CreoSG Eyes Moderna's Phase 3 Cancer Vaccine 'Jackpot'... Platform Spotlight Shifts from Vaccines to Oncology

With growing interest in immuno-oncology technologies that utilize the patient’s own immune system to treat cancer in the global pharmaceutical and biotech markets, CreoSG’s recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV)-based platform technology is also gaining attention. The company is considering expanding the application scope of its proprietary SUV-MAP™ platform, which has been used for the development of infectious disease vaccines, to immuno-oncology and oncolytic virus fields.

Recently, positive results in Phase 3 clinical trials of personalized cancer vaccines by Moderna and Merck have heightened market interest in strategies that employ vaccine platforms for cancer treatment.

On August 19 (local time), Moderna and Merck announced that their “INTerpath-001” Phase 3 clinical trial evaluating combination therapy using the personalized neoantigen therapy “intismeran autogene (V940)” and the immune checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda met its primary endpoints, including recurrence-free survival and distant metastasis-free survival. This trial was conducted with 1,137 patients diagnosed with high-risk melanoma after complete resection.

This result is viewed as boosting interest not only in specific mRNA technologies but also in the next-generation therapeutic platforms that target cancer cells while simultaneously activating the patient’s immune responses.

The technology that CreoSG is focusing on is the rVSV-based viral vector, not mRNA. SUV-MAP is a platform designed to induce immune responses by loading target antigen genes onto attenuated recombinant VSV.

One of the main features of rVSV is its scalability as a platform, as it can target various diseases simply by changing the antigen gene. CreoSG has been accumulating related technological expertise by using rVSV technology in the development of infectious disease vaccine candidates, including for Ebola.

The company is now exploring the possibility of applying the unique properties of rVSV viral vectors to the oncology sector. In the oncolytic virus field in particular, strategies are being explored to use viruses to directly attack tumor cells, while also inducing immune responses via tumor-associated antigens generated during the process of cancer cell destruction.

Theoretically, the rVSV platform could target and lyse tumor cells, then expose tumor antigens and induce additional anti-tumor immune responses by immune cells. This approach aims for both direct tumor lysis and activation of the patient’s immune system against cancer, which aligns with recent trends in immuno-oncology drug development.

However, the recent success in Phase 3 trials of Moderna’s cancer vaccine does not directly prove the anti-cancer efficacy of CreoSG’s SUV-MAP. While Moderna is developing a personalized treatment strategy that utilizes mRNA to elicit patient-specific neoantigens, CreoSG is pursuing a different approach focused on targeting tumors and activating immune responses simultaneously using the characteristics of rVSV viral vectors.

CreoSG is aiming to evolve SUV-MAP into a universal rVSV platform applicable to a wide range of diseases, beyond just specific infectious disease vaccines. If the company expands its application from infectious disease vaccines to the oncolytic virus and immuno-oncology fields, the platform’s potential for commercial use could also broaden.

Possible integration with other biotech technologies is also under consideration. CreoSG is studying the technical feasibility of a next-generation immuno-oncology formulation combining Alteogen’s ALT-B4 technology with the rVSV platform. However, this does not signify the development or clinical success of any specific anti-cancer candidate; rather, it is an exploratory phase investigating the potential for combining SUV-MAP with other bio platforms.

The key to determining whether SUV-MAP will advance into the oncology field in the future will be tangible research and development outcomes. The critical points to watch include identification of concrete anti-cancer candidates, securing preclinical data, progress toward clinical trials, potential combination with existing immuno-oncology drugs, as well as joint development or technology transfer partnerships with global pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

If CreoSG’s rVSV technology leads to the actual development of anti-cancer candidates beyond infectious disease vaccines, the company’s business domain could shift from a vaccine-centric model to include the immuno-oncology sector.

A CreoSG official stated, “With the success of Moderna and Merck’s cancer vaccine clinical trials, there is growing interest not only in mRNA, but also in immuno-oncolytic viruses, viral vectors, and cancer vaccines, as diverse immune-based platforms. Our SUV-MAP platform has the potential to be positioned as a next-generation growth platform in the midst of these market changes.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.