Amazon (Nasdaq:AMZN) and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center are working together on a Phase 1 FDA-approved clinical study that will investigate a personalized neo-antigen peptide vaccine for melanoma and certain types of breast cancer.
According to a listing on clinicaltrials.gov, the study aims to recruit 20 participants.
Amazon will offer scientific and machine learning capabilities in the alliance with the Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
In particular, the Phase 1 study will focus on patients with stage IIIC-IV melanoma or hormone-receptor-positive HER2 negative breast cancer. In addition, patients’ cancer in the trial must either be metastatic or refractory.
Patients in the study will receive a weekly intramuscular injection of poly ICLC in weeks when no vaccine is administered. Poly ICLC is an immunostimulant composed of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid, carboxymethylcellulose and polylysine.
Two weeks after the pol ICLC therapy begins, patients will receive a personalized neo-antigen peptide vaccine intramuscularly once every four weeks. In addition, recipients will receive Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo (nivolumab) every 2 or 4 weeks.
The vaccine portion of the study will continue for 25 weeks, assuming the treatment appears to be successful at halting disease progression and has an acceptable safety profile. Patients will receive nivolumab every 2 or 4 weeks for up to 12 months.
Amazon has recently expanded its involvement in healthcare. Last year, it introduced an online prescription service. It has also introduced a telehealth service known as Amazon Care and has a medical diagnostics initiative.
According to a 2018 CNBC report, Amazon has a secretive initiative known as Grand Challenge working on ambitious healthcare-related projects.
Filed Under: clinical trials, Drug Discovery, Oncology
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