Advaxis, Inc. announced a research collaboration agreement with the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to conduct preclinical studies evaluating the Company’s Lm technology in mouse tumor models of glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). Specifically, the collaboration with Dr. Vaithi Arumugaswami’s group at UCLA’s Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology will investigate anti-tumor immunity and anti-tumor responses generated by Lm vaccines that express diverse glioblastoma neoantigens.
“We are excited that Dr. Arumugaswami and his colleagues at UCLA will investigate the potential of our Lm technology platform in GBM, one of the deadliest cancers,” said Andres Gutierrez, Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Advaxis. “Contrary to other tumor types, GBM has not seen much success in targeting by immunotherapeutic agents due to a low tumor mutation burden, high tumor heterogeneity and presence of the blood brain barrier, among other factors. Hence, Dr. Arumugaswami’s characterization of the neoantigen landscape and immune responses to Lm- constructs may lead to the development of novel therapies with clinical activity in this elusive cancer.”