Transgene - NEOVIVA Project Supporting the Development of myvac™ Awarded a €5.2 Million Grant from Bpifrance’s “Investments for the Future” Programme
Under the agreement, the NEOVIVA project will receive 5.2 million over the five-year duration of the program from Bpifrance, of which Transgene will receive 2.6 million.
Regulatory News:
Transgene (Euronext Paris:TNG), a biotech company that designs and
develops virus-based immunotherapies against cancers and infectious
diseases, announces that the NEOVIVA project was selected by the
“Investments for the Future” (IFP) Programme (Programme
d’Investissements d’Avenir) operated by Bpifrance for the development of
an industrial sector focused on Transgene’s individualized immunotherapy
platform myvac™. Under the agreement, the NEOVIVA project
will receive €5.2 million over the five-year duration of the program
from Bpifrance, of which Transgene will receive €2.6 million.
Transgene holds the intellectual property of the myvac™ platform
and is actively working to further develop this innovative technology in
collaboration with its three French partners participating in the
NEOVIVA project: HalioDx in Marseille, Traaser in Evry and the Curie
Institute in Paris. The NEOVIVA project complements the already existing
collaboration between Transgene and the Japanese company NEC focused on
the clinical validation of an individualized immunotherapy based on
artificial intelligence.
The goal of the NEOVIVA project is to develop and validate a
manufacturing approach that would provide all solutions needed for the
development of individualized immunotherapies. These are designed to
stimulate the patient’s immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells
by using their own genetic mutations. Two proof of concept clinical
trials are being prepared in Europe and US for the treatment of
HPV-negative head and neck cancers and ovarian cancer. These are
expected to start in H2 2019.
“We would like to thank Bpifrance for its financial support which
will accelerate the development of myvac™. This funding is a
further recognition of the myvac™ platform and reinforces our ambition
to stand as a world leader in the development of individualized
viral-vector (MVA) based immunotherapies. We believe the synergies among
our partners and their respective teams are highly complementary and
harness creativity which will lead to the success of our project. We are
delighted to have access to our partners’ expertise through the NEOVIVA
project,” said Philippe Archinard, CEO and Chairman of
Transgene.
Aïcha Douhou, Leader of the Health sector at the innovation
department, Bpifrance commented: “We are delighted to
support Transgene and its partners HalioDX, Traaser and the Curie
Institute in their innovative approach for the design and development of
individualized immunotherapy against solid tumors. We expect this
project to further boost the development of Transgene bioproduction
manufacturing unit for this individualized immunotherapy.“
This consortium which combined bio-engineering, bioIT and a recognized
know-how in viral vectorisation will be led by Transgene and each
partner will contribute to the project as follows:
-
Transgene will be responsible for the project’s strategy and
the clinical development plan. The product design for each patient
will be generated in collaboration with NEC which will provide bioIT
predictions needed to finalise the immunotherapy. Transgene will also
manufacture the myvacTM clinical batches in its
pilot manufacturing unit on the short timelines required for the
treatment; -
Traaser will be in charge of the interpretation of the genomic
profiles determined by DNA sequencing. This will be used to
facilitate, guide and secure the study of the individualized
virotherapy artificial intelligence algorithms results; -
HalioDx will study biomarkers to monitor and maximize the
clinical efficacy of myvacTM with Immunogram, a
high-tech clinical research platform that includes a suite of
proprietary tests including Immunosign® and the Immunoscore®
assay suite; -
The Curie Institute (Immunotherapy Cancer Centre, led by Dr
Amigorena) will contribute to the project in generating translational
data and characterizing the therapy’s mechanism of action.
ABOUT TRANSGENE
Transgene (Euronext: TNG) is a publicly traded French biotechnology
company focused on designing and developing targeted immunotherapies for
the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. Transgene’s programs
utilize viral vector technology with the goal of indirectly or directly
killing infected or cancerous cells. The Company’s lead clinical-stage
programs are: TG4010, a therapeutic vaccine against non-small cell lung
cancer, Pexa-Vec, an oncolytic virus against liver cancer, and TG4001, a
therapeutic vaccine against HPV-positive head and neck cancers. The
Company has several other programs in clinical development, including
TG1050 (a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B)
and TG6002 (an oncolytic virus for the treatment of solid tumors).
With its proprietary Invir.IO™, Transgene builds on its expertise in
viral vectors engineering to design a new generation of multifunctional
oncolytic viruses.
myvacTM, an individualized MVA-based immunotherapy
platform designed to integrate neoantigens, completes this innovative
research portfolio. TG4050 is the first candidate selected from the myvac™
platform.
Additional information about Transgene is available at www.transgene.fr.
Follow us on Twitter: @TransgeneSA
ABOUT THE PROGRAMME D’INVESTISSEMENTS D’AVENIR
With €57 billion, the Programme d’Investissements d'Avenir (PIA),
led by the Secrétariat général pour l’investissement was founded
by the government to finance innovative projects in France. Six national
priorities were identified to allow the country to increase its growth
and employment potential:
- Higher education, research and course program,
- Research appreciation and transfer to the economic world,
- Durable development,
- Industry and small-medium companies,
- Digital economy,
- Heatlh and biotechnology.
