A 950 thousand euro loan to develop a 2.0 DNA vaccine against pancreatic cancer, one of the most aggressive and dangerous. This is the amount of Pnrr funds that the Molinette hospital in Turin was awarded, which leads the project coordinated by Francesco Novelli, full professor of immunology and director of the department of molecular biotechnology and health sciences of the University, with the Molinette research foundation onlus and the Unit of the Polyclinic Giaccone of Palermo, led by Serena Meraviglia.
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A second generation vaccine
The aim of the research is to validate Eno3pep as a second generation vaccine, virtually administrable to all patients with pancreatic cancer. The patent, already filed, is entitled “a second-generation DNA vaccine coding for the immunodominant sequences of alpha-enolase for the treatment of pancreatic cancer”.
The funding will put the Research Consortium in a position to complete a research path carried out at the Molinette hospital and obtain ministerial authorisation for the clinical study of the vaccine, thus making it “certainly more attractive for many investors in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry”.
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The vaccine stops tumor progression in animals
Professor Novelli’s studies have led to the identification of a protein overexpressed in pancreatic cancer, the alpha-enolase, capable of triggering both an antibody response and the activation of anti-tumor T lymphocytes in patients with pancreatic cancer. This immunostimulatory property has prompted the development of a DNA vaccine, encoding the entire alpha-enolase sequence, which has been shown to be effective, and to a greater extent in combination with chemotherapy, in delaying pancreatic tumor progression in animal models, without yet eradicate it altogether.
In order to increase the therapeutic efficacy of the vaccine, Professor Novelli’s group has developed a second generation DNA vaccine, selecting only some sequences of the entire alpha-enolase having the ability to stimulate a stronger and more sustained anti-tumor response (ENO3PEP). In animal models, the ENO3PEP vaccine proved to be more effective and potent than the first generation vaccine in blocking tumor progression and triggering an anti-tumor immune response.
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