About OncoVax

What is OncoVAX Cancer Vaccine?

OncoVAX is an autologous cancer vaccine manufactured with a patented process to leverage a patient’s own tumor cells to launch a potent and customized immune response against residual cancer cells that may reside in the body after surgery. Killing these residual cells is key to preventing the recurrence of the cancer.

Our History: OncoVAX Development

Founded in 2007, Vaccinogen is a US-based, late-stage biotechnology company focused on developing immunologic therapies for cancer treatment. However, the OncoVAX® process has been refined for over 40 years during 5 clinical trials with more than $350 million dedicated to its advancement. Vaccinogen had a cGMP manufacturing plant to produce pharmaceutical grade products with strict quality assurance and quality control.

“In the early 1970s, President Nixon declared a “War on Cancer.”  We had mustered our forces before and cured polio, tuberculosis, smallpox, and other diseases. It was now time to attack cancer. However, like any war it pays to know your enemy. At the beginning of the battle, we had a very poor understanding. The prevailing theory was that cancer was a single disease, thus a “Cure for Cancer” was imminent. The search began for a Magic Bullet, the pill, the treatment that would rid the world of cancer for good. Since then, we learned this original concept could not have been further from the truth. Genetic testing has proven that tumors, even within a given type of cancer (breast, prostate, colon, etc), are very different from each other. In the face of all this data, the search for a single answer, the Magic Bullet, continued.

There will be no one cure for cancer. No pill in a bottle. But does that mean we are out of options? What lessons can we learn from the success of earlier vaccination programs? Just like the days of polio and smallpox, we need to learn how to use the most powerful tool we’ve had since birth: the immune system. Admittedly, adapting the immune system to fight many different cancers is technically more demanding than fighting one single virus. But if we correctly restock our armory, this is a battle we can still win.

It is now recognized that the future of cancer treatment must be patient specific, personalized medicine. With OncoVAX, Vaccinogen has transformed this promise into a reality.

OncoVAX is a vaccine made from the cancer patients own tumor.  This form of patient specific Immunotherapy obviates the inter tumor heterogeneity and provides the majority of targets for an optimal immune response.