Immunicum recently optimized its core-concept into a new type of vaccine (adjuvant) concept, which currently goes under the working name COMBIG. The new concept is also based on allogeneic DCs and circumvents the need to combine the new adjuvant with allogeneic tumor antigens or tumor cells in vitro for creation of an effective cancer vaccine. Since the new COMBIG-adjuvant can be administered directly into tumors, recruitment of monocytes and activation of DCs occurs inside the tumor where there already are extremely high amounts of tumor specific antigens, which the recruited DCs can engulf and thus get loaded with. There are three major advantages of this concept:

1) The adjuvant production is patient independent.

2) The concept utilizes patients’ own tumor antigens, thus guaranteeing that the optimal battery of tumor-antigens is used for each and every patient in the activation of a tumor-specific immune response.

3) Immunicum does not have to inlicense antigens from third parties.

Ideally, an autologous antigen would be used in combination with a very potent adjuvant, a combination which Immunicum’s adjuvant/vaccine is able to offer. Immunicum recently submitted provisional patent applications to protect the new COMBIG-concept (IMPROVED COMPOSITION FOR INHIBITING TUMOR CELL PROLIFERATION, application numbers: 1050133-6 and US 61/303,153).