Prima doubles active sites for cancer vaccine trial

Prima BioMed (ASX:PRR) has activated new European trial sites for the phase II/III trial of its CVac cancer vaccine candidate in ovarian cancer.

The company has added sites in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, Lithuania and Latvia to its large-scale CANVAS (CANcer VAccine Study) trial.

Prima said this expansion doubles the number of sites recruiting for the study. Recruitment is ongoing in Australia, Belarus, Ukraine and the US.

The CANVAS trial aims to recruit 1000 patients across over 100 hospitals in Australia, the USA, Europe and Asia.

Participants will be mucin 1 positive, epithelial ovarian cancer patients who have undergone optimal surgery and achieve complete remission after first-line chemotherapy.

The randomised, placebo-controlled study aims to evaluate whether CVac can improve the time patients remain in remission as compared to a placebo.

The trial will also investigate safety parameters, quality of life impact, manufacturing quality and additional laboratory assessments.

Prima BioMed was recently awarded a €3.8 million ($5.4 million) grant from the EU and a German state to fund clinical trials investigating CVac’s efficacy in three new cancer types.

Prima BioMed shares were trading 6.94% higher at $0.077 as of around 1.30 pm on Friday.