Virax files prostate cancer therapy patent

Immune-based drug developer Virax Holdings (ASX:VHL) has announced it had filed a patent relating to a potential new prostate cancer therapy.

The development came 10 months to the day after Virax entered into a collaboration with the Royal Adelaide Hospital's Cancer Centre to develop an immune-based therapy for the disease.

Describing the step as a milestone, the company said it had filed the patent on June 21. CEO Dr David Beames said in a statement that the company's early development work was progressing well, with pre-clinical trials planned for early next year.

The prostate project, being conducted with RAH's Dr Michael Brown, is utilising Virax's platform Co-X-Gene technology in a fowlpox virus vector. At the time the collaboration was struck in August last year, Virax said it had a short list of leads that were to undergo testing in the quest for a lead drug candidate.

A spokesperson for the company was unavailable to comment on the new patent today.

The program represents the second product in Virax's portfolio, the other being a Phase I/IIa clinical trial of an HIV treatment. The Melbourne company is also involved in investigating new therapies for other cancers, infectious diseases and autoimmune disorders.