Calviri initiates trial of therapeutic vaccine for early-stage hemangiosarcoma cancer in dogs

First subject vaccinated with investigational vaccine for early-stage hemangiosarcoma in combination with standard treatment

Hemangiosarcoma, or HSA, is a common and uniformly fatal cancer in dogs, with particularly high incidence in some popular breeds.

PHOENIX, Sept. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Calviri, a biotech company developing off-the-shelf therapeutic and preventative cancer vaccines for dogs and people, has announced the launch of an investigational trial aimed at treating dogs with early-stage hemangiosarcoma. The Scout Out Canine Hemangiosarcoma study, or SOCH, seeks to determine if Calviri's pre-made vaccine can extend the life of dogs with stage 1 or stage 2 tumors when combined with standard care therapy which includes surgery and chemotherapy.

HSA is rare in humans but common in dogs, especially in golden retrievers. The cancer originates in the spleen and can spread to other sites. It is typically detected at later stages, but even when identified early, the life expectancy is between 5 and 11 months. The standard treatment involves surgically removing the tumorous spleen and administering chemotherapy.

While personalized cancer vaccines are showing promise for people when used with checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapy (e.g., Keytruda), those vaccines, which are tailored to individual mutations in tumor DNA, may be impractical to build and be prohibitively expensive for use in dogs.

Calviri has identified a different source of neoantigens created from tumor RNA variants. These RNA-error derived neoantigens are shared across patients and tumor types, allowing Calviri to design off-the-shelf vaccines for treating tumors. A recent clinical trial tested a preventative cancer vaccine made from similarly identified neoantigens in dogs.

Typically, cancer vaccines are used to treat later-stage tumors in both humans and dogs. The SOCH trial will be the first to focus on early-stage tumors, with the hope that treating tumors when they are smaller and less advanced will result in significantly higher survival rates.

Companion dogs will be enrolled at three leading academic veterinary oncology centers: the University of Wisconsin, Colorado State University and the University of California-Davis. Participants will be randomly assigned to either a control group receiving a mock vaccine or a test group receiving the investigational vaccine. All dogs in both groups will receive standard of care (surgery and chemotherapy) in addition to the mock or experimental vaccine. The trial is expected to last two years and will enroll up to 80 dogs.

Dr. David Vail, the clinical principal investigator, said, "HSA is a devastating diagnosis for dogs. We are hopeful that this unique vaccine will improve the prognosis."

Dr. Doug Thamm, director of clinical research at Colorado State University's Flint Animal Cancer Center who is directing the trial at CSU, added, "HSA is very aggressive. If this vaccine approach proves effective for HSA, there is a good chance it will work for other tumors."

Dr. Sami Al-Nadaf, director of the trial at UC-Davis, encouraged interested owners and veterinarians to email [email protected] for more information. "The faster we can enroll dogs, the sooner we will find out if the vaccine can help those diagnosed with HSA," he said.

The trial is funded by Calviri and a generous donation from David MacNeil in memory of his beloved golden retriever Scout who many remember from his appearances in several Super Bowl commercials.

MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected]

SOURCE Calviri, Inc.