DCPrime and Apceth Biopharma Collaborate on Cancer Vaccines

On Oct. 19, 2017, DCPrime BV, a clinical stage company focused on dendritic cell vaccines to treat cancer, and Apceth Biopharma GmbH, a contract manufacturing organization specializing in gene and cell therapy, announced their collaboration in the clinical batch production and the development of a commercial-scale manufacturing process of cancer vaccines. The vaccines will be based on DCPrime’s technology platform, DCOne. The technology is based on the clinical stage company’s DCOne cell line, which is derived from myeloid leukemia cells and expresses a number of validated tumor antigens. This makes the technology suitable for patients with myeloid and other hematological cancers.

“Precisely because our platform allows, for the first time, production of dendritic cell vaccines in an off-the-shelf manner, and bypasses the costly and complicated manufacturing procedures of patient-derived dendritic cell vaccines, it is crucial for DCPrime to partner with Apceth Biopharma, an experienced contract manufacturing company. This collaboration will be instrumental in bringing our innovative therapies to as many patients as possible”, said Dr. Ada Kruisbeek, founder and CEO and CSO of DCPrime, in a company press release.

According to Dr. Christine Guenther, CEO of Apceth Biopharma, the year-old partnership has secured production of clinical batches and product supply to patients for further development of the off-the-shelf dendritic cell vaccine to enter Phase II clinical studies.

Additionally, the companies announced that Apceth recently passed an inspection by the District Government of Upper Bavaria and the Paul-Ehrlich-Institute for the manufacturing license to produce DCP-001, DCPrime’s lead program. This will enable DCPrime to enter into a Phase II proof of concept study in acute myeloid leukemia.

Source: DCPrime BV