Lonza to develop and manufacture Ixogen's oncolytic virus

PsiVac has generated compelling efficacy data in killing a broad range of tumour cells, including head and neck, bladder, liver, pancreatic and ovarian

Under the terms of the agreement, PsiVac will grant Lonza the exclusive right to cGMP manufacture the Ixovex-1 product.

Lonza has carried out successful small-scale feasibility production studies, paving the way for upscaling and GMP production.

The process development activities were initiated at Lonza’s Houston (USA) facility. A Phase I clinical trial for Ixovex-1 is planned for Q2 2022.

Ivovex-1 is the first patented adenovirus with a single base pair mutation, enabling the creation of highly selective viruses that replicate rapidly.

To gain patent protection, other oncolytic viruses have been engineered to add or delete part of the viral genome to achieve selectivity for tumour cells, which has been found to weaken replication efficiency. Ixovex-1 has no insertion or deletion, making the therapy a unique and highly effective oncolytic virus.

In preclinical trials, PsiVac demonstrated that the replication of Ixovex-1 was significantly attenuated in healthy cells, suggesting this virus will be safer than more traditional oncolytic viruses. PsiVac has also generated compelling efficacy data in killing a broad range of tumour cells, including head and neck, bladder, liver, pancreatic and ovarian, suggesting that it could have potential utility in a wide range of solid tumour indications.