Scancell Holdings Plc, (AIM: SCLP), the developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines, announces that Dr Richard Goodfellow has been appointed Joint Chief Executive Officer as the Company enters the next phase of its development. The Board recognises that Dr Goodfellow’s position has evolved into a separate leadership role from that held by Professor Lindy Durrant, including the management of Scancell’s commercial activities, investor and City liaison and management of the Company’s exit strategy.
David Evans, Chairman, commented:
“The Board recognises Richard’s skills and endeavours as being distinct and separate from Lindy’s. He continues to show exceptional leadership built on hard work and a passion to drive shareholder value.”
For further information contact:
Scancell Holdings Plc
Professor Lindy Durrant/Dr Richard Goodfellow
+ 44 (0)207 245 1100
Hansard Communications
Adam Reynolds/Guy McDougall
+ 44 (0)207 245 1100
Zeus Capital - Nominated Adviser
Ross Andrews/Tom Rowley
+ 44 (0)161 831 1512
XCAP Securities Plc - Broker
John Belliss/Parimal Kumar
+44 (0) 207 101 7070
About Scancell
Scancell is developing novel therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases based on its groundbreaking ImmunoBody® technology platform. Scancell’s first cancer vaccine SCIB1, which entered clinical trials in 2010, is being developed for the treatment of melanoma.
Treating cancer by vaccination allows small non-toxic doses of a vaccine to be administered to a patient, stimulating an immune response. Effective cancer vaccines need to target dendritic cells to stimulate both parts of the cellular immune system; the helper cell system where inflammation is stimulated at the tumour site; and the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte or CTL response where immune system cells are primed to recognise and kill specific cells.
A limitation of many cancer vaccines currently in development is that they cannot specifically target dendritic cells in vivo. Several groups have demonstrated successful vaccination by growing dendritic cells ex vivo, pulsing them with tumour antigens and re-infusing them. However, this procedure is patient specific, time consuming and expensive. Scancell has developed its breakthrough patent protected ImmunoBody® technology to overcome these limitations.
An ImmunoBody® is a human antibody or fusion protein engineered to express helper cell and CTL epitopes from tumour antigens over-expressed by cancer cells. Antibodies are ideal vectors for carrying T cell epitopes from tumour antigens as they have long half-lives and can effectively target dendritic cells via their Fc receptors, allowing efficient stimulation of both helper and CTL responses.
The Immunobody® technology can be adapted to provide the basis for treating any tumour type and may also be of potential utility in the development of vaccines against hepatitis, HIV and other chronic infectious diseases.