Warehouse-based, immunopeptidome-guided design of personalised peptide vaccines shows feasibility in clinical trial evaluation in CLL patients.

Unlabelled: Cancer peptide vaccination represents a promising therapeutic approach, but has been hampered by lack of suitable antigens and restricted applicability due to different HLA backgrounds of individual patients. We here introduce a novel warehouse-based concept for composition of personalized peptide vaccines and report on its successful application in a Phase II clinical trial in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) after first-line therapy. 26 CLL patients in at least partial remission (PR) after 6 months of immuno-chemotherapy were vaccinated with a personalized vaccine compiled from a premanufactured peptide warehouse comprising immunopeptidome-defined CLL-associated peptides.

Long-term efficacy of the peptide-based COVID-19 T cell activator CoVac-1 in healthy adults.

Objectives: T cell immunity is key for the control of viral infections including SARS-CoV-2, in particular with regard to immune memory and protection against arising genetic variants.

Methods: We recently evaluated a peptide-based SARS-CoV-2 T cell activator termed CoVac-1 in a first-in-human trial in healthy adults. Here, we report on long-term safety and efficacy data of CoVac-1 until month 12.

Phase I/II trial of a peptide-based COVID-19 T-cell activator in patients with B-cell deficiency.

T-cell immunity is central for control of COVID-19, particularly in patients incapable of mounting antibody responses. CoVac-1 is a peptide-based T-cell activator composed of SARS-CoV-2 epitopes with documented favorable safety profile and efficacy in terms of SARS-CoV-2-specific T-cell response. We here report a Phase I/II open-label trial (NCT04954469) in 54 patients with congenital or acquired B-cell deficiency receiving one subcutaneous CoVac-1 dose.