PARIS and TOULOUSE, France, April 20, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Genticel (Euronext Paris & Brussels: FR00011790542 – GTCL), a French biotechnology company and developer of innovative immunotherapies targeting cancers caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV), announces that the Company presents promising results today from a new pharmacology in-vivo study on the potential bivalence of Genticel's phase 2 immunotherapeutic vaccine candidate, ProCervix, in a poster session at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting 2015 in Philadelphia, PA.
The poster, titled "Bivalent adenylate cyclase (CyaA)-based therapeutic vaccines: eradication of tumor cells expressing different antigens over time," is up between 1:00 and 5:00 PM EDT today.*
"The results of this study indicate that ProCervix has the potential to eradicate on-going HPV 16 infections, while also providing protection against possible future HPV 18 infections, and vice-versa. These data also suggest that it should be possible to protect and treat patients with multiple different antigens for a given cancer," said Marie-Christine Bissery, Chief Scientific Officer of Genticel.
"While the ProCervix phase 2 clinical study achieved full recruitment last fall, with initial efficacy data expected in the first half of next year, we continue to amass broad scientific evidence supporting the drug's potential to both prevent and treat," said Benedikt Timmerman, Chief Executive Officer of Genticel. "These most recent results further strengthen our confidence in the value of ProCervix and its mode of action."
| *Poster Information | |
| AACR Annual Meeting 2015: | Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Session: | Tumor Vaccines, 1:00 PM – 5:00 pm |
| Abstract Number: | 2507 |
| Location: | Section 26 |
| Poster Board Number: | 19 |
| Read the abstract |
About Genticel
Answering an unresolved public health issue.
Among the 300 million women around the world currently infected with HPV, 500,000 new cases of cervical cancer are identified each year and 275,000 women succumb to the disease. 70% of cervical cancer cases are caused by 2 HPV types and Genticel aims to eliminate them at an early stage with GTL001 (known in Europe as ProCervix), its first-in-class immunotherapeutic vaccine candidate. The company has already completed patient recruitment for ProCervix's phase 2 clinical trial.
Offering a promising technological platform.
Genticel's versatile platform, Vaxiclase, is ideally suited for the development of immunotherapies against multiple infectious or cancerous diseases. Genticel's second immunotherapeutic vaccine candidate, Multivalent HPV, targets the six most pertinent HPV types in terms of global epidemiology and was designed using the Vaxiclase platform. It is currently in preclinical development.
Focusing on value creation.
ProCervix and Multivalent HPV could generate, respectively, over €1 billion and €2 billion per year in revenues. Genticel seeks to establish partnerships for these two immunotherapeutic products as of 2016/2017. The versatility of its technological platform, Vaxiclase, has generated significant interest in the pharmaceutical industry, as illustrated by the partnership agreement signed in 2015 with the Serum Institute of India Ltd. (SIIL), the world's largest producer of vaccines. This partnership is expected to generate $57 million in revenues for Genticel, before royalties on sales. It will enable SIIL to develop acellular multivalent combination vaccines against a variety of conditions, notably whooping cough.
For more information, visit www.genticel.com
About the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR): www.aacr.org
Disclaimer
This press release and the information it contains does not constitute an offer or solicitation to buy, sell or hold Genticel shares in any country. This press release may contain forward-looking statements by the company with respect to its objectives. These statements are based on the current estimates and forecasts of the company's management and are subject to risks and uncertainties such as the company's ability to implement its chosen strategy, customer market trends, changes in technologies and in the company's competitive environment, changes in regulations, clinical or industrial risks and all risks linked to the company's growth. These factors as well as other risks and uncertainties may prevent the company from achieving the objectives outlined in the press release. No guarantee is given on forward-looking statements which are subject to a number of risks, notably those described in the registration document filed with the French Markets Authority (the AMF) on 1 April 2015 under number R.15-015 and those linked to changes in economic conditions, the financial markets, or the markets on which Genticel is present. Genticel products are currently used for clinical trials only and are not otherwise available for distribution or sale.