The CVLP platform will speed up access to BioNTech and Genentech’s mRNA personalised cancer vaccines
The NHS has announced that it has treated its first patient in England with a personalised cancer vaccine in a clinical trial as part of NHS England’s new Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad (CVLP).
Following the launch of the trial, thousands of cancer patients in England are set to be fast-tracked to access personalised cancer vaccines to help find new life-saving treatments.
In partnership with Genomics England, the NHS CVLP will help speed up access to mRNA-personalised cancer vaccine clinical trials for cancer patients while accelerating the development of cancer vaccines as a form of treatment.
With 30 hospitals in England already signed up to participate, the scheme intends to collaborate with the pharmaceutical industry to include patients across many cancer types.
Taking place in several NHS trusts across the country to treat different types of cancer, patients who agree to take part will have a sample of their cancer tissue and a blood test taken to be referred to their nearest participating NHS site to take part in the research.
The vaccines, being jointly developed by biopharmaceutical companies BioNTech and Genentech, are designed to induce an immune response to prevent cancer from returning after surgery on the primary tumour by stimulating the patient’s immune system to recognise and potentially destroy remaining cancer cells.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive, NHS, commented: “These vaccine trials could one day offer us a way of vaccinating people against their own cancer to help save more lives.
“Our national match-making service will ensure as many eligible patients as possible get the opportunity to access them.”
In 2023, BioNTech announced a partnership with the UK government to provide up to 10,000 patients with precision cancer immunotherapies by 2030.
The German biotechnology company has already begun conducting clinical trials in the UK and the NHS CVLP has been helping to recruit eligible patients.
If successful, the vaccines being tested could be approved to become part of standard care in cancer treatment.
