Source: www.philly.com
Author: David Sell
 

Local drugmakers – big and small – struck a deal to try to develop a vaccine to prevent a form of cervical, head and neck cancer.

 MedImmune, which is the biologics and research division with AstraZeneca, said Monday it will collaborate with Inovio Pharmaceuticals to develop an early stage cancer vaccine designed to treat human pappilomavirus.

 AstraZeneca will pay Inovio $27.5 million upfront. If the compound reaches development and commercial milestones, Inovio could get up to $700 million, along with “double-digit tiered royalties” on product sales. However, sales are a long way off because the compound is only in phase I and phase II of what is normally a three-phase clinical trial process.

 AstraZeneca is moving its headquarters from London to Cambridge in the United Kingdom, and has operations in Wilmington and Fort Washington. The MedImmune division is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Md.

 Inovio is based in Blue Bell and its basic scientific premise is to use DNA to develop vaccines. unlike most current vaccines.

 The companies have worked together before. The compound at the heart of the latest deal is called INO-3112. The early clinical trials are examining cervical and head and neck camcers and the compound tries to generate “killer T-cell responses that are able to destroy HPV 16- and 18- driven tumors. These HPV types are responsible for more than 70 per cent of cervical pre-cancers and cancers, ” according to the statement.

The full statement from AstraZeneca is here.

*This news story was resourced by the Oral Cancer Foundation, and vetted for appropriateness and accuracy.