Oncophage^® patient-specific cancer vaccine

An investigational product

The Technology Behind the Vaccine

Antigenics’ patented flagship technology utilizes heat shock proteins (HSPs), a ubiquitous class of molecules that play key roles in immune response. Because HSPs associate with virtually all of a cell’s peptides (pieces of proteins), a particular cancer’s ‘fingerprint’ may be captured by isolating HSP-peptide complexes from the cancer cells.

Antigenics’ investigational, patient-specific, therapeutic cancer vaccine Oncophage^® (vitespen; formerly HSPPC-96) is designed to capture this fingerprint and use it to trigger the body’s immune system to attack a patient’s specific cancer. This precision is intended to leave healthy tissue unaffected, minimizing the debilitating side effects associated with traditional cancer treatments.

Antigenics is also working to develop infectious disease treatments using HSP technology. AG-707 is an investigational therapeutic vaccine program for the treatment of genital herpes that represents the company’s first non–patient-specific application of its HSP technology. HSP technology is also being explored in the development of treatments for autoimmune disorders.

Learn more about HSP technology.