Biolife Science $5m ASX listing to progress cancer vaccine

Biolife Science will be acquired by Perth-based Acuvax (ASX:ACU). The Patersons-managed raising aims to generate up to $5 million for phase II clinical trials of Biolife’s HER-Vaxx vaccine. The vaccine has been shown to stimulate the production of the anti-tumour HER-2 antibodies in a phase I trial in patients with metastatic breast cancer.

It is expected HER-Vaxx will provide a potentially more potent alternative to Roche’s injectable antibody, Herceptin, which induces similar anti-tumour activity via HER-2 antibodies. Herceptin is currently one of the world’s most successful cancer drugs with sales of US$6.4 billion in 2012.

An Investigational New Drug (IND) application is expected to be filed with the FDA in Q3, 2013. Biolife has appointed Swiss vaccine producer Pevion Biotech AG to manufacture the HER-Vaxx vaccine in preparation for the commencement of the phase II clinical study.

The incoming management team includes biotechnology executives and company builders Dr Roger Aston and Mr Paul Hopper. Aston has held leadership roles with ASX-listed companies Peptech, Cambridge Antibody, Clinuvel, pSivida and Mayne Pharma. Hopper is Head of the Life Sciences Desk of US investment bank Cappello Capital Corp and is a director of ASX-listed Viralytics and pSivida.

Dr Axel Hoos has been elected Director of the Board. Hoos is Vice President, Oncology R&D with GlaxoSmithKline.

“Given the comparatively low levels of investment activity in Europe, the opportunity has arisen to progress this groundbreaking vaccine with Australian funds for clinical studies in Europe and possibly also in Australia,” Aston said.

After undergoing a 200 to 1 share consolidation, Acuvax is seeking to raise up to $5 million through the placement of up to 25 million shares at $0.20 each - giving Biolife an initial market cap of $11.3 million and paving the way for the phase II trials of HER-Vaxx following approval of an FDA IND application.

Stomach cancer and breast cancer are among the most virulent forms of cancer, killing more than 1.2 million people globally each year. The market for stomach cancer drugs alone is projected to rise to nearly $1.4 billion by 2020 - with nearly 20% of patients suffering from HER-2 positive forms of the disease. Between 25-30% of breast cancers are HER-2 positive.

Acuvax shares were trading at $0.001 at about 9 am Thursday.