In 2021, a patient from the Oncopole in Toulouse, in remission from throat cancer, became the first French person to receive a dose of personalized vaccine designed specifically to strengthen his immune system against the unique characteristics of his tumor. The main goal was to prevent a possible relapse, which occurs within 2 to 3 years following diagnosis, in approximately half of patients with ENT cancers, according to oncologist Jean-Pierre Delord.
Two years later, ten people received their tailor-made vaccine designed by French biotech Transgene. The Toulouse professor in charge of this first clinical study announced that there was currently no relapse; a promising result, especially since the vaccine is also “very well tolerated” by patients, apart from a small, usual local inflammatory redness.
Concretely, the product is administered using a viral vector. This is the only classic aspect of this innovative treatment. Transgene uses DNA sequencing and artificial intelligence to manufacture individualized doses in three to four months. Hedi Ben Brahim, the general director of the company based near Strasbourg, explains that with this “therapeutic vaccine, we teach the immune system how and where to attack the cancer of each patient”. This treatment also occurs after surgery and conventional treatment with chemotherapy or radiotherapy, or after the reconstruction and repair phase of the damage caused by these head and neck cancers. The objective is to attack the last cancer cells which could escape the scanners during the first control visits or which may have migrated far from the original tumor.
Vaccinated patients are monitored through regular blood tests to ensure that their stimulated immune system is operational and that a specifically trained army of T lymphocytes is ready to intervene at the slightest alert. The immunologist responsible for this monitoring, Maha Ayyoub, assures that "now, we are convinced that we can protect patients, prolong their survival and perhaps even cure them".
Transgene announces the launch of a phase 2 clinical study this year, involving more patients.
 Sophie de Duiéry
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02/02/2023 | 
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