Morphogenesis to Begin Clinical Trials on Promising Cancer Therapy (WLRN)

A UF startup based in Tampa has received approval to start clinical trials on a new form of gene therapy to treat cancerous tumors.

Morphogenesis, Inc. will begin the trials on six patients with an aggressive form of skin cancer at Moffitt Cancer Center this summer.

The therapeutic vaccine is injected into a cancerous tumor and triggers a patient’s immune system to destroy it.

A protein in the vaccine acts as a beacon for the immune system, which destroys the tumor cells that are expressing the beacon, said Morphogenesis CEO Pat Lawman. The immune cells then go throughout the body and kill other similar tumor cells, she said.

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