Ladies and gents it's taken me all damn week but I've finally come to terms with myself. Early this week the gift of buyout graced my door with MLNM and so a bio replacement was in need for my account... additional news from Antigenics in Russia sent me on a dizzying path of research in which I read all the clinicals from DNDN CEGE and AGEN and even went as far as consulting a professional chart reader to make sure what I was seeing on the chart lined up with someone with many, many years in the biz.... CELL GENESIS wins for me.... because it is a platform to many places and thus will receive the most for it's technology if bought and recent news bolsters their multi anitigen approach the opposite of DNDN's....
GVAX is their baby, is a revolutionary platform for developing cancer vaccines for a substantial number of different cancers. Prostrate being #1 now.... here's some out takes from a SeekingAlpha piece & I'll follow that up later with yesterday's press release which did not move the stock but did move me.
GVAX has differentiated itself from the herd by presenting a truly innovative and elegant concept for cancer vaccines. Although being unique is by no means a guarantee for clinical success, there are several attributes, which make GVAX a very promising platform.
One of the most important features in GVAX is its universality. The concept behind GVAX is applicable to numerous cancer types, since theoretically, any type of cancer cell can be genetically modified to secrete GM-CSF, making it a potential cancer vaccine. For example, in order to create GVAX for pancreatic cancer, Cell Genesys chose a pancreatic cancer cell-line, inserted the GM-CSF gene into the cells, irradiated them and the vaccine was ready. For the treatment of leukemia, the company did the same with leukemia cells and so on. However, each type of cancer includes so many types of available cell-lines, that choosing the right cell-line is of extremely high importance. Furthermore, since it is possible to combine more than one cell-line per vaccine, GVAXâs diversity potential, as a platform, is tremendous.
Another apparent advantage is the fact that in GVAXâs case, all the stages of the immune response occur inside the patientâs body. The first stage of every anti-cancer immune response involves the exposure of a special group of immune cells, called Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs) to cancer antigens. This exposure is the basis of enhancing any immune response, making it extremely crucial. Some cancer vaccines like Dendreonâs Provenge and Northwestâs Biotherapeutics DCVax, involve taking out APCs from the patientâs body and conducting the exposure stage in vitro (outside of the body). These activated cells are then re-administered into each patient and will hopefully ignite a specific immune response against cancer cells inside the body. Cell Genesys takes a different approach, similar to that of traditional vaccines, by injecting patients with the cancer antigens themselves (in the form of cancer cells). Thus, the immune cells are exposed to the cancer antigens in vivo (inside the body), in their natural environment.* This is a bigger point than it sounds folks.... And this next one is the BIGGEST...
An additional key differentiator of GVAX is its multi-antigen approach. While many cancer vaccines are aimed at manifesting an immune response against a specific cancer-related antigen, Cell Genesys is using whole cancer cells as antigens. Each cancer cell has countless potential antigens that can be targeted by the immune system. By using whole cancer cells, and sometimes even more than one strain, the amount of potential cancer antigens is immense. Thus, the immune response generated by GVAX might be less focused, but much broader and has the potential of impacting a wider population of cancer cells. Stimulating the immune system to recognize multiple antigens may result in a response against cancer cells, which would otherwise evade a single-antigen oriented immune response.
GVAX can be patient specific, where cancer cells are taken specifically from each patient, genetically modified to secrete GM-CSF followed by irradiation and re-administered to the specific patient only. GVAX can also be non- patient-specific with the same types of cells used for all patients. Though the company has developed both patient-specific and non-patient âspecific candidates, it has decided to focus on the latter.
Being a non-patient specific treatment makes production more reliable and cheaper, as the company does not have to deal with logistics such as getting each patientâs sample and shipping it back to the treatment facility on time. In addition, it is not always technically possible to generate a patient-specific GVAX cancer vaccine for every patient. Antigenicsâ Oncophage® is a good example of a patient-specific cancer vaccine, as each patient undergoes surgery, to remove part or all of the cancerous tissue, followed by shipping of the tumor tissue to Antigenicsâ manufacturing facility in Massachusetts. (those Russia to Boston mail routes can be murder! especially when you are dying)
Although the trend in cancer therapy is clearly towards personalized therapy, an off-the-shelf product like GVAX is not necessarily therapeutically inferior to its patient-specific counterpart. In fact, it might have a significant advantage in the long run, considering the immune memory that can be created by cancer vaccines. Genetic instability is one of the hallmarks of cancer, as cancer cells constantly evolve by acquiring mutations and modifying exhibited antigens. These changes are a fundamental cause of treatment-resistance and disease recurrence, often demonstrated by cancer. A patient with early-stage disease who receives a cancer vaccine based on cells of advanced-stage disease could develop immunity against the advanced stages of the disease. Thus, non-personalized cancer vaccines have the potential of functioning as preventative treatments, blocking the formation of advanced-stage tumors. Such a preventative effect, which is still in the form of speculation, could be a huge differentiator for non-patient-specific cancer vaccines. Think about it- the preventative market if unleashed well.... the sky is the limit but that's a long term goal.
