Scancell Holdings - BULFORD TIPS SCANCELL - SCANCELL HOLDINGS (SCLP). Last week...

SCANCELL HOLDINGS (SCLP). Last week Scancell doubled in value after a breakthrough which "has the potential to transform the therapeutic cancer field".

I featured Scancell in this column in March. At that time I told you that Scancell has developed a therapeutic DNA vaccine. Once injected, this DNA is then read by cells which start to make specific proteins. The body recognises these proteins as foreign. This, in turn, awakens the immune system, which then produces ‘T cells’ that zap the cancer tumours and prevent the spread of the disease.

This vaccine is now in human trials with results expected next year. But in the meantime Scancell has gone a step further….

A CANCER VACCINE IS THE HOLY GRAIL

Scancell has now developed a platform technology called Moditope that could boost the effectiveness of the many therapeutic cancer vaccines that are under development, at Scancell and elsewhere. The field of cancer vaccines is a highly promising one, and many experts believe that immunotherapy - the use of the body’s own immune system - can be the most effective weapon against cancer.

Scancell’s Moditope seeks to improve the impact of the CD4 T-cells that destroy tumours.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS

Antigens are proteins that exist on the surface of cells. Some antigens are much more common on the surface of cancer cells than of normal cells. These cancer specific antigens can form the basis for developing vaccines that selectively alert the immune system to find and destroy them.

The particular part of the antigen that is recognised by the immune system is called the epitope. The immune system works by recognising these epitopes and then sending out CD8 and CD4 T-cells to kill the cancer cells.

But while it is relatively easy to tell CD8 cells what to do, it’s far harder to get a response from the CD4 T-cells. Scancell has found a way to force the CD4 T-cells to wake up and start killing cancer cells.

In short, Scancell's Moditope technology produces killer CD4 T-cells that destroy tumours, but without toxicity. It can potentially boost the impact of many different types of cancer vaccine.

DANCING FOR JOY

I’m assured that Professor Lindy Durrant, the brains behind this invention, as I write to you is dancing for joy.

When I spoke to joint chief executive Dr Richard Goodfellow he gave the usual warnings about the need for lengthy future trials and the uncertainty of outcomes. But nonetheless, he is clearly excited.

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