Evaxion Announces Phase 2 Clinical Trial Update: First Patient Completed Dosing With Personalized Cancer Vaccine

Evaxion Biotech A/S recently announced the first patient in its EVX-01 Phase 2 trial in metastatic melanoma received the last vaccine dose in combination with KEYTRUDA (NCT05309421).

The company initiated its Phase 2 clinical study in September 2022 to assess the efficacy, safety, and ability to induce a tumor-specific immune response of the EVX-01 cancer vaccine in metastatic melanoma patients. The EVX-01 vaccine was designed using Evaxion’s proprietary AI-Immunology platform and is an individualized therapy matching the unique tumor profile and characteristics of the patient’s immune system. Each patient enrolled in the trial receives a unique vaccine designed and manufactured based on their individual biology. Patients are administered 10 EVX-01 doses over a period of 78 weeks in combination with the anti-PD-1 therapy, KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab).

Birgitte Rønø, CSO of Evaxion, said “With the progress made in the Phase 2 study, we are one step closer to fulfilling our mission of saving and improving lives with AI-Immunology. We eagerly anticipate sharing the 1-year clinical readout in Q3 this year and look forward to being one step closer to market with a novel personalized cancer vaccine.”

Professor Adnan Khattak at One Clinical Research, Hollywood Private Hospital, Western Australia, expressed enthusiasm, stating “We are now entering into the era of personalized cancer therapies, where we adopt a tailored approach against an individual patient’s tumor. In other words, we are treating each patient with the right drug. As a physician, I firmly believe this is the future.”

At the end of 2023, Evaxion reported initial EVX-01 Phase 2 data confirming the favorable safety profile and promising immunological data as observed in the previously successful Phase 1 clinical trial.

EVX-01 is Evaxion’s lead clinical asset and constitutes a peptide-based personalized cancer vaccine. The Phase 2 clinical study is a self-sponsored open-label, single-arm, multi-center trial carried out in collaboration with Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC that, together with leading principal investigators and research centers from Italy and Australia, aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of EVX-01 vaccination in combination with anti-PD1 therapy KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in treatment-naive patients with metastatic or unresectable malignant stage III or IV melanoma. More information can be accessed under clinical trial ID NCT05309421.

Evaxion Biotech A/S is a pioneering TechBio company based upon its AI platform, AI-Immunology. Evaxion’s proprietary and scalable AI prediction models harness the power of artificial intelligence to decode the human immune system and develop novel immunotherapies for cancer, bacterial diseases, and viral infections. Based upon AI-Immunology, Evaxion has developed a clinical-stage oncology pipeline of novel personalized vaccines and a preclinical infectious disease pipeline in bacterial and viral diseases with high unmet medical needs. Evaxion is committed to transforming patients’ lives by providing innovative and targeted treatment options. For more information, visit our website.