Under the agreement, UbiVac’s proprietary immunotherapy technology will be evaluated for use in preclinical studies of oral cancer, Fox said. Almost 46,000 Americans will be newly diagnosed with oral cancer this year, according to the Oral Cancer Foundation.
Janssen is a pharmaceutical company of Johnson & Johnson, headquartered in New Jersey.
The agreement marks UbiVac’s first major contact with a major pharmaceutical company, Fox said.
“It’s a first step,” he said. “It will allow us to gain confidence in the technology.”
UbiVac’s “DRibble” vaccine stimulates the immune system against cancer tumors. Providence and UbiVac have been studying the vaccine for use against various cancers, including prostate, lung, colon and breast.
Up until now, all UbiVac’s funding has been from the National Cancer Institute or from its two co-founders, Fox and Dr. Hong-Ming Hu of Providence.
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Elizabeth Hayes
Staff Reporter
Portland Business Journal
September 11, 2015