Background on the cancer vaccine program A clinical-stage biotech company approached KCAS Bio to support their oncology immunotherapy program, a first-in-class cancer vaccine leveraging pathogen-derived peptide sequences sharing high homology with disease-associated protein variants expressed in cancer cells. The sponsor wanted to monitor and characterize vaccine-specific immune responses, evaluate…

What are functional assays? Understanding the interactions between drugs and biological systems is critical for the success of a new drug. One key tool in this process is functional assays. Functional assays in drug development are customized assays that evaluate the impact of drugs on the functionality of cells.

Originally developed to monitor B cells producing antigen- or pathogen-specific antibodies, the ELISpot assay is widely used for evaluating vaccine-induced wanted immunogenicity. However, thanks to its high sensitivity, it is also a valuable tool for investigating unwanted immunogenicity, expanding its applications beyond traditional vaccine research.