A career in cancer vaccines: exploring the promise of B cell epitopes

Roisin McGuigan, Editor, Immuno-Oncology Insights, speaks to Pravin TP Kaumaya, Professor and Director of Vaccine Research at The Ohio State University

Pravin Kaumaya is Professor of Medicine in the Department of Ob/Gyn at the OSU Wexner Medical Center and the James Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr Kaumaya is internationally recognized as an expert in the fields of vaccine research with emphasis on peptide vaccines for cancer. His work over three decades in developing B cell epitope-based cancer vaccines is a paradigm shift in the immune-oncology landscape. Dr Kaumaya is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and he was elected as the treasurer of the American Peptide Society since 2009. He has lectured worldwide and has published over 130 peer-reviewed articles in major scientific journals. He conducts research in the areas of immune-oncology, tumor immunology, peptide design and immune mechanisms supported largely by NIH, Pelotonia and more recently by Imugene, Ltd. He is an inventor on several issued and pending patents for peptide cancer vaccines and immune-therapeutic technologies. Vaccines developed for HER-1, HER-3, IGF-1R and VEGF at the university has been licensed to IMUGENE Ltd. Dr Kaumaya has conducted two first man/woman NCI funded and FDA approved Phase 1 Trial in Cancer Patients (Stage four) with solid tumors in several indications (Breast, Ovarian, GIST) at the OSU James Cancer Hospital has recently been completed successfully demonstrating the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Dr Kaumaya’s laboratory has recently developed a PD-1-Vaxx (programmed cell death) B cell peptide cancer vaccine that induces the body to produce polyclonal antibodies that block PD-1 signaling and produce an anticancer effect similar to the marketed immunotherapy drugs Keytruda® and Opdivo®.

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