In the 1700th century, as the smallpox epidemic raged across Europe, scientists found that people who had previously been infected with cowpox, a milder version of smallpox, became resistant to the deadly disease. This observation led the British physician and scientist Edward jenner developed the world's first vaccine.
Jenner called this solution Variola vaccinae (smallpox of the cow). Thus, the term vaccine became synonymous with any form of biological inoculation intended to stimulate a person's immune system to prevent disease.
Can vaccines work against cancer?
Since Jenner's publication in 1798, vaccine technology has evolved and improved considerably. However, most of today's vaccines target infectious diseases - diseases caused by a pathogen such as a virus or bacteria. They activate antibodies in a person's immune system that can recognize markers - antigens - that are specific to the pathogen in question and activate an immune response when it arises in the body.
Today, BioStock is taking a closer look at whether there are similar vaccine solutions to combat cancer – a disease that remains one of the leading causes of death in the world and causes 10 million peoples death every year.
The impact of immunology
For decades, primary cancer treatments have consisted primarily of chemotherapeutic agents and radiation therapy to eliminate tumor cells. Although they offer significant benefits, lingering cancer cells become resistant to these treatments, the disease recurs, spreads to other organs, and forms so-called metastases. This is the stage of the disease that is considered the most fatal, as it is the stage that is most difficult to treat.
To counter the problem, a new field of cancer therapy emerged: immuno-oncology – a field that aims to improve a patient's immune system's ability to recognize cancer and stop it before it's too late.
Some of the most popular cancer immunotherapies are checkpoint inhibitors, which generate billions of dollars in revenue each year. But many patients only benefit marginally from checkpoint inhibitors, so the need for new treatments remains great. This is where cancer vaccines come into play.
Therapeutic vs. preventive vaccines
As we mentioned above, vaccines against infectious diseases are considered preventive – they are given before a person comes into contact with a specific pathogen. The vaccine teaches the immune system to attack that pathogen if it were to invade.
But in the case of cancer, this is more challenging because cancer cells are not recognized as foreign by our immune system. In fact, cancer cells originate from normal cells that begin to grow and divide exponentially due to genetic mutations. Therefore, the cancer vaccines currently in development are not preventive.
Rather, cancer vaccines are considered therapeutic – they are engineered in a way that allows the immune system to recognize when cancer grows back after an initial course of treatment. This generates an immune response, which can be further stimulated if the vaccine is given in combination with other immunotherapies.
The cancer vaccine market is expanding
The high hopes attached to cancer vaccines have led to increased competition among innovators to develop new technologies in the field. According to Allied Market Research is calculated the global cancer vaccine market reach USD 7 billion by 2027, up from USD 4 billion in 2019. This corresponds to an annual growth rate of 12,6 percent.
Many players in the biotechnology sphere are investing heavily in cancer vaccines, including prominent names such as Modern, known for its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. The American company is investing in the potential of using its mRNA technology to develop individualized therapeutic cancer vaccines to deliver a drug tailored to the patient's needs.
At this year's edition of American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) presented Moderna data from a phase II study evaluating their vaccine in combination with Merck checkpoint inhibitor KeytrudaAccording to this data, the vaccine can reduce the risk of melanoma recurrence by 44 percent compared to treatment with Keytruda alone. Moderna expects to begin phase III studies in late 2023.
In the Nordic countries, companies such as Ultimovacs, Evaxion and Mendus with their own cancer vaccine technologies. All three have their respective lead candidates in Phase II clinical evaluation, and the prospects for commercialization are intensifying.
As competition intensifies, there is renewed hope that a breakthrough in therapeutic cancer vaccine technology could come soon—by 2030, some experts believe. Investors are watching developments closely, and so are cancer patients around the world.