Etubics Corporation is clinically testing a new vaccine targeting carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) expressing cancers in a Phase I/II clinical trials under FDA IND14325. Many cancers express CEA, including colon, breast and pancreatic cancers. It is anticipated that this new biotherapeutic product will complement the armamentarium of existing therapies for the treatment of CEA expressing cancers. The product consists of the Company?s novel Adenovirus serotype-5 platform expressing CEA (Ad5 [E1-, E2b-]-CEA) that induces antibodies and cell mediated immune responses that result in anti-tumor activity. The product is manufactured in the necessary and sufficient human E.C7 cell line. A Master Cell Bank has been produced under cGMP conditions. In this Phase II SBIR program, we will (1) evaluate the robustness of the manufacturing process, (2) perform an additional GMP manufacturing run to support the next phase clinical trials, (3) perform a product biodistribution study in animals, (4) develop functional assays using the therapeutic product, and (5) perform shelf-life studies of the product. It is expected that completion of these processes and studies will allow us to produce sufficient product to support large-scale clinical trials required to move toward approval of this new biotherapeutic for active immunotherapy of CEA expressing cancers.
