BriaCell's Lead Candidate Bria-IMT™ Shows Promising Results For Advanced Breast Cancer Patients

The world of biotech is having what some are calling a golden age. Many companies are presenting new and innovative drugs to the FDA for approval and later the public for consumption. Smart Beta EFTs like SPDR S&P Biotech XBI (“XBI”) and iShares Biotechnology IBB (“IBB”) are bringing a lot of awareness and attention to the field for investors to get excited about.

BriaCell Therapeutics Corp. BCTX BCTXW BCT (“BriaCell” or the “Company”) presented positive initial efficacy data in its 2021-2022 cohort of 12 advanced breast cancer patients for its clinical study of Bria-IMT™ immunotherapy treatment during the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) 37th Annual Meeting.

Breast cancer is still one of the deadliest cancers globally. Each year in the U.S. there are about 264,000 new diagnoses and about 42,000 women and 500 men die each year from breast cancer. The average risk that a woman will develop breast cancer sometime in her lifetime is around 13%. For certain populations that risk is higher; breast cancer is the number one cause of cancer death for Hispanic women.

BriaCell is an immuno-oncology-focused biotechnology company developing targeted and effective approaches for the management of cancer. BriaCell’s lead candidate Bria-IMT is marketed as an off-the-shelf personalized cellular approach to immunotherapy for the treatment of advanced solid tumors. The targeted patients are advanced breast cancer patients or terminal breast cancer patients. 

The Bria-IMT™ study showed disease control, tumor shrinkage, and potential survival benefits among 12 patients in Phase I/IIa when in combination with Incyte’s retifanlimab. 70% of patients showed either disease control or progression-free survival benefits compared with their previous therapy attempts.

Prior to the BriaCell study, the 12 patients had each failed at least 2 previous attempts at therapy regimens like chemotherapy or “targeted” therapy. The Bria-IMT clinical success is arguably even more impressive with this in mind.

“We are very pleased to report that our combination therapy with Incyte’s retifanlimab produced clear evidence of tumor shrinkage and showed potential survival benefit in heavily pre-treated advanced breast cancer patients,” stated Dr. William V. Williams, BriaCell’s President & CEO. “We interpret these results to offer a potential opportunity for treatment in otherwise terminal patients. It’s very important to emphasize that these responses and clinical benefit occurred in women with advanced-stage breast cancer who have exhausted other treatment options.”

What Else Does BriaCell Have In The Pipeline?

BriaCell also reports it is currently developing next-generation off-the-shelf personalized immunotherapies targeting patients with advanced breast cancer and advanced prostate cancer. Bria-OTS+™, for advanced breast cancer, and Bria-PROS™, for advanced prostate cancer, are designed to activate naïve T cells and produce a strong immune response in patients. 

The company is impressed with the current data showing the ability of Bria-OTS+™ and Bria-PROS™ to boost the immune system response and produce strong anti-tumor responses in patients with advanced cancers.

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