MINIGENE: Antigen specific minigene vaccine technology to prevent the occurrence of metastatic cancer

Oesophageal cancer is the 5th cause of cancer death in the UK and prioritised as one of the four tumour types with the highest unmet clinical need according to Cancer Research UK. In particular, cancer metastases, or the spread of cancer to other critical body parts such as the liver, significantly reduces survival rates of patients. **_Therefore, early detection and intervention is crucial to prevent and/or significantly delay the onset of metastases._** Sadly, the UK does not report 5-year Stage 4 survival statistics.

There is a very high mortality associated with oesophageal cancer metastases. In the US, survival rate is less than 4.6% (SEER, 2019).

Approximately 50% of oesophageal cancer diagnoses are eligible for surgery, but surgery is highly invasive, risky and affects patients' quality of life. Crucially, surgery does not prevent metastases. The other 50% of patients currently receive chemotherapy, which is _**aggressive,**_ causing several side-effects, including weakening the immune system.

Other technologies (i.e. checkpoint inhibitors, CAR-T therapy and other similar cell therapies) have their own _**limitations in terms of efficacy, delivery and especially cost.**_

Cancer vaccines that can generate high-magnitude immune responses directed to tumour-specific antigens represent promising novel cancer therapies. **_However, existing approaches have failed to succeed_** due to poor treatment regimens, suboptimal vaccine delivery platforms and poor selection of tumour antigens.

_**Infinitopes, a biotech spinout from Oxford University, has developed a highly novel, patented anti-metastatic vaccine that can be combined with standard chemotherapy to prevent**_ **_metastases._** Preclinical studies have demonstrated our vaccine can confer unprecedented long-term protection and absolutely suppression of metastases in multiple tumour models.

With Innovate UK support, Infinitopes will be able to take the next step in our journey, which is to complete the First-In-Human clinical trial in oesophageal cancer patients. As a biotech spinout from the University of Oxford, **_Infinitopes is a unique collaboration of world-leading cancer doctors, immunologists & vaccine experts_** who possess the expertise and capability to successfully deliver this project.

If successful, Infinitopes' technology enjoys enormous potential to transform the lives of millions of patients globally, create further employment opportunities and strengthen the UK biomedical industrial base.