Lehi, Utah, Dec. 17, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lehi, Utah, December 17, 2025 – CancerVax, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough universal cancer treatment platform that uses the body’s immune system to treat cancer, today announced that recent in-vitro studies have confirmed that two key components of the Company’s novel technology performed exceptionally well. The next step is to put them together into a complete therapeutic lipid nanoparticle (“LNP”) for animal testing.
The CancerVax platform is designed to harness the body’s existing immunity to detect, mark, and kill cancer cells with precision. At the core of the platform are customizable nanoparticles that use a two-step cell-targeting mechanism.
- Detection: The nanoparticles first bind to surface proteins highly associated with the target cancer cells (“Marker1”).
- Activation: Once inside the cancer cell, the nanoparticles release proprietary “Smart mRNA” payloads that are only activated in the presence of cancer-specific genetic signatures (“Marker2”). These Smart mRNAs instruct the cancer cells to produce proteins associated with well-immunized diseases like measles. This effectively “tricks” the immune system into killing cancer cells as if they were common diseases.
In recent in-vitro studies using pancreatic and liver cancer cell lines, the Company received two compelling results that provided confidence in moving forward with animal studies using tumor bearing mice. The first was that the Marker1 LNPs were absorbed into cancer cells with high efficiency. The second was that Marker2 Smart mRNAs were strongly activated in cancer cells and strongly deactivated in healthy human liver cells.
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Dr. George Katibah, Chief Scientific Officer of CancerVax, commented, “These in vitro results support the core design of our platform and development objectives: a targeted lipid nanoparticle that is preferentially taken up by cancer cells, paired with a Smart mRNA payload that is selectively active in tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue. Together, this enables a novel CancerVax nanoparticle designed to mark cancer cells for immune recognition by leveraging established immune memory pathways. Our mRNA-LNP foundation is built on clinically validated and commercially established technologies. We combined proprietary LNP modifications with novel mRNA programming to target cancer in a new and differentiated way.”
Dr. Adam Grant, Principal Scientist, added, “It took a lot of computational biology to find the Marker1s and Marker2s that we need for our target cancer indications. It’s really exciting to see that our chosen Marker1 can target multiple cancer types and that our Marker2 shows strong preferential expression towards cancer cells. These positive results give us confidence that we’ll be able to effectively test our therapy in mouse models using these cell lines. In the upcoming mouse studies, we’ll be able to determine how our therapeutic approach compares to other immunotherapies. Since our therapy harnesses the power of existing immunity rather than trying to engineer new immunity, I anticipate that the CancerVax approach will induce a much stronger immune response against tumor cells. Our novel trick of the immune system may be the difference between merely extending life by a few months to a revolutionary and effective cancer treatment.”
To learn more about the CancerVax platform, please watch the Short Explainer Video at https://cancervax.com/explainer
About CancerVax
CancerVax is a pre-clinical biotech company developing a novel Universal Cancer Treatment platform that will be customizable, as an injection, to treat many types of cancer. Our innovative approach DETECTS, MARKS, and KILLS only cancer cells. By making cancer cells look like well-immunized common diseases, such as measles or chickenpox, we intend to use the body's natural immune system to easily kill the cancer cells. We look forward to the day when treating cancer will be as simple as getting a shot — a better way to fight cancer. To learn more, please visit www.CancerVax.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations, and assumptions regarding the future of our business, plans and strategies, projections, anticipated events and trends, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks, and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict, many of which are outside our control. Our actual results and financial condition may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date it is made. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise.
Press Contact:
CancerVax, Inc.
Tel: (805) 356-1810
communications@CancerVax.com
