Scancell Holdings Plc, (AIM:SCLP), the developer of therapeutic cancer vaccines, is pleased to announce that a patent for its protein ImmunoBody® vaccine technology has been approved for grant in Japan. The patent has already been approved in the US, Europe and Australia.

Dr. Richard Goodfellow, Joint Chief Executive of Scancell, commented:

“This is a further important step in the development and commercialisation of the ImmunoBody® platform and provides further evidence to support the novelty of Scancell’s  ImmunoBody®  technology in another key pharmaceutical market.  Scancell will continue building its growing portfolio of intellectual property in parallel with driving the clinical trial programme on SCIB1 forward during 2013.”

The Directors of the issuer accept responsibility for this announcement.

-ENDS-

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About Scancell

Scancell is developing therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancer based on its ImmunoBody® and Moditope™ technology platforms. Scancell’s first cancer vaccine SCIB1 is being developed for the treatment of melanoma and is in Phase 1/2 clinical trials. Preliminary evidence from Part 1 of the study showing that SCIB1 produced an immune response which might be associated with clinical benefit in patients with malignant melanoma was released in December 2012.

Treating cancer by vaccination allows small non-toxic doses of a vaccine to be administered to a patient, stimulating an immune response. Effective cancer vaccines need to target dendritic cells to stimulate both parts of the cellular immune system; the helper cell system where inflammation is stimulated at the tumour site; and the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte or CTL response where immune system cells are primed to recognise and kill specific cells.

A limitation of many cancer vaccines currently in development is that they cannot specifically target dendritic cells in vivo. Several groups have demonstrated successful vaccination by growing dendritic cells ex vivo, pulsing them with tumour antigens and re-infusing them. However, this procedure is patient specific, time consuming and expensive. Scancell has developed its breakthrough patent protected ImmunoBody® technology to overcome these limitations.

Scancell has also identified and patented a series of modified epitopes that stimulate the production of killer CD4 that destroy tumours without toxicity. The Directors believe that the Moditope™ platform could have a profound effect on the way that cancer vaccines are developed.