CellxLife Establishes Leadership Team to Advance Immuno-Therapeutic Cancer Vaccine Targeting Pediatric Bone Cancers
June 20 2024 - 7:30AM
Business Wire
Company’s therapeutic dendritic cell-based vaccine technology
aims to offer new treatment options for children with recurring
metastatic Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma
CellxLife today announced that Eric von Hofe, Ph.D., will serve
as the company’s first Chief Executive Officer. The company was
formed in late 2023 to advance a dendritic cell-based therapeutic
vaccine candidate that aims to expand treatment options for
children with recurring metastatic Ewing sarcoma and
osteosarcoma.
There are currently very few treatment options for children
suffering from metastatic Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma. The most
common treatment is surgical removal of the tumors in combination
with radiation and chemotherapy. For children with recurring
metastatic Ewing sarcoma or osteosarcoma, the 5-year survival rate
is usually 20-30% and in the U.S., approximately $750,000 is spent
on treatment over the course of a patient’s life. i,ii
“Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma are devastating diseases that
have far-reaching impact, particularly in pediatric patients and
their caregivers,” said Dr. von Hofe. “I am honored to join the
CellxLife team to help advance efforts in bringing this promising
new biotherapeutic to the thousands of children and families
fighting these cancers globally.”
Through CellxLife’s proprietary platform, dendritic cells are
taken from the body and presented with the patient’s own tumor cell
antigens, then re-administered back into the body as an
immunotherapeutic vaccine to educate the immune system. Study data
generated to date has indicated that this both activates immune
cells to attack remaining cancer cells in the body and shapes the
immunological memory to greatly reduce the chances of cancer
recurrence. In a prior Phase 1 study, 75% of pediatric participants
diagnosed with metastatic Ewing’s or osteosarcoma, who responded
well to surgery, overcame their cancer, and are still alive today.
Out of all the participants in the trial, 62.5% of children with
metastatic osteosarcoma who were treated with the dendritic
cell-based therapy lived for more than 15 years.
The CellxLife clinical team believes the therapy can cross over
to other solid tumors, such as ovarian, breast, colorectal,
pancreatic, glioblastoma, lung, and other solid tumors. The
principle is the same; once a tumor is removed, the vaccine will
shape the immunological memory of the cancer cells in the lymph
nodes and greatly reduce the chances of cancer recurrence.
“This could be a breakthrough for anyone who is faced with the
horrible realization that cancer could reoccur after their tumor is
removed,” said Ruvin Orbach, founder of CellxLife. “It’s an honor
to have Eric on board as CEO at this important time of growth for
CellxLife. We are committed to building the team and raising the
capital required to further advance this de-risked therapeutic
candidate. We are currently planning the Phase II trials with an
orphan designation and significantly reducing the regulatory
pathway for this promising immunotherapy.”
Dr. von Hofe has over 30 years of experience in managing and
overseeing biotechnology programs, with a focus on cancer
immunotherapy and technology development. Most recently he led
development efforts at AffyImmune Therapeutics where he oversaw the
clinical development and orphan designation for a novel CAR-T cell
therapeutic targeting refractory thyroid cancer. Previously, he was
at Antigen Express where he led the development of an
immunotherapeutic vaccine for breast and prostate cancer, resulting
in a collaboration with Merck. Prior to that, he worked at
Millennium Pharmaceuticals first as Program Director for Target
Validation and later as Director of Programs & Operations,
Discovery Research. Previously, Dr. von Hofe was Director, New
Targets at Hybridon, Inc., where he coordinated in-house and
collaborative research that validated gene targets for novel
antisense medicines. Dr. von Hofe also held the position of
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology at the University of
Massachusetts Medical School, where he received a National Cancer
Institute Career Development Award for defining mechanisms by which
alkylating carcinogens create cancers. He received his Ph.D. in
Experimental Pathology from the University of Southern California
and was a postdoctoral fellow at both the University of Zurich and
Harvard University School of Public Health.
For more information, please visit www.cellxlife.com.
About CellxLife
CellxLife is a Phase I/II-stage biotechnology company founded in
2023 to acquire promising biotherapies and accelerate their
regulatory approval. The company’s initial program is focused on
advancing a dendritic cell-derived vaccine therapy targeting
metastatic Ewing sarcoma and osteosarcoma. The company is also
currently planning a basket trial for five other solid tumor
indications. Based in Los Angeles, California, CellxLife can be
found online at www.cellxlife.com.
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i
https://www.dana-farber.org/cancer-care/types/childhood-ewing-sarcoma#:~:text=The%20five%2Dyear%20survival%20rate,is%2020%20to%2030%20percent
ii https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30255612/
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Ruvin Orbach ruvin@cellxlife.com