Improving Peptide-Based Anti-Cancer Vaccines with Phosphatase Inhibitors

Introduction

Peptides have great potential for vaccines. Peptide-based vaccines aim to increase the population and activity of pathogen/cancer-recognizing T cells by administering antigenic peptides carrying epitopes for major histocompatibility (MHC) class I and II.

Mechanism of Action

These peptides are endocytosed by dendritic cells (DCs), followed by intracellular proteolytic processing to release the epitopes, the loading of the epitopes on MHC, and finally the presentation to antigen-specific T cells.

Current Challenges

Despite numerous studies showing immunogenicity in preclinical settings, peptide-based vaccines have failed to show efficacy in clinical trials. One reason for this limited efficacy is that too low amounts of epitopes are presented on MHC.

Proposed Solution

Thus, one way to improve peptide-based vaccines is to enhance their intracellular processing for MHC presentation by DCs. In this project, we will explore a novel approach for increasing the cross-presentation efficiency.

Commercialization Strategy

Moreover, we will perform pre-commercialization studies aimed at:

1. Protecting the intellectual property
2. Defining the commercialization strategy
3. Enhancing our industrial network

Expected Outcomes

We expect that our strategy will raise interest, as many pharmaceutical companies are developing peptide-based vaccines.