PROVIDENCE – Technology developed by EpiVax Therapeutics Inc. will power a new effort to produce individualized, mRNA vaccine-based cancer treatments in a partnership with Boston-based Greenlight Biosciences Holdings, PBC, the companies announced on Monday.
The collaboration will use Ancer, an automated, end-to-end platform created by Providence-based EpiVax biotechnology company, to combine individual patients’ tumor genome sequences with algorithms to create uniquely targeted vaccines.
Plans currently include vaccines targeted at bladder cancer and other solid tumors. The companies say the partnership will seek to “jointly develop and commercialize potential novel personalized mRNA-based vaccine candidates for a wide range of oncology indications.”
GreenLight will oversee the designs, formulation and manufacturing of the mRNA vaccines.
In a statement, EpiVax Therapeutics CEO Nicole Ruggerio said that the company has “found the ideal partner for our personalized vaccine program in GreenLight Biosciences.
“Combining our advanced Ancer pipeline for personalized cancer vaccine design with GreenLight’s expertise in mRNA production is a win-win for the companies and for cancer patients,” Ruggerio added.
The Ancer platform can produce personalized vaccines in hours, compared to a previous process that required days, EpiVax stated.
EpiVax Therapeutics was incorporated in 2017 as an extension of EpiVax, Inc., which was founded in 1998 by Dr. Annie De. Groot and Bill Martin.
Jacquelyn Voghel is a PBN staff writer. You may reach her at Voghel@PBN.com.
