Our second product candidate, JX-963 is currently in the pre-IND phase. JX-963 was engineered from a strain of vaccinia virus that is more potent compared to the attenuated vaccine strain. To augment the safety profile of this product candidate, two viral genes were deleted. The goal of these deletions is to restrict replication to cells with large nucleotide pools (e.g. cancer cells) and cells with activation of the EGFR-Ras pathway, a common mutation in many cancer types. Like JX-594, JX-963 produces an immunostimulatory protein that can enhance the host immune response against cancer cells.
Clinical study is planned in Canada sponsored by National Cancer Institute of Canada under the leadership of Dr. Elizabeth Eisenhauer in multiple cancer types.