Defence Therapeutics Inc. announced the successful completion of a pre-clinical study evaluating the therapeutic potency of a second-generation ARM vaccine targeting solid tumors. The Accum technology holds a promising future with its versatile application in the development of various products. Accum is acting as an endosomal-damaging agent capable of enhancing bio-drug accumulation in target cells.

The Accum molecule can be modulated to generate a series of variants exhibiting novel, and sometimes, unexpected pharmacological properties. For instance, the Accum variant A1, when admixed with antigens, can cause protein aggregation and "turn on" various stress responses in mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) converting them to potent antigen presenting cells. The Defence team recently engineered a new dimer form of A1, named the A1-2 variant, which when used to stimulate MSCs, cures all treated mice with pre-established lymphoma.

These amazing results were obtained with the use of a dose equivalent to only 40% of the initial A1 dose used to generate the ARM vaccine. Defence has recently initiated the dry runs (establishing the manufacturing protocol) required by Health Canada to validate its GMP manufacturing steps required prior to launch its Phase I trial. With these runs expected to be completed this summer, Defence intends to submit its CTA application in third quarter of 2023.