Keeping cancer
in check

<p>Middle aged man running in a field of grass, surrounded by mountains.</p>

More cancer patients than ever before experience an initial treatment success, leading to clinical remission of the disease. However, tumor recurrence is an imminent threat and responsible for the majority of cancer-related deaths. At Mendus, we focus on therapies addressing tumor recurrence.

Our Approach

Our goal is to provide novel maintenance therapy solutions with best-in-class safety profiles for tumors associated with a high recurrence rate. Via relapse vaccination, we aim to boost immunity against residual disease, in order to extend the periods of cancer-free survival.
Recurred tumors often respond poorly to existing therapies and many of such cancers have evolved to evade the immune system. Via intratumoral immune priming, we can unveil these tumors, making them more vulnerable to immune attack.

Cancer Treatment Today

AML Maintenance

In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), maintenance treatment is the new frontier.
Measurable residual disease (MRD) is associated with poor relapse-free and overall survival.
Relapse vaccination with vididencel (DCP-001) is being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial addressing AML patients with MRD.

Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death among gynecologic malignancies, due to its high recurrence rate.
A Phase 1 clinical trial is ongoing to evaluate vididencel safety and efficacy in ovarian cancer.
If successful, the trial supports development of an ovarian cancer maintenance therapy.

Intratumoral Priming

Mendus is evaluating a clinical trial to explore the intratumoral immune primer ilixadencel as a second-line treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), in combination with standard-of-care.
After first-line treatment fails, GIST responds poorly to currently available therapies.
Ilixadencel has demonstrated clinical signs of efficacy in a broad range of solid tumors, including GIST.

<p>Image of a person front crawling in dark water. Mountains and dark clouds are seen in the background.</p>

AML Maintenance

In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), maintenance treatment is the new frontier.
Measurable residual disease (MRD) is associated with poor relapse-free and overall survival.
Relapse vaccination with vididencel (DCP-001) is being evaluated in a Phase 2 clinical trial addressing AML patients with MRD.

Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the most common cause of death among gynecologic malignancies, due to its high recurrence rate.
A Phase 1 clinical trial is ongoing to evaluate vididencel safety and efficacy in ovarian cancer.
If successful, the trial supports development of an ovarian cancer maintenance therapy.

Intratumoral Priming

Mendus is evaluating a clinical trial to explore the intratumoral immune primer ilixadencel as a second-line treatment for gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), in combination with standard-of-care.
After first-line treatment fails, GIST responds poorly to currently available therapies.
Ilixadencel has demonstrated clinical signs of efficacy in a broad range of solid tumors, including GIST.

Pipeline

Vididencel

AML (monotherapy)
Maintenance for acute myeloid leukemia patients with measurable residual disease

Study

ADVANCE II

Status

Long-term follow-up

  • Preclinical
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Pivotal

AML (monotherapy)
Maintenance for post-transplant patients with measurable residual disease

Status

Planned

  • Preclinical
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Pivotal

AML (with oral 5’aza)
Combination with approved maintenance treatment

Status

Planned

  • Preclinical
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Pivotal

Ovarian Cancer (with SoC)
Maintenance therapy

Study

ALISON

Status

Ongoing

  • Preclinical
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Pivotal
Learn more

Ilixadencel

Solid tumors (multiple)
Combination with tyrosine kinase inhibitors in renal cell carcinoma, gastro-intestinal stromal tumors, hepatocellular carcinoma, combination with pembrolizumab in multiple tumors

Status

Completed

  • Preclinical
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Pivotal

GIST, other
Combination with TKI

Status

Planned

  • Preclinical
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Pivotal
Learn more

Preclinical

NK cell platform
Method for expansion of memory NK cells

Status

Ongoing

  • Preclinical
  • Phase 1
  • Phase 2
  • Pivotal
Learn more

Ongoing Clinical Trials

If you are a patient or a treating physician interested in any of the ongoing clinical trials, please contact us at info@mendus.com. All ongoing trials are also listed on clinicaltrials.gov.

Expanded Access

Mendus AB is committed to discovering and developing novel safe and effective cell therapy products for solid tumors and blood-borne cancers to improve survival outcomes and quality of life by priming and boosting the patient’s own immune system to fight cancer.
The following is Mendus’ global expanded access policy for investigational therapies, e.g. ilixadencel (INN) and vididencel (DCP-001), that are intended to treat serious diseases.

Learn more

Applying dendritic cell biology to design novel cancer immunotherapies

Dendritic cells orchestrate the immune system, including the immune surveillance of potential cellular aberrations which could lead to cancer.

Increasing evidence suggests that dynamic interactions between dendritic cells, involving cellular crosstalk and the exchange of cellular content, are crucial in fulfilling this task.

At Mendus, we apply these insights in dendritic cell biology to design novel immunotherapies and unlock meaningful clinical benefits for cancer patients.

<p>Close up of a female, dropping liquid from a pipette into a glass jar.</p>

The cancer relapse vaccine vididencel (DCP-001) is derived from a proprietary cancer cell line. During manufacturing, these cancer cells are made to express dendritic cell molecules on their surface, rendering them highly immunogenic and suitable as a vaccine.

The intratumoral immune primer ilixadencel comprises pro-inflammatory dendritic cells from healthy donor material, which are injected into the tumor. This leads to local inflammation in the tumor microenvironment and the triggering of systemic anti-tumor immunity.

Our preclinical pipeline focuses on the design of next-generation products and novel combination therapies, including the combination of vaccination and intratumoral priming.

Publications

Latest

Efficient ex vivo expansion of adaptive NKG2C+CD57+ NK cells from CMV-positive donors using dendritic cells derived from the acute myeloid cell line DCOne

Mendus presented data demonstrating the potential of the DCOne platform to expand memory NK cells for therapeutic purposes at the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) conference held November 10-12, 2022.
Download the poster

About us

At Mendus, we share a strong commitment to improve the lives of people with cancer.

About us