Biotech Companies to Watch in Cancer Vaccine Development

Cancer Vaccines: Promising Developments in Immunotherapy

The world of cancer treatment is witnessing an exciting period of advancement, with cancer vaccines playing a significant role. These innovative therapies are designed to stimulate the body's immune system to specifically target cancer cells, often by presenting tumor-specific antigens or neoantigens to immune cells.

Recent key advancements in cancer vaccine research include:

Personalized neoantigen-targeted vaccines: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's NeoVax platform has demonstrated in a phase 1 clinical trial that a modified personalized vaccine (NeoVax MI) can generate a strong vaccine-specific immune response in patients with melanoma, showing safety and feasibility with improved immunogenicity compared to earlier versions[1].
Universal cancer vaccine approaches: Experimental mRNA vaccines have shown potential to "wake up" the immune system broadly, not targeting specific tumor proteins but triggering immune responses resembling antiviral defense. In combination with immune checkpoint inhibitors, these vaccines have produced strong antitumor effects in mouse models across various tumor types, including treatment-resistant cancers[2][3].
Targeting the tumor microenvironment and rare immune cells: Research at Mount Sinai successfully engineered rare dendritic cells (cDC1s) capable of cross-presenting tumor antigens and activating T cells, which are critical for immune-mediated tumor control. This method could enable "off-the-shelf" cellular cancer vaccines broadly applicable to multiple cancer types[5].
Focus on brain tumors and glioblastoma: Cancer vaccines that target brain tumor-specific antigens have shown promise in overcoming immunosuppressive microenvironments typical of glioblastoma. These vaccines aim to activate both humoral and cellular immunity precisely against cancer cells while sparing healthy tissue, but most remain experimental and face challenges such as tumor-induced immune resistance[4].

Some notable companies are making strides in cancer vaccine development:

OSE Immunotherapeutics, a French vaccine company, is awaiting approval for its cancer vaccine candidate Tedopi (OSE2101) for the treatment of people with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) who have previously been treated with a checkpoint inhibitor.
Infinitopes, a U.K. based cancer vaccine startup, has received £12.8 million ($17.05 million) in seed funding. Their lead vaccine candidate ITOP1 is a precision-targeted, immunologically durable, off-the-shelf cancer vaccine designed to prevent disease recurrence in first-line patients with surgically resectable cancers.
Scancell, a U.K.-based biotech company, has announced an 84% disease control rate, 80% progression-free, and 20% complete response rate in patients with advanced melanoma for its most advanced vaccine candidate SCIB1/iSCIB1+.
Elicio Therapeutics, another biotech company based in the U.S., has four cancer vaccine candidates in its pipeline, namely ELI-002 for KRAS-driven cancers, ELI-007 targeting mBRAF in gastrointestinal (GI) tumors, and ELI-008 targeting mTP53 in GI tumors.
VacV Biotherapeutics, a U.K. spin-out of Queen Mary University of London, has developed an oncolytic virus vaccine platform and has obtained more than $3 million in funding.
Candel Therapeutics, a biotech company based in the U.S., is testing its phase 3 cancer vaccine candidate CAN-2409 in prostate cancer. In December 2024, the immunotherapy met its primary endpoint and showed statistically significant and clinically meaningful benefit in combination with radiation therapy for intermediate-to-high-risk, localized prostate cancer.
Evaxion, a Danish biotech company, has developed EVX-01, a peptide-based neoantigen cancer therapy for the first-line treatment of metastatic and unresectable melanoma. The phase 1/2 trial of EVX-01 along with a PD-1 inhibitor saw 67% of patients with melanoma achieve objective clinical responses.
Nouscom, a Swiss-Italian immunotherapy company, has raised €67.5 million ($72 million) in a series C round. Their cancer vaccine candidate NOUS-209, which encodes 209 neoantigens, has shown potent and broad immune responses and durable tumor shrinkage in phase 1b studies in gastrointestinal (GI) tumors.

Cancer vaccines have been around since the 1980s, with the first-ever anti-cancer preventative treatments being vaccines for hepatitis B, which can cause liver cancer. In 1990, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin - a vaccine for tuberculosis - became the first immunotherapy to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of early-stage bladder cancer.

As research and development in cancer vaccines continues to expand globally, the market size is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.04% from 2023 to 2030, reaching an estimated $7.31 billion in 2022. The momentum in mRNA and dendritic-cell–based vaccines, as well as personalized neoantigen vaccines, points toward significant future impact in cancer treatment.

The biotech industry is embracing cell therapy, with companies like OSE Immunotherapeutics and Scancell developing innovative cancer vaccines as a promising avenue in health-and-wellness.
Science continues to advance in the fight against cancer, as evidenced by experimental mRNA vaccines' ability to trigger broad immune responses like antiviral defense in combination with immunotherapy.
Clinical trials are showcasing the potential of immunotherapy, with VacV Biotherapeutics' oncolytic virus vaccine platform and Evaxion's peptide-based neoantigen cancer therapy demonstrating significant objective clinical responses in various medical-conditions.
Cancer vaccines have transformed the pharmaceuticals landscape, making strides in treating cancerous conditions such as non-small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and even brain tumors like glioblastoma.