A WONDER DRUG?

Cancer experts aren't dubbing the investigational personalized vaccine the wonder drug just yet. In fact, it may never be used on its own as a cancer treatment, said William Chambers, director of clinical research and immunology at the American Cancer Society.

"I would hesitate to call it the wonder drug," he told DOTmed News. "They've done a really great job, and let's continue to look and see where it goes from here."

Chambers pointed out that the researchers were smart to include vaccination as a part of treatment for brain tumors. The vaccine is a good way to attack certain elements of the tumor that are hard to get to through surgery or chemotherapy.

But ultimately, a multiple-strategy approach is best, said Chambers.

"With most tumors, it's a pretty good idea to have a one, two ... three punch because of the ability of tumors to change," he said.

COST OF LIFE

Because Gibbs was part of a clinical trial, his treatment has been completely free, barring travel costs. Powers was unable to disclose how much vaccine manufacturing costs Northwest Biotherapeutics, but she said it's very affordable.

"Our pricing will be dramatically lower than pricing that Dendreon announced," she said.

Dendreon charges $31,000 per infusion; a full-course treatment includes three infusions over the course of one month.

She also pointed out that analyses indicate the vaccine will fall "well within the zone for reimbursement."

While the widely held belief is that personalized medicine is extremely expensive, Powers explained that for each patient, Northwest Biotherapeutics can manufacture three years worth of vaccination, making the process cost-effective, similar to mass manufacture of prescription pills.

"The concept is, the manufacturing itself is really expensive because it's personalized," she said. "But storage is cheap. Northwest makes the biggest batch it can make from a quantity of tissue and freezes it in single doses. After that, it's cheap; it turns into an off-the-shelf product."

Patients in the trial receive a vaccination every couple of weeks starting six weeks after surgery. The dose administration is reduced to every couple of months and then twice a year until the product runs out.

"The amount of tissue is the limiting factor," Powers said.

Northwest Biotherapeutics will be able to even further lessen its costs by making the process completely automated. Currently, the FDA has approved partial automation for the company, Powers said.

"Costs are already manageable to charge less than current antibodies that are not personalized," she said.

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