7 March 2019 - - French biotechnology company Transgene (Euronext Paris: TNG) has decided to initiate clinical developments of its lead myvac candidate, TG4050, and the finalisation of its collaboration agreement with NEC, the company said.

This product is designed and manufactured by Transgene using its proprietary platform myvac (*1) and integrating neoantigens selected by NEC's Neoantigen Prediction System.

TG4050 capitalises on the tremendous progress in the field of artificial intelligence and on advances in genome sequencing to create an individualized immunotherapy, targeted to mutated antigens identified by sequencing and predicted to be relevant target by the NEC's algorithm.

Transgene will be responsible for the clinical development and will sponsor two clinical studies starting in H2 2019, cinlduing a study in ovarian cancer patients after first line surgery and chemotherapy and a study in head and neck cancer patient after surgery and radiation therapy.

These studies, which will be co-financed by Transgene and NEC, will evaluate safety and immunogenicity of TG4050 and, pave the way for combination studies with different classes of therapies.

myvac is a viral vector based, individualized immunotherapy platform that has been developed by Transgene to target solid tumors.

The myvac-derived products are designed to stimulate the patient's immune system, recognize and destroy tumors using the patient's own cancer specific genetic mutations.

Transgene has set up an innovative network that combines bioengineering, digital transformation, established vectorisation know-how and unique manufacturing capabilities.

NEC's neoantigen prediction utilizes its proprietary AI, such as graph-based relational learning, which is combined with other sources of data to discover candidate neoantigen targets.

NEC comprehensively evaluates the candidate neoantigens with a primary focus placed on its in-house MHC-binding affinity prediction.

These allow NEC to effectively prioritize the numerous candidate neoantigens identified in a single patient.

Transgene (Euronext: TNG) is a publicly traded French biotechnology company focused on designing and developing targeted immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases.

Transgene's programmes utilise viral vector technology with the goal of indirectly or directly killing infected or cancerous cells.

The company's lead clinical-stage programs are: TG4010, a therapeutic vaccine against non-small cell lung cancer, Pexa-Vec, an oncolytic virus against liver cancer, and TG4001, a therapeutic vaccine against HPV-positive head and neck cancers.

The company has several other programmes in clinical development, including TG1050 (a therapeutic vaccine for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B) and TG6002 (an oncolytic virus for the treatment of solid tumors).

With its proprietary Invir.IO, Transgene builds on its expertise in viral vectors engineering to design a new generation of multifunctional oncolytic viruses.

myvac, an individualised MVA-based immunotherapy platform designed to integrate neoantigens, completes this innovative research portfolio.

TG4050, the first candidate selected from the myvac platform, will enter the clinic for the treatment of ovarian cancer and head and neck cancer.