Nouscom announces leading publication revealing an immune mechanism of action driving anti-tumor activity of adenovirus vectored vaccines and anti-PD1 immunotherapy

Research paper published in Science Translational Medicine by Nouscom and the Armenise-Harvard Laboratory of Immunoregulation at IIGM led by Luigia Pace describes how Nouscom's adenoviral based vaccine platform enhances anti-tumor immunity by promoting the expansion and diversification of neoantigen-specific memory CD8+ T cells

BASEL, Switzerland, Aug. 11, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nouscom, a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing off-the-shelf and personalized viral vectored immunotherapies, today announces the publication in Science Translational Medicine of preclinical and clinical research describing a novel mechanism of action driven by its viral vector-based vaccine platform encoding tumor neoantigens.

The publication, entitled 'Adenoviral based-vaccine promotes neoantigen specific CD8+ T cell stemness and tumor rejection' demonstrates how Nouscom's platform when given in combination with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy promotes the expansion and diversification of CD8+ T cells that are specific for the neoantigens encoded by its vaccine. These T cells were shown to exhibit a stem-like phenotype capable of infiltrating the tumor microenvironment and evolving into effector-memory CD8+ T cells.

This mechanism was characterized in a preclinical model of colorectal cancer and confirmed in a Phase 1b trial in metastatic gastrointestinal patients with microsatellite instability-high (MSI-H) tumors who saw durable clinical responses when treated with NOUS-209 in combination with anti-PD1.

Encouraging safety, immunogenicity, clinical efficacy and translational data from a fully enrolled Phase 1b trial were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and American Society Clinical Oncology (ASCO) congresses earlier this year.

Dr. Elisa Scarselli, Chief Scientific Officer of Nouscom, said: "This study published in Science Translational Medicine provides new insights into how our adenoviral vector-based cancer vaccine platform can drive clinical efficacy beyond that seen with checkpoint inhibition alone. Our platform allows us to encode for an unprecedented number of neoantigens and is capable of eliciting both a high quality and quantity T cell response for effective anti-tumor control. This mechanism has been validated in both preclinical studies and observed in patients and furthers our understanding of the clinical potential of adenoviral based cancer vaccines. We remain excited for the start of multiple Phase 2 clinical trials of NOUS-209 in the second half of 2022."

Dr Luigia Pace, Head of the Armenise-Harvard Laboratory of Immunoregulation at the Italian Institute for Genomic Research (IIGM), c/o Candiolo Cancer Institute, FPO-IRCCS, Candiolo, Italy said: "Adenovirus vectored vaccines, expressing tumor-associated neoantigens is one of the most promising approaches to boost CD8+ T cell dependent anti-tumor immunity. In collaboration with Nouscom, we have uncovered the mechanistic details on how such vaccines may work by expansion and diversification of neoantigen-specific CD8+ T cells with a stem-like phenotype, leading to improved therapeutic responses".

References

A.M. D'Alise et al. Adenoviral Based-Vaccine Promotes Neoantigen Specific CD8+ T Cell Stemness And Tumor Rejection, Science Translational Medicine.

Online publication: www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.abo7604 

About Nouscom

Nouscom is a clinical stage immuno-oncology company developing next-generation, off-the-shelf and personalized cancer vaccines. Nouscom's proprietary platform harnesses the full power of the immune response by designing viral vectored vaccines based on multiple neoantigens and other immunomodulators.

Nouscom is currently advancing the clinical development of its wholly owned programs:

• NOUS-209 (lead), an off-the-shelf cancer immunotherapy for the treatment of MSI-H solid tumors, and
• NOUS-PEV, a personalized vaccine for the treatment of advanced melanoma or lung cancer

Nouscom has also exclusively out-licensed VAC85135, an off-the-shelf cancer vaccine which has received US FDA IND clearance, developed under a partnered multi-project agreement.

Nouscom is led by an experienced management team with deep roots in the pharma and biotech industry and are veterans in the field of viral vectored vaccines.

Nouscom, which was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Basel, Switzerland with operations in Rome, Italy, is backed by international life sciences investors.

For more information on Nouscom, please visit the company's website at www.nouscom.com or follow us on LinkedIn

Contacts:
Nouscom
Rick Davis, COO
E : info@nouscom.com 
T : +41 61 201 1835

MEDiSTRAVA Consulting
Sylvie Berrebi,Eleanor Perkin 
E : nouscom@medistrava.com
T : +44 (0)203 928 6900