A phase I open-label clinical trial, evaluating the therapeutic vaccine hVEGF26-104/RFASE in patients with advanced solid tumors

Targeting the angiogenic growth factor VEGF with antibodies or fusion proteins is well established in anticancer therapy. However, the clinical benefit observed is usually rather modest and long-term treatment can be burdensome for patients. Inhibiting VEGF by active immunization instead offers the advantages of durable VEGF suppression and reduced frequency of hospital visits. Therefore we designed a first-in-human phase I clinical trial to investigate the safety and immunogenicity of the therapeutic vaccine hVEGF 26-104 / RFASE. The primary objectives of this ongoing study (NCT02237638) are to determine the safety and tolerability of the vaccine along with the ability to neutralize VEGF in serum. Here, the study protocol and preliminary results of the first patients included in the study are presented. m.wentink-layout.indd 134 22/04/2019 22:09