Scancell Completion of Manufacture

 

TIDMCBF 
 
 
Cobra Bio-Manufacturing PLC 
02 November 2009 
 
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| For Immediate Release              |                  2nd November 2009 | 
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Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc 
Completion of GMP manufacture for Scancell's SCIB1 Clinical Trial 
 
 
Keele, UK: Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc (AIM: CBF), the international manufacturer 
of biopharmaceuticals, is pleased to announce that the current Good 
Manufacturing Practice ('cGMP') production of Scancell Holdings Plc's, 
(PLUS:SCLP) the parent company of Scancell Limited ('Scancell'), the developer 
of therapeutic cancer vaccines based on its patented ImmunoBody  platform, SCIB1 
DNA vaccine has been successfully completed ahead of the planned clinical trials 
that are expected to commence on schedule in H1 2010. 
 
 
SCIB1 is being developed for the treatment of melanoma. The vaccine has been 
developed using Scancell's patent-protected ImmunoBody  technology platform that 
overcomes the current limitations of most cancer vaccines by generating the 
high-avidity T-cells that kill cancer cells. Melanoma kills over 1,800 people 
every year in the UK, with over 130,000 new cases of the disease being reported 
annually worldwide. Advanced melanoma currently has a very poor prognosis with 
late stage (stage IV) disease having a median survival of approximately 6 
months. 
 
 
The final release of the product for SCIB1 clinical trials is anticipated mid-Q4 
2009 and will be undertaken by Cobra's in-house QP. 
 
 
David Evans, Chairman of Scancell, commented: 
 
 
"Cobra Biomanufacturing has done an excellent job manufacturing our SCIB1 DNA 
vaccine on time and on budget. This is another important step forward towards 
our goal of starting clinical trials with SCIB1 in the first half of 2010." 
 
 
Simon Saxby, Chief Executive of Cobra Biomanufacturing said: 
 
 
"It has been a pleasure to work with Scancell on the production of their SCIB1 
vaccine. The two teams have worked closely together to make this a highly 
successful project and we wish Scancell every success with their clinical 
trials. The Cobra team look forward to working with Scancell in the future." 
 
 
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For further information, please contact: 
 
 
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| Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc            |      Tel: [phone] | 
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| Simon Saxby, Chief Executive Officer  |                                | 
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| Buchanan Communications               |      Tel: [phone] | 
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| Tim Anderson/ Camilla Bernhardt       |                                | 
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| College Hill Life Sciences            |      Tel: [phone] | 
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| Kathryn Robertson                     |                                | 
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|                                       |                                | 
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| Seymour Pierce (NOMAD & Broker)       |      Tel: [phone] | 
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| Chris Howard/Christopher Wren         |                                | 
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Notes to Editors: 
 
 
About Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc: 
Cobra Biomanufacturing Plc is a leading international manufacturer of 
biopharmaceuticals to the lifescience industry. Founded in 1992, Cobra provides 
innovative manufacturing solutions to the biopharmaceutical industry covering 
DNA, virus, cellular therapeutics and recombinant protein products. 
 
 
Cobra has developed a range of unique, patented technologies, which underpin a 
successful revenue generating contract manufacturing business. 
 
 
www.cobrabio.com 
 
 
About Scancell 
 
 
Scancell is developing novel therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancer 
and infectious diseases based on its groundbreaking ImmunoBody  technology 
platform. Scancell's first cancer vaccine SCIB1 is being developed for the 
treatment of melanoma and will enter clinical trials in early 2010. 
 
 
Treating cancer by vaccination allows small non-toxic doses of a vaccine to be 
administered to a patient, stimulating an immune response. Effective cancer 
vaccines need to target dendritic cells to stimulate both parts of the cellular 
immune system; the helper cell system where inflammation is stimulated at the 
tumour site; and the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte or CTL response where immune system 
cells are primed to recognise and kill specific cells. 
 
 
A limitation of many cancer vaccines currently in development is that they 
cannot specifically target dendritic cells in vivo. Several groups have 
demonstrated successful vaccination by growing dendritic cells ex vivo, pulsing 
them with tumour antigens and re-infusing them. However, this procedure is 
patient specific, time consuming and expensive. Scancell has developed its 
breakthrough patent protected ImmunoBody  technology to overcome these 
limitations. 
 
 
An ImmunoBody  is a DNA vaccine encoding a human antibody or fusion protein 
engineered to express helper cell and CTL epitopes from tumour antigens 
over-expressed by cancer cells. Antibodies are ideal vectors for carrying T cell 
epitopes from tumour antigens as they can effectively target dendritic cells via 
their Fc receptors, allowing efficient stimulation of high avidity and high 
frequency helper and CTL responses. 
 
 
The ImmunoBody  technology can be adapted to provide the basis for treating any 
tumour type and may also be of potential utility in the development of vaccines 
against hepatitis, HIV and other chronic infectious diseases. 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
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