STI Foundation

IPS Biopharma AG is a Swiss biotech company developing an innovative cancer immunotherapy deployable against a variety of solid tumors. The proprietary immune-activating drug, galactated chitosan (GC), is injected directly into a tumor after an ablation in the personalized cancer immunotherapy called inCVAX. GC transforms the standard of care localized tumor ablation into a systemically active cancer immunotherapy, providing long-term immunity against the cancer. Notably, unlike other personalized immunotherapies, no lab workup from harvested cells is needed to induce a personalized immune activation against each patient’s unique cancer. A phase I investigator initiated study in late stage metastatic breast cancer produced encouraging early clinical data, including some complete responses. Additionally, in established animal models of metastatic cancer, synergy with recently approved checkpoint inhibitor drugs demonstrating significantly improved treatment efficacy has been observed. The Swiss phase I/II clinical trial is expected to initiate in 2018. STI support has enabled key mechanism-of-action research, positioning the company to enter clinical stage and to further develop the asset.