A real-world observation of patients with glioblastoma treated with a personalized peptide vaccine

An article recently published in Nature Communications by cecava’s co-founder, Saskia Biskup (MD, PhD), describes 173 patients diagnosed with glioblastoma who received a fully personalized neoepitope-based peptide vaccination in addition to their treatment regimen. The data show that the personalized immunotherapy approach is feasible in a clinical setting and, most notably, well tolerated. Importantly, patients who developed an immune response against multiple neoantigens had a significant survival benefit compared to those who showed only a weak or no immune response.

cecava’s co-founder Saskia Biskup states: “Fortunately, many of the described patients are alive and grateful that the data is now available to the scientific community. The hope is that one day all those affected will have access to individualized immunotherapies. Our data is certainly an important step in this direction.”

cecava now aims to confirm the promising results from this peer-reviewed publication. For this purpose, cecava currently prepares a controlled clinical trial in which glioblastoma patients will obtain up to 20 neoepitope peptides which are derived from the patient-individual tumor mutations. The aim of this investigation is to obtain marketing authorization for the new treatment concept to ensure that as many patients as possible can benefit from the new treatment in the near future.

About cecava
cecava GmbH is a biopharmaceutical immuno-oncology company located in Tuebingen (Germany). Founded in 2018, cecava’s mission is to develop individualized peptide cancer therapies (INPECT). The therapy is tailored to target the patient-individual tumor mutations. Through immunizations with the AI-selected neoepitope peptides, the immune system is activated and directed against the patient’s tumor. Based on encouraging real-world experience with this novel immunotherapy, clinical trials are currently being prepared. The company’s ultimate goal is to secure the approval for this innovative treatment, ensuring that as many cancer patients as possible may benefit.