Our GVAX immunotherapies are cancer treatments designed to stimulate the patient's immune system to effectively fight cancer. GVAX cancer immunotherapies are comprised of tumor cells that are genetically modified to secrete an immune-stimulating cytokine known as granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor, or GM-CSF, and are then irradiated for safety. Since GVAX cancer immunotherapies consist of whole tumor cells, the cancer patient's immune system can be activated against multiple tumor cell components (antigens), potentially resulting in greater clinical benefit than if the immunotherapy consisted of only a single tumor cell component. Additionally, the secretion of GM-CSF by the modified tumor cells can greatly enhance the immune response by recruiting and activating dendritic cells at the injection site, a critical step in the optimal response by the immune system to any immunotherapy product. The antitumor immune response which occurs throughout the body following administration of a GVAX product can potentially result in the destruction of tumor cells that persist or recur following surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy treatment.

More than 600 patients have received our GVAX cancer immunotherapies in multiple Phase 1 and 2 clinical trials to date, and the immunotherapies have been shown to have a favorable side effect profile that avoids many of the toxicities associated with conventional cancer therapies. GVAX cancer immunotherapies can be conveniently administered in an outpatient setting as an injection into the skin, a site where immue cells, including in particular dendritic cells, can be optimally accessed and activated. Our GVAX cancer immunotherapies are being tested as non patient-specific, or allogenic, products. We intend to develop these immunotherapies as "off-the-shelf" pharmaceutical products.