Back in 2002, it seemed like hardly a week would go by without a news story about cancer vaccines. They were quite the rage at the BIO annual meeting. And then, they seemed to fade into the background.
Well, cancer vaccines are back, driven partly, by approval of Merck’s Gardasil. Therapeutic cancer vaccines are making news again. An FDA advisory committee is backing approval of Dendreon’s Provenge.
sanofi-aventis’ is getting back in the cancer vaccine game with a $690 million deal for Oxford BioMedica’s TroVax vaccine. TroVax is moving through Phase III trials for renal cancer and pipelines for colorectal, lung, breast and prostate cancers. No word on where this leaves sanofi-aventis other cancer vaccine program.
Finally, there’s a buzz about cancer vaccines at this year’s AACR. There are nearly 200 posters and presentations on cancer vaccines this year and I’m expecting some very interesting results.
