Imugene Limited announced it has received a Notice of Grant from the European Patent Office for Patent Application number 16779340.5 (granted patent number 1111/3283105) which protects its HER-Vaxx immunotherapy, currently in development for HER-2 positive gastric cancer. The patent titled "A VACCINE COMPOSITION AND USES THEREOF" protects the method of composition and method of use of Imugene's HER-Vaxx immunotherapy to 2036. Imugene's HER-Vaxx is a B-cell activating immunotherapy designed to treat tumours that over-express the HER-2/neu receptor, such as gastric, breast, ovarian, lung and pancreatic cancers.

The immunotherapy is constructed from several B cell epitopes derived from the extracellular domain of HER-2/neu. It has been shown in pre-clinical studies, in Phase I and now Phase 2 studies to stimulate a potent polyclonal antibody response to HER-2/neu, a well-known and validated cancer target.