Immunotherapy company Scancell Holdings plc (LSE:SCLP) announced on Monday that it has entered into a strategic partnership with the NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP) to expedite recruitment for the fourth cohort of its Phase 2 SCOPE study, evaluating the intradermal delivery of its second-generation DNA cancer vaccine, iSCIB1+, in patients with advanced unresectable melanoma.

This collaboration, coordinated by the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit, enables NHS hospitals across the UK to refer eligible patients directly into the trial. Scancell becomes the first UK-based company to participate in the CVLP initiative, and iSCIB1+ is the first DNA vaccine to be included in the programme. Patient enrolment under this partnership is expected to begin in May 2025.

iSCIB1+ is designed to enhance immune activation by targeting antigen-presenting cells through CD64 and expanding high-avidity T cells to generate durable anti-tumour responses. The vaccine builds on Scancell's ImmunoBody platform and AvidiMab technology, incorporating melanoma-specific epitopes to broaden patient eligibility beyond the HLA-restricted population treatable with SCIB1.

The SCOPE study is a multi-centre, open-label Phase 2 trial (NCT04079166) assessing SCIB1 and iSCIB1+ in combination with checkpoint inhibitors, across four cohorts. Interim data from cohort 1, using SCIB1 intramuscularly with ipilimumab and nivolumab, showed 80% progression-free survival and 20% complete response. Recruitment for cohort 3 using iSCIB1+ intramuscularly has completed, while cohort 4, in partnership with CVLP, will evaluate intradermal administration.

Data from all cohorts will support the design of a randomised trial planned for the second half of 2026. Clinical readouts from cohorts 1 and 3 are expected mid-2025, with data from cohort 4 anticipated later in the year.