Generex Announces Publication Of Abstract At ASCO 2012 Showing Potential Of Antigen Express AE37 Immunotherapeutic Cancer Vaccine Technology In Prostate Cancer

WORCESTER, Mass. and TORONTO, June 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Generex Biotechnology Corporation (OTCBB:GNBT) announced today publication of an abstract demonstrating a more broad and robust immunological response in AE37 treated patients with prostate cancer than previously suspected.  The AE37 immunotherapeutic cancer vaccine, currently in Phase II clinical trials in patients with breast cancer, is being developed by Generex wholly-owned subsidiary Antigen Express, Inc.. The abstract is published in conjunction with the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) as part of the Journal of Clinical Oncology (J Clin Oncol 30, 2012 (suppl; abstr e15125).

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The abstract, entitled "Effect of immunization with the Ii-Key modified HER2/neu(776-790) (AE37) peptide vaccine on pre-existent immunity to PSA in HLA-A24+ prostate cancer patients: Association with increased AE37-specific immunologic responses", examines the immunological response to PSA in patients who had received AE37 in a Phase I trial of AE37 in prostate cancer patients. While AE37 induces an immune response to the HER2 cancer-associated protein, the investigators reasoned that this response might serve to amplify immunological responses to other cancer related proteins occurring in the patient.

The study showed that eight patients in a clinical trial of AE37 had a preexistent immune response to the prostate-specific antigen (PSA). After receiving the AE37 vaccine, it was observed that patients not only had an augmented HER2 immunological response but surprisingly had a stronger response to PSA as well. This finding argues that many cancer patients may have existing immune responses against their cancer but that it is simply ineffective. Inducing a response to one cancer related antigen may help to tip the balance between tumor cell tolerance and tumor cell eradication in favor of eradication.

The AE37 immunotherapeutic cancer vaccine has been shown to generate a robust immunological response against HER2 in both breast and prostate cancer patients while a recent interim analysis has suggested a reduction in relapse in breast cancer patients receiving the vaccine in a controlled randomized trial. AE37 stimulates different types of immune cells (T cells) to specifically attack HER2 expressing cancer cells. A distinguishing feature of the vaccine is that it designed on a technology platform that more effectively delivers the vaccine to immune cells.

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