Next generation therapeutic vaccine for targeted cancer treatment

VacciNEXT is a next-generation therapeutic anti-cancer vaccine for targeted stimulation of the immune system against cancer. VacciNEXT offers a paradigm-shifting solution to the persistent challenges of cancer immunotherapy – overcoming tumour tolerance, limited antigenicity, and immunosuppressive microenvironments – through a first-in-class, multifunctional therapeutic vaccine that unites, in a single innovative construct, a rationally designed triple therapeutic action:- an immunogenic protein carrier.- an artificial antigen with improved binding affinity to antibodies, based on an aberrant glycoprotein overexpressed in up to 90% of epithelial cancers (Mucin 1 – MUC1), including gastrointestinal tumours, lung, pancreas and breast cancer.- a small-molecule immunomodulator, which ensures targeted immunostimulation at the tumour site, with reduced side effects.Our central hypothesis is that integrating tumour-specific antigen presentation and tumour-localised innate immune stimulation within a single, chemically-defined and site-selectively assembled construct will overcome both immune tolerance (enabling potent T-cell responses) and systemic toxicity – limitations that have so far stalled progress in cancer vaccine development.The project aims to propel this deep-tech vaccine from TRL2 into preclinical studies (TRL4). Under the coordination of Basinnov (expert in Oncology and Immunotherapy), the consortium integrates the expertise in translational biomedical research from GIMM (PT), in biotechnological advancements on antigen synthesis and design from Univ. La Rioja (ES) and in cutting-edge protein engineering from Univ. Cambridge (UK).