Financial viability and technical evaluation of dendritic cell-carrying "vaccination nodes" for immunotherapy

Abstract

Cancer immunotherapy attempts to stimulate the immune system to reject and destroy tumor cells. Despite the amount of ongoing intensive research to prevent cancer, tumor cells continue to evade immune responses. Currently, dendritic cell vaccines are in development, in which autologous antigen-loaded dendritic cells are injected back into the patient in order to generate an appropriate immune response. Improving upon this idea, members of the Irvine laboratory are in development of an injectable dendritic cell based formulation that gels in situ around the tumor site. In this way, immune cells (most notably T cells) can be recruited and become activated against specific tumor antigens, and (hopefully) kill tumor cells. Recent studies have shown the potential benefit of incorporation of cytokine interleukin-15 complexed with its soluble receptor interleukin-5R[alpha], which is discussed. Economic considerations are also discussed, including topics such as intellectual property, barriers to entry, initial markets and market drivers, and entry into the current supply chain considerations. A business strategy is outlined and evaluated.