PDC*line Pharma, a clinical stage biotech company developing a new class of potent and scalable active immunotherapies for cancer, announced the selection of the PDC*neo+ project for funding by the Walloon region and BioWin, the health cluster for Wallonia. This is the result of a call for proposals on R&D projects in the field of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMP). Members of the project consortium will receive €8.1 million ($8.9 million) in funding, including €4.7 million ($5.1 million) for PDC*line Pharma. The total budget is €12.5 million ($13.7 million).
The project aims to develop PDC*neo+, a personalised therapeutic vaccine for colorectal cancer using PDC*line Pharma’s innovative PDC*line technology. Targeting unique neoantigens in each colorectal cancer patient, PDC*neo+ represents a groundbreaking approach in cancer immunotherapy.
Globally, colorectal cancer (CRC) is among the most prevalent and deadly cancers, with a high recurrence rate post-surgery and chemotherapy. PDC*neo+ is designed as an adjuvant treatment to prevent relapses in high-risk patients with stages II, III and certain stage IV CRCs. Its action post-chemotherapy potentially makes it a pioneering treatment in CRC.
This project is a collaborative effort involving several key partners. OncoDNA contributes its expertise in personalised medicine and liquid biopsies, focusing on neoantigen identification and circulating tumor DNA analysis. SalamanderU is developing a compact isolator for decentralised vaccine production to bring manufacturing closer to the clinical centers. Academic centers UCLouvain – IREC (Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique)/MIRO (Molecular Imaging, Radiotherapy and Oncology) and ULB-BCTL (Breast Cancer Translational Research Laboratory) offer essential support in translational research and clinical trial execution.
The main goal of the project is to confirm the clinical feasibility and safety of PDC*neo+ in a phase I trial.