Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. In 2014 (the most recent year for which numbers are available) 172,258 men in the U.S. were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 28,343 men in the U.S. died from prostate cancer (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018).
Medigen is using the advanced RNA VLP vector technology. The RNA vector encoding prostate specific antigen (PSA) was encapsulated into virus-like particles (VLPs) as a vaccine against prostate cancer. The vaccine was evaluated in collaboration between the University of Maryland, Baltimore and Medigen and was supported by the NIH National Cancer Institute. Unique characteristics of Medigen’s experimental vaccine were established in the double-transgenic, “humanized” laboratory mouse model. The RNA-based vaccine efficiently mediated rapid clearance of PSA-expressing tumor cells and delayed tumor growth in experimental mice suggesting that clinical studies are warranted.
Publications:
Riabov V, Tretyakova I, Alexander RB, Pushko P, Klyushnenkova EN. Anti-tumor effect of the alphavirus-based virus-like particle vector expressing prostate-specific antigen in a HLA-DR transgenic mouse model of prostate cancer. Vaccine. 2015 Oct 5;33(41):5386-95.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov /pubmed/26319744