Argos Therapeutics Announces Initiation of Melanoma Vaccine Trial

Argos Therapeutics has announced the start of a clinical trial using a novel personalized melanoma vaccine based on the company's proprietary technology. The product is made from the patient's own tumor RNA and immune cells and Argos says it is the first of its kind to be developed for melanoma.

This investigator-sponsored trial marks an expansion by the company into a second form of cancer. Studies will test Argos' RNA-loaded autologous dendritic cell vaccine among patients with Stage IV melanoma. The trial will be conducted at the University Hospital of Erlangen in Erlangen, Germany.

Argos' RNA-loaded dendritic cell vaccine is currently in a Phase I/II corporate-sponsored clinical trial for renal (kidney) cell cancer at five sites across the United States and Canada. According to Lothar Finke, M.D., chief medical officer and vice president, regulatory affairs for Argos, the company is applying the same technology and process to the melanoma trial.