*Microturbines later and how CAPSTONE TUBINE CAN SAVE BIG BUSINESS IN THIS TIME OF HIGH OIL AND POWER CONSUMPTION AND PERHAPS MAKE YOU AND ME RICH WHILE THEY DO IT! ~ stoney
GVAX is their baby, is a revolutionary platform for developing cancer vaccines for a substantial number of different cancers. Prostrate being #1 now.... here's some out takes from a SeekingAlpha piece & I'll follow that up later with yesterday's press release which did not move the stock but did move me.
GVAX has differentiated itself from the herd by presenting a truly innovative and elegant concept for cancer vaccines. Although being unique is by no means a guarantee for clinical success, there are several attributes, which make GVAX a very promising platform.
One of the most important features in GVAX is its universality. The concept behind GVAX is applicable to numerous cancer types, since theoretically, any type of cancer cell can be genetically modified to secrete GM-CSF, making it a potential cancer vaccine. For example, in order to create GVAX for pancreatic cancer, Cell Genesys chose a pancreatic cancer cell-line, inserted the GM-CSF gene into the cells, irradiated them and the vaccine was ready. For the treatment of leukemia, the company did the same with leukemia cells and so on. However, each type of cancer includes so many types of available cell-lines, that choosing the right cell-line is of extremely high importance. Furthermore, since it is possible to combine more than one cell-line per vaccine, GVAXâs diversity potential, as a platform, is tremendous.
Another apparent advantage is the fact that in GVAXâs case, all the stages of the immune response occur inside the patientâs body. The first stage of every anti-cancer immune response involves the exposure of a special group of immune cells, called Antigen Presenting Cells (APCs) to cancer antigens. This exposure is the basis of enhancing any immune response, making it extremely crucial. Some cancer vaccines like Dendreonâs Provenge and Northwestâs Biotherapeutics DCVax, involve taking out APCs from the patientâs body and conducting the exposure stage in vitro (outside of the body). These activated cells are then re-administered into each patient and will hopefully ignite a specific immune response against cancer cells inside the body. Cell Genesys takes a different approach, similar to that of traditional vaccines, by injecting patients with the cancer antigens themselves (in the form of cancer cells). Thus, the immune cells are exposed to the cancer antigens in vivo (inside the body), in their natural environment.* This is a bigger point than it sounds folks.... And this next one is the BIGGEST...
An additional key differentiator of GVAX is its multi-antigen approach. While many cancer vaccines are aimed at manifesting an immune response against a specific cancer-related antigen, Cell Genesys is using whole cancer cells as antigens. Each cancer cell has countless potential antigens that can be targeted by the immune system. By using whole cancer cells, and sometimes even more than one strain, the amount of potential cancer antigens is immense. Thus, the immune response generated by GVAX might be less focused, but much broader and has the potential of impacting a wider population of cancer cells. Stimulating the immune system to recognize multiple antigens may result in a response against cancer cells, which would otherwise evade a single-antigen oriented immune response.
GVAX can be patient specific, where cancer cells are taken specifically from each patient, genetically modified to secrete GM-CSF followed by irradiation and re-administered to the specific patient only. GVAX can also be non- patient-specific with the same types of cells used for all patients. Though the company has developed both patient-specific and non-patient âspecific candidates, it has decided to focus on the latter.
Being a non-patient specific treatment makes production more reliable and cheaper, as the company does not have to deal with logistics such as getting each patientâs sample and shipping it back to the treatment facility on time. In addition, it is not always technically possible to generate a patient-specific GVAX cancer vaccine for every patient. Antigenicsâ Oncophage® is a good example of a patient-specific cancer vaccine, as each patient undergoes surgery, to remove part or all of the cancerous tissue, followed by shipping of the tumor tissue to Antigenicsâ manufacturing facility in Massachusetts. (those Russia to Boston mail routes can be murder! especially when you are dying)
Although the trend in cancer therapy is clearly towards personalized therapy, an off-the-shelf product like GVAX is not necessarily therapeutically inferior to its patient-specific counterpart. In fact, it might have a significant advantage in the long run, considering the immune memory that can be created by cancer vaccines. Genetic instability is one of the hallmarks of cancer, as cancer cells constantly evolve by acquiring mutations and modifying exhibited antigens. These changes are a fundamental cause of treatment-resistance and disease recurrence, often demonstrated by cancer. A patient with early-stage disease who receives a cancer vaccine based on cells of advanced-stage disease could develop immunity against the advanced stages of the disease. Thus, non-personalized cancer vaccines have the potential of functioning as preventative treatments, blocking the formation of advanced-stage tumors. Such a preventative effect, which is still in the form of speculation, could be a huge differentiator for non-patient-specific cancer vaccines. Think about it- the preventative market if unleashed well.... the sky is the limit but that's a long term goal.
*Microturbines later and how CAPSTONE TUBINE CAN SAVE BIG BUSINESS IN THIS TIME OF HIGH OIL AND POWER CONSUMPTION AND PERHAPS MAKE YOU AND ME RICH WHILE THEY DO IT! ~ stoney