SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Anixa
Biosciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: ANIX), a biotechnology company focused
on the treatment and prevention of cancer and infectious diseases,
announced today that it has entered into a license agreement with
Cleveland Clinic for exclusive, world-wide rights to an innovative
ovarian cancer vaccine technology.
Cleveland Clinic immunologist Dr. Vincent Tuohy has been working on a method to
vaccinate women against ovarian cancer and other gynecological
malignancies. This development-stage vaccine targets the
extracellular domain of anti-mullerian hormone receptor 2
(AMHR2-ED), that appears in many types of ovarian cancer.
AMHR2-ED is one of several proteins identified by Dr. Tuohy as
"retired" proteins. While these proteins are necessary during
the early stages of life, they are "retired" as a person ages, and
are no longer expressed, or made at appreciable levels, in healthy
adults. AMHR2-ED re-appears in cancerous cells and
accordingly, it is an attractive target for vaccination.
Anixa and Cleveland Clinic are already collaborating on a
preventative breast cancer vaccine also developed by Dr. Tuohy
based on his research into "retired" proteins. The
organizations plan to begin human trials with the breast cancer
vaccine in early 2021.
"Through this collaboration we are expanding into additional
preventive and therapeutic areas and we look forward to seeing the
development of this ovarian cancer vaccine,"
said Dr. Tuohy. "Research into cancer therapies has typically
focused on attacking the disease after a patient has been
diagnosed, but if we could immunize people to prevent the cancer
from ever forming, it could represent a paradigm shift for
patients, their caregivers and the healthcare system."
"We are pleased to broaden our relationship and to expand our
work with Dr. Tuohy," stated Amit
Kumar, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of
Anixa. "Though it is still early days for the experimental
ovarian cancer vaccine, pre-clinical research suggests the
potential of this technology as both a prophylactic that prevents
the occurrence of cancer, and a therapeutic that treats women with
ovarian cancer."
Dr. Kumar added, "Anixa's goal is to present patients that have
limited treatment options with meaningful new therapeutic and
prophylactic alternatives. We see this vaccine as a
complementary component to our growing immuno-oncology portfolio,
which includes a CAR-T therapy targeting ovarian cancer, for which
we anticipate filing an IND shortly."
Conference Call Information:
Anixa will host a
conference call and live audio webcast Thursday, December 3, 2020, at 1:15 p.m. PST. Interested parties may
access the conference call by dialing:
- (877) 876-9176
- Conference ID: Anixa
An audio webcast will be accessible via the Investors section of
the Anixa website: https://ir.anixa.com/events. An
archive of the webcast will remain available for 30 days after the
call.
About Anixa Biosciences, Inc.
Anixa is a publicly-traded biotechnology company developing a
number of programs addressing cancer and infectious disease.
Anixa's therapeutics portfolio includes a cancer immunotherapy
program which uses a novel type of CAR-T, known as chimeric
endocrine receptor T-cell (CER-T) technology, and a Covid-19
therapeutics program focused on inhibiting certain viral protein
function. The company's vaccine portfolio includes a vaccine
to prevent breast cancer, and specifically triple negative breast
cancer (TNBC), the most deadly form of the disease, and a vaccine
to prevent ovarian cancer. These vaccine technologies focus
on immunizing against specific proteins that have been found to be
expressed in certain forms of cancer. Anixa continually
examines emerging technologies in complementary fields for further
development and commercialization. Additional information is
available at www.anixa.com.
Forward-Looking Statements: Statements
that are not historical fact may be considered forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are not
statements of historical facts, but rather reflect Anixa's current
expectations concerning future events and results. We
generally use the words "believes," "expects," "intends," "plans,"
"anticipates," "likely," "will" and similar expressions to identify
forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements,
including those concerning our expectations, involve risks,
uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our
control, which may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements, or industry results, to be materially different from
any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or
implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks,
uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to, those
factors set forth in "Item 1A - Risk Factors" and other sections of
our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K as well as in our
Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K.
We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law. You
are cautioned not to unduly rely on such forward-looking statements
when evaluating the information presented in this press
release.
Investor contact:
Mike Catelani
mcatelani@anixa.com
408-708-9808
Media contact:
Sherry Ash
anixapress@gmail.com
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SOURCE Anixa Biosciences, Inc.