In June 2024 Nykode Therapeutics announced updates to its mRNA platform, highlighting the “significant advantages” of its APC-targeted neoantigen vaccine, delivered in an mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) format. A recent study demonstrates that the APC-targeted vaccine “consistently achieved a broader and more robust immune response across doses” in comparison with an untargeted neoantigen vaccine. Furthermore, it provided “superior tumour control” and resulted in “dramatically improved” survival rates in a mouse model of colorectal cancer.
Poster presentation
Nykode’s poster for the Cancer Immunotherapy meeting in Boston recognises that individualised cancer vaccines based on tumour-specific neoantigens are a “groundbreaking approach” with “promising efficacy”. The company has developed a vaccine platform, VaccibodyTM, to target antigens directly to antigen presenting cells (APCs).
In their study, researchers used a model Vaccibody modular fusion protein containing Chemokine ligand 3-like 1 (CCL3L1) to bind and attract APCs, a dimerization domain to facilitate strong bivalent binding, and an antigen unit encoding 20 neoantigens. They compared the immunogenicity and tumour control of an mRNA-encoded Vaccibody vaccine to an untargeted antigen vaccine.
The Vaccibody vaccine elicited a “much stronger response” than the antigen vaccine on day 7 after single (prime) vaccination. After a second (boost) vaccination, the Vaccibody vaccine continued to elicit a stronger response, although the difference was reduced. The authors note that the Vaccibody vaccine reached a peak response at a lower dose than the antigen vaccine, which highlights “increased potency”.
Platform potential
Chief Scientific Officer, Dr Agnete Fredriksen, commented that the latest data “not only emphasise the effectiveness of the APC-targeted approach” but also confirm the platform’s “potential across modalities to significantly advance the treatment landscape for cancer”.
“The strong data demonstrating Nykode’s potential to improve mRNA vaccines underscore our commitment to leading the way in next-generation immunotherapies.”
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