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Prima BioMed (NASDAQ: PBMD; ASX: PRR) is a global biotechnology company headquartered in Australia. As a leader in personalised bio-therapeutic products for cancer, Prima is dedicated to leveraging its current technology and expertise to develop innovative treatment options for patients and maximise value to shareholders. Prima's lead product is CVac™, an autologous dendritic cell product currently in clinical trials for ovarian cancer.
The company has three programs in place:
- The lead program, Cvac™ has completed Phase IIa clinical trials and focuses on the development of an ex-vivo immunotherapy for ovarian cancer. Prima is now undertaking a Phase IIb clinical study in the US and Australia, and aims to commence global Phase III programs in 2011, with a goal of commercialization of Cvac™ in multiple world markets.
- The second program is focusing on the identification and development of a monoclonal antibody to cripto-1. Monoclonal antibodies have been a major success in recent improvements of cancer treatment. Cripto-1 is a component of the endothelial growth factor complex, and neutralizing this important protein will enable Prima to target multiple tumour types.
- The third is a collaborative venture with the University of New South Wales and University of Queensland to create a technology enabling oral administration of vaccines that are currently injected. The lead target for this program is to create an oral vaccine against Human Papilloma Virus (HPV), a virus associated with development of cervical cancer.
About CVacTM Ovarian Cancer Treatment
CVac is of key importance as there is a large un-met medical need for new treatments for ovarian cancer which has a very high morbidity rate. CVac is a maintenance therapy administered post-surgery and post-chemotherapy to delay relapse and control metastases. There are currently no products available as maintenance based therapies for ovarian cancer and the global market for ovarian cancer therapeutics was valued at US$2.1 billion in 2007 and was expected to total US$3.6 billion in 2010.