The third part of the PIA, the PIA 3, is part of the Grand Plan
d'Investissement (GPI) that was presented by the Prime Minister in
September 25, 2017.
Additional information is available at www.gouvernement.fr/secretariat-general-pour-l-investissement-sgpi.
Twitter : @SGPI_avenir.
ABOUT BPIFRANCE
Bpifrance is the French national investment bank: it finances businesses
– at every stage of their development –through loans, guarantees, equity
investments and export insurances.
Bpifrance also provides extrafinancialservices (training,
consultancy..). to help entrepreneurs meet their challenges (innovation,
export…).
For more information, please visit: www.bpifrance.fr
and presse.bpifrance.fr
Follow us on Twitter: @Bpifrance -@BpifrancePresse
ABOUT TRAASER
Traaser (www.traaser.com
) is an innovative digital health company, specialized in the
development of software services for personalized medicine. Traaser,
located at Genopole in Evry (France) and winner of the 2016 World
Innovation Contest, uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools for the
collection, management and interpretation of sequencing data in their
clinical and therapeutic context in order to meet crucial needs of
modern genomic analysis. Diagen™, its comprehensive, scalable,
medical-grade expert system based on an industry-leading proprietary
methodology, provides a rapid access to patient’s genome information,
improving diagnosis and patient care. Data organized by the system lead
to the improvement and potential discovery of new therapeutic options
for patients.
Please contact: Célia Ringeval, Amalthea : 01 76 21 67 55, [email protected]
or [email protected]
ABOUT HALIODX
HalioDx is an immuno-oncology diagnostic company providing oncologists
with first-in-class Immune-based diagnostic products and services to
guide cancer care and contribute to precision medicine in the era of
immuno- oncology and combination therapies. Immunoscore® proprietary
technology, pioneered by Jeìrôme Galon at the Cordeliers Research
Center, Paris, France, integrates immunohistochemistry combined with
sophisticated algorithm and advanced imaging analysis enabling
extraction of spatially-organized tissue molecular information.
Immunoscore® is a platform for many cancers, as immune response to tumor
is a key hallmark of disease progression. HalioDx collaborates with
renowned international clinical groups to support clinical utility and
ensure rigorous performance validation of its assays in selected cancer
indications.
HalioDx has an experienced team of more than 135 employees,
CLIA-certified laboratories and compliant facilities in Europe and in
the US to develop, manufacture, register and market in vitro diagnostic
(IVD) products. HalioDx executes biomarker studies and companion
diagnostic assay development in conformity with regulations and in
partnership with biopharmaceutical companies. The company co-founded the
European immunology cluster Marseille Immunopôle (MI).
For more information, please visit our websites www.haliodx.com
and www.immunoscore-colon.com
and follow the company on Twitter @HalioDx.
ABOUT INSTITUT CURIE & CARNOT CURIE CANCER
Institut Curie, a leading player in the fight against cancer, combines a
leading French research center in oncology and a state-of-the-art
hospital group that treat all types of cancer, including the rarest.
Founded in 1909 by Marie Curie, the Institut Curie brings together more
than 3,500 researchers, physicians and healthcare professionals around
its three missions: care, research and teaching. As a private foundation
recognized for public utility, Institut Curie is authorized to receive
donations and bequests and can, thanks to the support of its donors,
accelerate discoveries and thus improve the treatment and the quality of
life of the patients. For more information: www.institut-curie.org
Since 2011, Institut Curie is certified "Institut Carnot Curie Cancer".
The Carnot label is a label of excellence granted to academic research
structures with proven high quality and involvement in partnership
research. Curie Cancer offers industrial partners the opportunity to set
up research collaborations, benefiting from the expertise of the
Institut Curie teams, for the development of innovative therapeutic
solutions against cancers from the therapeutic target to clinical
validation.
For more information: www.instituts-carnot.eu/fr/institut-carnot/curie-cancer
Disclaimer
This press release contains forward-looking statements, which are
subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no
guarantee that (i) the results of preclinical work and prior clinical
trials will be predictive of the results of the clinical trials
currently underway, (ii) regulatory authorities will agree with the
Company’s further development plans for its therapies, or (iii) the
Company will find development and commercialization partners for its
therapies in a timely manner and on satisfactory terms and conditions,
if at all. The occurrence of any of these risks could have a significant
negative outcome for the Company’s activities, perspectives, financial
situation, results and development.
For a discussion of risks and uncertainties which could cause the
Company’s actual results, financial condition, performance or
achievements to differ from those contained in the forward-looking
statements, please refer to the Risk Factors (“Facteurs de Risques”)
section of the Document de Reìfeìrence, available on the AMF website (http://www.amf-france.org)
or on Transgene’s website (www.transgene.fr).
Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which they are
made, and Transgene undertakes no obligation to update these
forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in
the future.
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