 and will hold this year, higher than:

• Merck’s Keytruda with US$12,686 million
• And Celgene’s Revlimid, which will account for approximately US$11,931 million

This is just a fraction of the global cancer drug market that was estimated, in 2022, to be worth $178 billion.

All this could change, however, if the immunological treatments that have been studied for decades succeed.

In principle, this collaboration hopes to promote the production of a DNA vaccine, composed of bacteria and administered orally called NECVAX-NEO1.

Sum of technologies (bio).

It should be noted that this progress is possible due to the use of the strengths of both companies, including:

• The clinical development of innovative medicine is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) owner of NEC Bio
• Using machine learning to neutralize patient-specific tumor neoantigens
• 40 years of experience in microbial fermentation from AGC Biologics

“Personalized medicine has the potential to innovate the way treatment can address specific aspects of a disease in a patient, providing a better quality of life,” said General Manager of AGC Biologics Heidelberg, Dieter Kramer.

The NECVAX-NEO1 is based on a powerful and flexible plug and play technology platform, composed of bacteria. In addition, it is convenient for patients because of its oral administration.

However, unlike traditional treatment, NECVAX-NEO1 requires standard manufacturing capabilities and is produced through microbial fermentation, which is cheap, small-scale, and has a fast turnaround time.

This is where the expertise of AGC Biologica is essential to achieve not only the viability but also the profitability of this personalized vaccine.

Advances, beyond cancer?

In Kramer’s statement there is one phrase that deserves special attention: personal medications.

In plural. It is not just a personal vaccination. It seems that the possibilities go further. And it shouldn’t be any other way.

Of course we all know about it:

• How bad is cancer in the world
• The suffering it causes, both for patients and their families
• The hard cost of treatments, both for families and for States

A vaccine could reduce suffering at each of these points. It is good news.

Faced with the impressive figures of pharmaceutical companies in income and investments related to cancer, it is easy to forget that this disease is not the main cause of death in the world.

According to Statista based on figures from World Health Organization (WHO)Cancer is the leading cause of death behind:

• heart conditions
• cerebrovascular accidents (CVA)
• Alzheimer’s and other dementias
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Lower respiratory infections
• And Diabetes mellitus

Only later does cancer appear with a greater number of cases (and deaths), again linked to the respiratory system.

Of course, the numbers vary from country to country, including the most common cancers in each country.

But what the statement from the expert AGC Biologica shows suggests that there could be personalized vaccines for other diseases.

Or more personalized treatments that could cover ethnic groups. When?

Let us hope that the century Artificial Intelligence and machine learning together with biogenegiva help to accelerate this.