BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. announced the initiation of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) manufacturing of its lead candidate for treating prostate cancer, Bria-Pros+ will provide clinical supplies for planned clinical trial use. Recently presented at SITC 2023, the pre-clinical proof-of-concept data demonstrated both feasibility and efficacy of BriaCell's platform of cellular cancer vaccines overall, with specific emphasis on Bria-Pros+.

BriaCell genetically engineers cancer cell lines to produce cytokines and co-stimulatory factors that significantly increase immune stimulation compared to the unmodified (parent) cancer cell lines. These cell lines also express patient-specific Human leukocyte antigens (HLA) alleles and potentially provide personalized off the shelf treatment. In the realm of cancer immunotherapy, the objective is to restore the body's natural anti-tumor immunity.

An optimal cancer immunotherapy should initiate or reinstate a persistent anti-tumor immune response via both complementary and diverse mechanisms resulting in a self-sustaining cycle of cancer immunity by both the innate and adaptive immune responses. The data highlighted at the SITC meeting demonstrated that Bria-Pros+ could effectively activate the natural immune response against tumor cells by both expressing cancer antigens, and by modulating the activity of innate and adaptive immune cells. These include helper T cells (CD4+), cytotoxic (killer) T cells (CD8+), and natural killer cells (both Classical NK cells and NKT cells).

Data previously presented at the SITC meeting is reproduced here in a different format. Data previously presented at the S ITC meeting is reproduced here in an different format. Figure 1 shows that Bria-Pros+ activates a range of immune cells in a modified mixed lymphocyte reaction.

After 48 hours of co-culture, immune cells were analyzed. CD4+ & CD8+ T cells, NK-T and Classical NK cells were activated as shown here as the % increase in activated cells following Bria-Pros+ stimulation compared with parent cell stimulation. With 299,010 new cases estimated to be diagnosed in 2024 and 35,250 projected deaths from prostate cancer in 2024, prostate cancer is expected to be the second leading cause of cancer death among men in 2024.

Current treatments for metastatic prostate cancer include immunotherapy, hormone therapy, chemotherapy and targeted treatments. Novel approaches are needed for advanced prostate cancer.