Member Article

Cancer treatment firm bounces back from losses

A developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines based in Nottingham has rebounded from a £1.7m loss in 2011.

Scancell, founded in 1997 as a spin-out from the University of Nottingham, made approximately £557,000 after the company’s antibody portfolio was sold.

Vaccines for lung cancer are in development, and the first clinical phase for Scancell’s new anti-tumour treatment has been passed.

The drug, which is called SCIB1, is a DNA “ImmunoBody®” vaccine that will treat melanoma. The treatment is currently in the second phase of clinical trials, and is being tested by hospitals in Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds and Southampton.

Scancell’s research team is headed up by Professor Lindy Durrant from the University of Nottingham, who is an expert in cancer immunotherapy.

David Evans, the firm’s non-executive chairman, stated: “The Board is confident that the research undertaken by Professor Durrant and her team will lead to the discovery of further vaccine candidates for other indications.

“Any such discoveries will provide further confirmation that the ImmunoBody® platform can deliver multiple product candidates and underpin the value of the business as a product plus platform proposition.

“The Board is pleased with the Company’s progress over the period, and would like to thank all those involved with Scancell for their dedication and support.”

Scancell has raised £10.5m of funding to date, and £1.58m of this total came from new share placement in July 2011.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Miranda Dobson .